Hi JP,

Try the following: remove the "Floppy" from your VMWare Virtual Machine
Settings for that new Windows 8. The problem is that the autoinst.flp file
contains the <ProductKey> and autoinst.flp is mounted when you start the VM.
So power off Win8 Virtual Machine, go to Virtual Machine settings and remove
the Floppy. Later, you can add the Floppy again.

Does this help?

Friedrich