You are correct about the error with Windows 2000 so thanks I'll have a look at that link but I have doubts that the solution will be easy. Nothing has been so far.
Could you expand on the phrase "I have an 98SE VM that's perfectly useable for my purposes". I don't have SE and my version lacks 3D support. I'd be interested to know whether you do have 3D support and can run games or use Youtube. I suspect that sound will not be supported either because I found posts mentioning audio problems.
I spent a lot of time installing Internet Explorer 6.0. This can no longer be downloaded and installed via Microsoft Windows Update. That hasn't been possible for six months now but it took a lot of work to find that out. I can't do anything with the guest OSs that I can't already manage with Windows 7 or XP. Windows 98 drivers for original hardware are very difficult to find now so all the more reason for VMware to put a bit of serious effort in to making things simpler.
To what use do you put VMware Player Windows 98? All that I can see is the shadow of how things used to be. As such it has no value and we should be made aware of this fact.