VMware-server-console-1.0.3-44356
VMware-server-linux-client-1.0.3-44356
Client - Windows 98SE
What it was doing was ... repeatedly accessing the virtual CD drive from the Windows guest after I gave the command from the VMware Console menu "install VMware tools) ... and not installing VMware Tools even after I waited quite a while for it to install.
It appears to be a bug in the VMware console. I couldn't find a solution or workaround anywhere.
PREREQUISITES
1. working VMware installation with Windows guest VM
2. shared SAMBA filespace visible to both guest and host
3. make sure that you can open an X program as root, if you get this error: Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server you need to fix it, the fix is here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?threadid=331779
4. isomaster Linux iso image editor
What I did that worked was:
1. open isomaster as root (if you get "Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server", go to the link in Prerequisite 2 above)
2. cd /home/username/\[path to a windows VM-accessible directory]
3. create vmware-tools directory (dir may need to be chown username:username)
3. cd /home/username/install/vmware-server-distrib/lib/isoimages/
4. open the windows..iso image with isomaster
5. put the iso windows files in the new windows-accessible directory
6. open control panel in windows
7. open Install New Programs
8. open Browse, find new program directory
9. run setup.exe
Using the control panel may actually be unnecessary... but it worked this way, so I don't know.that it isn't. And chmodding the windows.iso to my user ID would probably have made it unnecessary to figure out how to open isomaster as root. Other variations are possible, but I came up with the above by trial and error, and I should have been in bed hours ago.