From the open-vm-tools app comments in open-vm-tools.tcz.info:
Comments: Download and install in console before reboot; do not install while in X.
Add to ~/.profile before startx to enable shared folders:
[ $(which vmware-checkvm) ] && [ vmware-checkvm ] && [ -d /mnt/hgfs ] && vmhgfs-fuse /mnt/hgfs
Add to ~/.xsession after mouse-config to enable copy/paste, mouse grab/ungrab, and desktop resizing:
[ $(which vmware-checkvm) ] && [ vmware-checkvm ] && vmware-user &
Move wbar to upper left vertical because wbar doesn't know when the desktop is resized.
Aterm text does not render correctly, use lxterminal instead.
Kernel modules removed, now all tools are userspace.
Verify permissions for /dev/fuse are 1666.
Loading the extension should create /mnt/hgfs. Verify that it happened and the permissions are 777.
Files in shared folders will not be visible to anyone other than the user that
mounts them, including root. This is why if the shared folders are mounted
in a directory that is in a tree in /opt/.filetool.lst, backups will fail.
Xorg and its dependencies are not needed for text only VM's.
Based on your posts, reading the instructions first might have saved a lot of pain. Also, I suspect that most of us are proficient at MS Windows too. I personally have been using MS OS's since 1986 (on a 4.77 MHz 8088 maxed out to 640 kB of RAM), so I'm familiar with their software. That's why we're using Linux