When trying to power on a Windows virtual machine, you see the error: The VMware Authorization Service is not running.

Symptoms

•     Powering on a Windows virtual machine fails

•     When trying to power on a Windows virtual machine, you see the error:
  

      The VMware Authorization Service is not running.


Resolution


This issue occurs when the VMware Authorization service does not have
administrator rights.

Note: This issue typically occurs with Windows Vista hosts, but can
occur with other versions of Windows operating systems.


To provide the VMware Authorization service with Administrator rights:

   1. If using Windows Vista or higher, disable User Account Control
(UAC).
   2.Add administrator rights to the Windows user account that runs
the VMware Authorization service:
         1.Right-click (My) Computer and select Manage.

         2.Click Local Users and Groups > Users.

         3.Right-click the __vmware_user__ user account and click
Properties.

         4. Click the Member Of tab, then click Add.

         5.Add the Administrators group to the object names field and
click OK.

   3. Uninstall VMware Workstation

   4. Reboot the Host machine and login as a local administrator (not
as a domain administrator).

   5. Reinstall VMware Workstation.