How to install on Windows 8

points to note

1. when running the installer, right click and select run as administrator

2. after installing, VMwareHostd service will fail to start due to dependency on ProtectedStorage service. Fix this by removing or editing the dependency value in registry HKLM/SYSTEM/Services/CurrentControlSet/VMwareHostd

in my case i deleted the REG_MULTI_SZ value dependency completely and then restarted the computer. After which the service can be started."

You can also just add back the dependency registry value with only "VmAuthdService" in it other 2 services "lanmanserver" and "VmAuthdService" removed and then restart.

3. To overcome the untrusted CA cert when launching VMware Server console, with IE, go to View -> Security Report -> View certificates -> Install certificate -> Current User -> "Place all certificates in the following store" -> Browse -> Trusted Root Certificate Authorities