Brand new install + sharing Windows My Documents folder

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by Rob G, Jul 9, 2008.

  1. Rob G

    Rob G Junior Member

    Messages:
    17
    Hi there,

    I'm sitting in front of my first ever Mac, a brand new iMac. Unfortunately I need to run some applications in Windows...so thought I would give Parallels Desktop a try. I've spent quite a while reading the guides and forums, but am still not entirely clear on how best to proceed with configuration. Hoping someone can help quickly, as I need to be up and running with a Windows virtual machine in the morning.

    My source machine is running Windows XP Home SP3, which is installed on the C drive. The "My Documents" folder is mapped to a folder called "Rob's Documents" on the D drive. What I want to do is have Windows running on my Mac in Parallels, and have the whole of this "My Documents" folder (currently on my source D drive) accessible both within the VM and within OS X (including when the VM is not running). Another way of saying it is that I want to use this folder both as the default documents folder both in the Windows VM and in OS X. Also, very importantly, I want to be able to back up this folder on a daily basis from OS X, even when the VM isn't running.

    What I'm not clear about is the order in which to do things. I have installed Parallels Transporter on my Windows machine. Should I just "export" th OS and worry about the documents folder later? Do I even need to use Transporter to export the docs folder or can I just copy it across to my Mac docs folder "as is" and set my Windows VM to use that folder as its default My Documents folder?

    Final piece of info - I'm planning to use an external drive to physically get the required files across from PC to Mac.

    Fingers crossed that someone can give me a bit of a step by step breakdown of what order I need to do things in.

    Thanks in advance,

    Rob
     
  2. John@Parallels

    John@Parallels Forum Maven

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    6,333

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