A great miracle has occurred.
In short, adding monitor_control.restrict_backdoor = TRUE to the ESXi VMX within Workstation.. worked and made my Guest VM's agent wake up correctly.
I was then able to try to re-create the pool with just *ONE* machine (the same Win7 VM from last several days).
There was a hiccup though:
a. First time booting (automatically) from the pool.. it didn't get an IP address, and then fell over and died (as usual.)
b. I then logged on to the (already booted) VM via the vCenter console and renewed the IP address.. and.. Bingo.
I was able to successfully connect via my View Client.
I'm going to now:
a. Flush the whole DHCP cache, lock stock and barrel.
b. Try to make a floating linked clone pool like I wanted to in the first place via Quickprep.
Standby.. but.. yay. Finally.. *SOMETHING* resembling success after 5 days of trying.. !
Again.. Standby for result for the "real" test.. (shouldnt be long.)
THANK YOU GUYS (so far..) Not out of the woods yet !
