How to create a 'new' virtual machine using only VMware Player

Well, not exactly new, hence the quotation marks.

But if you:

• already have a virtual machine,
• need a new one with another operating system, but do not need another configuration for this new machine (for example, smaller or bigger HDD),

you can simply:

• make a copy of the existing virtual machine's folder,
• run the machine from the new location,
• put an installation CD of the new operating system and change the booting device to CD-ROM.

Quick and dirty method, but it works - I installed an evaluation copy of Windows Server 2003 this way.

And if you have more time, you may find these articles interesting:
  VMX-builder
  How-to: VMware player modification
  How to create virtual machines using VMware Player