Taking Ownership of VM fails, VM appears to be in use, stuck in state error

VMware workstation VM ownership error

While working in Vmware workstation, I lost connectivity to a LUN where I’m hosting virtual machines for workstation.

As it turns out, the VMs were powered on and after restoring the connection, I could not get into the VM (windows 7) or power it off/restart it.

When trying to open the VM in workstation, it gave this error:

This virtual machine appears to be in use.

If this virtual machine is not in use, press the “Take Ownership” button to obtain ownership of it. Otherwise, press the “Cancel” button to avoid damaging it.

Configuration file: F:\PC LAB\Windows 7 x64.vmx.

Ok I know that VM is not in use so pressing the “take ownership” button should fix the issue. It does not, instead it spits out another error:

Could not open virtual machine: F:\PC LAB\Windows 7 x64.vmx

Taking ownership of this virtual machine failed.

The virtual machine is in use by an application on your host computer.

Configuration file: F:\PC LAB\Windows 7 x64.vmx.

VMware workstation VM ownership errorFeeling stuck? Don’t be, the fix is really easy. For me, it was matter of browsing to the F:\PC LAB\ directory and deleting the *.LCK folder (if the VM name is Windows7, the folder would be Windows7.vmx.lck) and I was able to open the VM in workstation and power it on.

If you have questions or comments regarding this error, please post in our Virtualization Forum for support.