Hi,
After migrating Windows VMs from
VMware ESXi to Proxmox, we are seeing
VMware Tools errors on the guest OS.
Guest OS: Windows Server 2016 / 2019 / 2022 / 2025
Could you please advise:
- The recommended way to manually remove VMware Tools on Windows after migration
- Any drivers or services that should be cleaned up
- A PowerShell script to detect and uninstall VMware Tools
The goal is to fully clean VMware components and use Proxmox/QEMU tools instead.
Thank you.
Here is how I did it recently.
Procedure: Removing VMware Tools After Migrating Windows 11 to Proxmox (Courtesy of chatgpt).
This document provides a reliable, field-tested procedure for fully removing VMware Tools from a Windows 11 virtual machine that has been migrated from VMware Workstation (or ESXi) to Proxmox VE. Standard uninstallation often fails after migration because VMware hardware is no longer present. This procedure uses manual cleanup methods that are safe and effective.
Prerequisites
• Administrative access to the Windows 11 VM
• Ability to boot into Safe Mode or Windows Recovery Environment
• VirtIO driver ISO available for Proxmox
Step 1: Boot Windows into Safe Mode
Safe Mode prevents VMware drivers and services from loading, allowing them to be removed cleanly. If Windows boots normally, use Advanced Startup to enter Safe Mode. If not, boot using a Windows 11 ISO and select 'Repair your computer' to access Startup Settings.
Step 2: Stop and Disable VMware Services
Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:
sc stop VMTools
sc stop VGAuthService
sc stop vmvss
sc stop vm3dservice
sc config VMTools start= disabled
sc config VGAuthService start= disabled
sc config vmvss start= disabled
sc config vm3dservice start= disabled
Some services may not exist on all systems. Errors indicating a service was not found can be safely ignored.
Step 3: Remove VMware Drivers
List installed drivers and identify VMware-related entries:
pnputil /enum-drivers | findstr /i vmware
For each VMware-related driver (for example oem23.inf), remove it using:
pnputil /delete-driver oemXX.inf /uninstall /force
Repeat until no VMware drivers remain. Common VMware drivers include vmmouse, vmxnet, vmhgfs, and vmscsi.
Step 4: Remove VMware Services from the Registry
Open Registry Editor (regedit) and delete the following keys if present:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VMTools
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VGAuthService
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vmvss
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vm3dservice
Step 5: Remove VMware Program Files
Delete the following directories if they exist:
C:\Program Files\VMware\
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VMware\
C:\ProgramData\VMware\
Step 6: Clean Up Device Manager
Open Device Manager, enable 'Show hidden devices', and uninstall any VMware-related entries under System
devices, Network adapters, Display adapters, and Mouse and keyboard devices. When prompted, select 'Delete the
driver software for this device'.
Step 7: Install Proxmox VirtIO Drivers
Attach the virtio-win.iso in Proxmox and install the following components in order:
• VirtIO Balloon Driver
• VirtIO Network Driver (NetKVM)
• VirtIO SCSI Storage Driver
• QEMU Guest Agent
Step 8: Verification
Confirm that VMware Tools have been fully removed by running the following commands. Both should return no results.
sc query | findstr /i vmware
pnputil /enum-drivers | findstr /i vmware
Once verification is complete, reboot the system normally. The Windows 11 VM should now operate cleanly under Proxmox VE without VMware-related conflicts.
