Enhancing VMware performance

C:\ProgramData\VMware\vmnetnat.conf

# Windows NAT configuration file

[host]

# NAT gateway address
# Make sure this is NOT in use anywhere on the network
#ip = 192.168.47.2/24
hostMAC = 00:50:56:C0:00:08

# enable configuration; disabled by default for security reasons
#configport = 33445

# VMnet device if not specified on command line
device = vmnet8

# Allow PORT/EPRT FTP commands (they need incoming TCP stream...)
activeFTP = 1

# Allows the source to have any OUI.  Turn this one if you change the OUI
# in the MAC address of your virtual machines.
allowAnyOUI = 1

# Controls if (TCP) connections should be reset when the adapter
# they are bound to goes down.
resetConnectionOnLinkDown = 1

# Controls if (TCP) connections should be reset when guest TCP packet's
# destination is the NAT's IP itself.
resetConnectionOnDestLocalHost = 1

[tcp]
# Value of timeout in TCP TIME_WAIT state, in seconds
timeWaitTimeout = 30

[udp]
# Timeout in seconds, 0 = no timeout, default = 30; real value might
# be up to 100% longer
timeout = 30

[dns]
# This section applies only to Windows.
#
# Policy to use for DNS forwarding.  Accepted values include order,
# rotate, burst.
#
# order: send one DNS request at a time in order of the name servers
# rotate: send one DNS request at a time, rotate through the DNS servers
# burst: send to three servers and wait for the first one to respond
policy = order

# Timeout in seconds before retrying DNS request.
timeout = 2

# Retries before giving up on DNS request
retries = 3

# Automatically detect the DNS servers (not supported in Windows NT)
autodetect = 1

# List of DNS servers to use.  Up to three may be specified
#nameserver1 = 198.41.0.4
#nameserver2 = 192.36.148.17
#nameserver3 = 202.12.27.33

[netbios]

# Timeout for NBNS queries.
nbnsTimeout = 2

# Number of retries for each NBNS query.
nbnsRetries = 3

# Timeout for NBDS queries.
nbdsTimeout = 3

[incomingtcp]
# Use these with care - anyone can enter into your virtual machine through these...

# FTP (both active and passive FTP is always enabled)
#      ftp localhost 8887
#8887 = 192.168.27.128:21

# WEB (make sure that if you are using named webhosting, names point to
#     your host, not to guest... And if you are forwarding port other
#     than 80 make sure that your server copes with mismatched port
#     number in Host: header)
#      lynx http://localhost:8888
#8888 = 192.168.27.128:80

# SSH
#      ssh -p 8889 root@localhost
#8889 = 192.168.27.128:22

[incomingudp]
# UDP port forwarding example
#6000 = 192.168.27.128:6001

[PrivilegedTCP]
autodetect = 1

[PrivilegedUDP]
autodetect = 1

C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini

sched.mem.pshare.enable = "FALSE"
mainMem.useNamedFile = "FALSE"
prefvmx.minVmMemPct = "100"
prefvmx.useRecommendedLockedMemSize = "TRUE"
mainMem.partialLazySave = "FALSE"
mainMem.partialLazyRestore = "FALSE"
priority.grabbed = "normal"
priority.ungrabbed = "normal"
#priority.grabbed = "high"

#This disables the automatic updates, but doesn't prevent a manual check
#You can also simply remove this and it will disable the automatic checks as well
installerDefaults.autoSoftwareUpdateEnabled = "deny"
installerDefaults.autoSoftwareUpdateEnabled.epoch = "11995"
installerDefaults.componentDownloadEnabled = "yes"
installerDefaults.dataCollectionEnabled = "deny"
installerDefaults.dataCollectionEnabled.epoch = "11995"

C:\Users\%USER%\AppData\VMware\VMware Workstation\preferences.ini

hints.hideAll = "TRUE"

#Append to the end of existing file
webUpdate.lastCheck.status = "done_updates"
webUpdate.checkPeriod = "manual"
#Corresponds to Autofit window true
pref.autoFitGuestToWindow = "TRUE"
#This is always false if the above is true and vice versa
pref.autoFit = "FALSE"
#Does what it says on the tin, fitGuestToHost or fitHostToGuest
pref.autoFitFullScreen = "fitGuestToHost"
pref.autoFitFullScreen = "stretchGuestToHost"
pref.autoFitFullScreen = "none"

#Corresponds to Autofit guest false
pref.autoFitGuestToWindow = "FALSE"
#This is always false if the above is true and vice versa
pref.autoFit = "TRUE"

pref.autoSoftwareUpdatePermission.epoch = "11995"
pref.autoSoftwareUpdatePermission = "deny"

InheritanceOrdering

Preferences set in config.ini will override those set in preferences.ini.
config.ini is global/system wide, preferences.ini appears to be per user

installerDefaults.autoSoftwareUpdateEnabled = "yes"
installerDefaults.autoSoftwareUpdateEnabled.epoch = "11995"
installerDefaults.componentDownloadEnabled = "yes"
installerDefaults.dataCollectionEnabled = "yes"
installerDefaults.dataCollectionEnabled.epoch = "11995"

settings.ini or maybe config.ini

isolation.tools.unity.disable = "TRUE"
unity.allowCompositingInGuest = "FALSE"
unity.enableLaunchMenu = "FALSE"
unity.showBadges = "FALSE"
unity.showBorders = "FALSE"
unity.wasCapable = "FALSE"
#Showed up in preferences.ini upon making a change in the GUI
pref.unity.minimizeOnEnteringUnity = "FALSE"

Tweaking VM Startup

In newer versions of Workstation you can choose 'Power on to BIOS', but sometimes you still want to just have more time for selecting the boot device.

Adding this to the .vmx of the VM you want to work on will help

bios.bootDelay = "5000"

Where 5000 is milliseconds, and the max is 10000 or 10 seconds.