Windows 2008 server as guest in VMWare: can't ping
If it is a VMWare problem, the only way I could see it being a problem is with a NIC setting issue. Make sure that the NIC is set to Eth0 in the VM settings.
Other than this, you may want to check your TCP/IP settings on the guest machine to make sure that they are set correctly.
Check IP addresses (DHCP) and VMware Network adapter settings.
If you can't find anything suspicious, include all that info in your post.