After updating my Windows 8 Pro system to 8.1 the two VMware Network Adapters (VMnet1 and VMnet8) are listed as "Unidentified network, Public network" "Access type: No Internet access". I've uninstalled VMware Player, reinstalled it, and done a repair install with no change. The result is when I run one of my Windows VMs they cannot connect to my network or host PC. For example, in a Windows 7 VM "Network and Sharing Center" the active network is shown as Public network and it's not underlined so I cannot change it to Private and enable sharing.
I also noticed that several articles about 8.1 and this kind of problem suggest that you use the Modern Interface PC Settings to change the Network adapter to fix this problem but that lists only the host PC's network adapter, not the VMware adapters. It's as if 8.1 does not recognize or even allow control of the VMware adapters -- at least not when using the Modern GUI's Network Settings.
Halp!