VMware Workstation Easy Install is unable to install Windows 8 with a product key specified

Question

I recently attempted to install Windows 8 Enterprise Edition in VMware Workstation. It specified that Easy Install would be used, and requested for the product key, for which I entered the generated MSDN key.

This didn't work - the installation goes into a loop with each iteration of the loop ending with the following screen:

The guest reboots and the process repeats after clicking "OK".

Has anyone been able to successfully install their MSDN image with Easy Install in Workstation?

Answer 1

You need to delete the file unattend.txt because the installer is getting the key (which is apparently not valid) from that, then you can input a different key. It is located in the ProductID entry under the UserData section.

Answer 2

I ran into this when trying to install Windows Server 2012 from an ISO image from MSDN. Unfortunately, the image contains both Windows Server Standard and DataCenter and it apparently selected Data Center. The key I had (and what I wanted) was Standard. I just deleted the VM (force power it off to stop the boot / error cycle), right click in VMWare, Manage, Delete from Disk). Then recreate it with the right product key.

Answer 3

Try disabling the floppy drive in VMWare before installing - so don't use easy install when first creating the VM.