Renaming and replacing the file "Zero-s041.vmdk" with "Zero-s036.vmdk" has resulted in a bootable VM Zero (problem solved Wil!). Cursory examination of the OS and data components suggests that nothing significant was lost. Of course, I'm left wondering what caused this to happen in the first place (not knowing for sure if it was the recent Microsoft update that caused Outlook to cease functioning).
I was thinking of replacing the current Zero altogether, after backing up important data from it, since it's a windows 7 image and I've been moving everything over to Windows 10 for the most part. That would probably make sense to do anyway, even without the issue you helped me resolve.
I can't thank you enough Wil. You saved me from disaster.
I'm getting that your solution, Vimalin, is a great idea. I will need to upgrade from Player to Pro, however, in order to make use of it. However, I can say this is quite clearly on my mind now as a thing to accomplish this year (as soon as possible). I really need to do a complete hardware regrade/upgrade with more internal storage availability, with Workstation Pro and Vimalin then running on a more realistic storage/functional desktop than the one I'm using at present.
Thanks so much (…) for all your help Wil.