Permanent, hassle-free VMware Workstation 17 Autostart fix

README.md

VMware Workstation autostart that works

The problem is that VMware Workstation Autostart service doesn't work.

1. Reset the Autostart service back to default so it doesn't run

Start-Process powershell -Verb RunAs "Set-Service -Name VmwareAutostartService -StartupType Manual"

2. Fix the permissions issues that prevents VMWare Workstation from saving Autostart settings

Start-Process powershell -Verb RunAs "&icacls.exe '$env:ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmautostart.xml' /grant '${env:USERDOMAIN}\${env:USERNAME}:F'"

1. Install

1. Cmd-R shell:startup
2. Create a folder called .scripts and drop the file autostart-vmware.ps1 in it
3. Create a shortcut in the startup folder by running the following:

$Ws = New-Object -COMObject WScript.Shell
$Startup = "$env:APPDATA\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
$S = $Ws.CreateShortcut("$Startup\autostart-vmware.lnk")
$S.TargetPath = "$env:windir\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe"
$S.Arguments = "-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File `"$Startup\.scripts\autostart-vmware.ps1`""
$S.WindowStyle = 7 # 1: normal, 3: maximized, 7: minimized
$S.Save()

Note: Run the above in any regular Powershell terminal as your user (not Administrator)

autostart-vmware.ps1

cd "${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}\VMware\VMware Workstation"
$vmautostartXml = "$env:ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmautostart.xml"
$vmxs = Select-Xml -Path $vmautostartXml -XPath "//ConfigRoot/AutoStartOrder/e/vmxpath" | ForEach-Object { $_.Node.'#text' }
$first = $true
foreach ($vmx in $vmxs) {
  if (-Not $first) {
    Start-Sleep 5
  }
  &.\vmrun.exe -T ws start $vmx nogui
  $first = $false
}