I think there's a problem with the Easy Install setup. I selected "Installer disc image," and it came up and said that it would use "Easy Install," I think I hit next, and then I went back changed my mind, and selected "I will install the operating system later." After finishing the wizard, I think it still went and ran Easy Install, because it auto-installed VMware tools and I never got to select anything for my windows setup.
Then, when it was finished, all the hardware changes I had made were lost. The RAM was changed from 2 GB back to the default of 1 GB, my CD ROM drive was set back to "Use a Physical Drive" and "Connect at Power On", and the Floppy Drive was also set to "Connect at Power On", after I disabled them.
I was trying to install Windows 7, and I wasn't sure if I could change the RAM settings after installation without needing to reactivate it, so I deleted the VM and tried to start over. This time, the "Installer disc image" had my Win7 image pre-selected, so I clicked "I will install it myself later," set my hardware again, and tried to boot off my CD. Again,it did an Easy Install, and reset my RAM and my drive settings.
So I deleted it again and the third time it still had the Win7 image pre-selected, but this time I unplugged all the drives and let it try to boot off the empty harddrive and fail, and made sure it kept all my hardware settings. Then, I powered it off, put my Win7 image in the guest CD ROM, and powered it on. This time it finally let me run the installer and pick my language, and type a user name. This time when I powered it off it kept my hardware settings.
I can duplicate the error by doing exactly the steps above. Creating a new VM, selecting my "Installer Image," hitting next, going back, selecting "I will Install it myself," and then finish the wizard, and customizing my hardware right before the end, setting the CD Rom drive to the same installer media, and setting "Connect on Power On." (If I start it without the CD ROM in the first time, it doesn't do it). When I power on, I'm not prompted for any install information (like language and user name), and when it runs the first timemy hardware choices are reset (like the RAM back to 1 GB).
If it helps, I'm running VMware Workstation 7.0.1 build-227600 on Gentoo Linux
