Discovered a unique issue upgrading VMware tools to the latest version. The install would fail asking for the vc_runtimeminimum_x86.msi. Locating the file in ProgramData didn't fix the issue. VC 2019 was already installed and trying to install the latest version directly from MS came up with the same error.
The issue is with those runtime libraries being corrupt. To fix download Microsoft's Install/Uninstall troubleshooting here: Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed (microsoft.com)
Run that and uninstall the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015-2019 redistributable, both the x86 and x64. In my case there was 4 of them all the same version (another indication something is wrong) . After uninstalling You can install/upgrade the redist or VMware tools.