I’m trying to uninstall VMware tools from VMs running on AHV version 20201105.2244. I am following the KB to uninstall VMware tools: Unable to Uninstall VMware Tools in Windows after Migration by Move from ESXi to AHV

I mount the ISO in windows on the VM and run the ‘setup64.exe /c’ command and immediately notice EventID 1000 and 1005 in the application logs. They are application errors not being able to launch the VMware installer process. I have tried this on two separate VMs on different clusters. Has anyone else seen this before?

Event ID 1000

Faulting application name: setup64.exe, version: 11.0.5.17716, time stamp: 0x5e0aa12f
Faulting module name: setup64.exe, version: 11.0.5.17716, time stamp: 0x5e0aa12f
Exception code: 0xc0000096
Fault offset: 0x0000000000077c3f
Faulting process id: 0xb4c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d81df06bb35ef0
Faulting application path: E:\setup64.exe
Faulting module path: E:\setup64.exe
Report Id: 2dc8bb34-f3b9-40d1-859f-0f8f5b772fef
Faulting package full name: 
Faulting package-relative application ID: 

EventID 1005

Windows cannot access the file  for one of the following reasons: there is a problem with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is missing. Windows closed the program VMware installation launcher because of this error.

Program: VMware installation launcher
File: 

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem that corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
    - It is on the network, your network administrator should verify that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can be contacted.
    - It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM, verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.

Additional Data
Error value: 00000000
Disk type: 0