Particularly if the guest OS is windows vmware workstation is very
nice in that it can put together an unattended installation script
(including product key if you provide it). I have had enormous
problems getting past that screen with other virtualization products.
And I am not sure whether VMWare Player can accept a product key the
way Workstation can.

I've also tried using the MS ADK (assessment and deployment kit) which
is supposed to let you create custom install media but the tools are
not accessible.

Although honestly, once past install I generally use either remote
desktop (if the guest is windows) or an SSH session (for *nix guests)
and forget about the VM console entirely.

--
Soronel Haetir
soronel.haetir@gmail.com