Running VMWare Player v3.1.4 build 385536 on a Windows XP Pro SP3 host. Guest OS is also Windows XP Pro SP3. We have a bunch of "legacy" software programs that we can't yet migrate away from and that don't always play well together, so we've built them each a sandbox where they won't bother anyone else. The problem we're having is when using a USB flash drive. Here's the sequence of events:
Auto-Logon to host as user
Plug in USB drive, shows up properly, all is well
Start VM, USB drive stays attached to host, as expected
Connect(Disconnect from host) USB drive, do stuff
“Safely Remove” from guest
Disconnect (Connect to host) from VM menu
Host sees device properly
“Safely Remove” from host
Unplug USB drive
So far, so good
Plug USB drive back in
Drive mounts to host, not guest, even though “Automatically connect new USB devices” is checked
(This behavior is not 100% consistent: sometimes it will connect as expected)
Connect USB drive to guest from VM menu if it didn't automatically
Drive mounts properly to guest
“Safely Remove” from guest
Disconnect (Connect to host) from VM menu
Drive “disappears”. No longer present in VM removable devices menu, doesn’t show up in host at all. Unplugging/replugging has no effect. Plugging in a different USB drive or other USB device has no change.
Close VM (save state, etc.)
Logoff user from host, then log in, no change, drive not visible to host
Logoff user from host, then log in to admin account, no change, drive not visible to host
Refresh hardware list in host's device manager, no change, drive not visible to host
Kill host's vmware usb arbitration service, no change, drive not visible to host
Reboot host computer entirely, logging into user acct, USB device mounts OK when plugged in, then connects to guest properly when told
Process starts over
USB mouse keeps working fine through all of this.
An alternative would be to set up a share, and if I were the one using the computer that would be usable but inconvenient. The folks using the computer in real life will be technicians, some of whom aren't the most computer-savvy bunch, so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. They will need to connect other USB devices (various communications adapters) so the connect/disconnect menu will become familiar to them.
Any ideas?