If the Disable Windows Defender option is disabled and the Install VMware Tools option is enabled, VMware's setup.exe and setup64.exe have a tendency to stall. Hence, the entire Windows Setup process appears frozen.
This can be avoided by running VMware's setup.exe in the oobeSystem phase rather than the specialize phase. The only downside is that VMware Tools when installed in the specialize phase suggests that a reboot is required:
If the Disable Windows Defender option is disabled and the Install VMware Tools option is enabled, VMware's
setup.exeandsetup64.exehave a tendency to stall. Hence, the entire Windows Setup process appears frozen.This can be avoided by running VMware's
setup.exein the oobeSystem phase rather than the specialize phase. The only downside is that VMware Tools when installed in the specialize phase suggests that a reboot is required: