Error in the RPC receive loop: RpcIn: Unable to send

Problem:

Error message above is flooded in Event Viewer on a MS Windows VM guest when vmtools upgrade is performed to 5.1 but I encountered the same error recently after fresh installation of VMWare tools on new VM guest.
Error message for Linux guest is the same. According to KB2036350 - this should be fix the problem, however the tools.conf sometimes is not created.

The Performance Overview tab fails to display into vSphere Client and VCSA 5.1

Problem:
I cannot view the Performance Overview tab when connecting to vCenter Server Appliance using the vSphere Client 5.1 on MS Windows XP / 2003.

Variations of the error message in the Performance Overview tab:
- This program cannot display the webpage - more often seen
- Navigation to the webpage was cancelled - rarely viewed