Linux seems to often have a problem with the keys randomly repeating when using the virtual console before VMWare Tools has been installed. Unfortunately this can make it a nightmare to install the OS because you need to use the keyboard to set things like the root password.
To solve this problem follow the following:
Edit the properties of your VM as shown below:
On the next screen, select “Add Row”:
keyboard.typematicMinDelay 3000000
Create a parameter with the name keyboard.typematicMinDelay and give it a value of 3000000. If you still get key repeats then you can increase the value.