Minimum Space To Dedicate for XP Professional

[Chamlin]

First time with Player. About to install XP Professional on my SSD drive. Don't want to dedicate more space than necessary. What is the minimum I should dedicate in the setup?

Will only be using two legacy programs in XP:

• PageMaker 6.52
• Quickbooks 2007

Thanks,

Chamlin

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - It all depends how much you want to store on the virtual disk - 10-20 GB will be sufficient to install XP in the VM

[WoodyZ]

You can alway increase the size of the virtual hard disk if need be, so you could start with say 8 GB and you should be fine for what you said you're using.  Also note that in a few months Microsoft will not longer be providing any updates for Windows XP and I wouldn't connect Windows XP to a Network or Internet after EOL Support.

[Chamlin]

Thanks to both of you.

• I plan on NOT storing anything on the virtual disk. The intent is to just install XP, PageMaker, 10 fonts and QB. That's it.
• My setup is 2 windows 7 professional systems (desktop and laptop) which are networked in a workgroup with full shares going in both directions.
• The VMWare player XP will be in the desktop and it's unlikely that I'd need access to the VM from the laptop.
• I won't be installing any email clients or web browsers on the VM XP.

1.  Given what I've described, might I be able to use less space? Or should I go no lower than 8 GB for XP to flow well. And if I set the VM for 8 GB, how will I know when / if I need to expand?

2.  After EOL support evaporates in April, will the system be at risk given what I've described? Does my Online Armor Firewall and Emsisoft Anti-Malware protect the VM?

3.  Re: VM functionality — will I be able to open PageMaker and Quickbooks in the VM and access my files on the desktop, work with them, and them pass them back to the desktop? Does this require a special network sharing?

Really grateful for the help,

Chamlin

[WoodyZ]

You can easily start with 6 GB and Windows XP will tell you when you're getting low on space on the virtual disk.  As far as security type software if it's not installed in the Virtual Machine then it doesn't directly protect it.  Indirectly by keeping the Host's safe it reduces the risk to the Guest however an errant process initiated on the Guest will not be stopped on the Guest by the Host software.

For sharing and not being directly connected to the LAN you can use VMware Shared Folders feature.

[Chamlin]

Thanks, WoodyZ.

Is it better to use the VMware Shared Folders feature than to have the VM directly connected to the workgroup? And if the direct version is good, how does one go about sharing the VM? Does it show up as another drive?

Also, where's the best "newbie" how-to instructions for installing and configuring things like the Shared Folders --- the remedial class instructions.  :smileyhappy:

[WoodyZ]

Personally I prefer to use file sharing that is built-in the OS vs. the VMware Shared Folders feature and if you want all physically and virtual machines to be on the same subnet and workgroup then OS based file sharing is the way to go.  If you're just want to go between Host and Guest then VMware Shared Folders is an option to consider.  As far as VMware Shared Folders the VMware Player Help file is the place to start.

[Chamlin]

Yes, I'd prefer the network connection too. Here's where I've gotten to:

• Player installed.   Went with 8 GB space, and though it suggested 512k RAM, I used 1 GB.
• VM Tools installed.
• XP installed and product key entered.
• Now downloading XP SP3.

1. Is there anything else I need to do in setting the player up?

2. I have 16 GB RAM in my system. Should I dedicate more RAM to the VM?

3. I see my network noticing the VM. When I click on the VM in the Network section of Explorer, it asks for a computer name and password. I didn't set a password up when installing but see that it might allow me to connect it to my network. How does one set up the machine's password so I can introduce it to the network?

[Chamlin]

Attempting to "see" the VM drive folders from my Win 7 Pro system. The VM shows up on the network, but when I click on it, I get this: http://screencast.com/t/IXeFhhiFYP8c

I think the first time I clicked on it it asked me for a username and password and I didn't know what to input so I tried the VM name as it shows up on the network and the password for the Host system...which I know doesn't make sense. When I installed the VM Player, it asked if I want to put in a password and I didn't. Might've been a mistake as the rest of the network shares the same password and networks seem to like passwords.

Addl. Screenshots: of the Options "manage" section.

2014-01-14_1740 - chamlin's library

2014-01-14_1741 - chamlin's library

Is this recoverable? :smileyconfused:

[Chamlin]

UPDATE: Okay, muddling my way through this...

GOAL: To be able to be in the VM (XP), using Quickbooks, and access via the netword, the Quickbooks .qbw file. I want the file to reside in my data drive so it's backed up regularly.

CHALLENGE: In Control Panel's "Windows Credentials" section, I see the VM drive. These are the settings:

• Internet or Network Address:  BODHI-CJHMV091E
• Username: ??????? Not sure what to use

My Laptop is setup like this:

• Internet or Network Address:  WHALE-LAPTOP
• Username: WHALE-LAPTOP\Whale

So I'm thinking the username needs to be:  BODHI-CJHMV091E\??????????  How would I figure this out?