Disk space and security

Hello

I recently installed a trial version of Parallels Desktop 4 on Leopard.

With disk space taken up by a Windows XP or Vista (or even Linux) install on Parallels does the Parallels partition increase in size by itself as does a VMWare Fusion install with a snapshot?

I've been using VMWare fusion with snapshots and the size gets bigger by itself. This is the reason I'm trialing Parallels as VMWare Fusion partitions are eating up my disk space and I can't reduce the size of them without deleting my snapshots first. With Parallels do I have to delete any snapshots before I can reduce the size of a partition on the hard drive?

With security if I get a virus on the Windows partition would that affect Leopard at all? With VMWare Fusion I use shared directories so I can store all my data files in Leopard.

Thanks

EDIT: I just read that the virtual machine in Parallels Desktop can't be compacted while there is a snapshot of it. Can I at least make sure the virtual machine doesn't grow beyond a certain size? Or can I backup the snapshot before I delete the snapshot?

 

Hi

If I don't get a reply I wont bother with paying for Parallels Desktop. My trial period runs out soon and I'm already using VMWare Fusion 2.

I just want to know if Parallels Desktop doesn't have the same problem as VMWare Fusion 2 when it comes to eating up hard disk space. Can I get around the problem of not being able to compact the partition if there is a snapshot for it?

 

Answering your question, the virtual machine size can not grow larger than you specify when you create it. You can have a look on the following link to see how it sets up:
http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v4/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/22185.htm
You can also set the disk as plain making it to take the space you specify immediately, This way virtual machine disk size would never change at all.
To control the snapshors amount we can recommend the smart guard feature http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v4/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/27353.htm
This would allow you to set the amount of maximum snapshots so Parallels would automatically delete the old ones.

As for the security, none of the viruses are able to affect the Mac side. Even if you use the shared folders, viruses would not be able to affect Mac-related files and spread on the Mac side. For Windows security, there is Parallels Intenet Security based on the Kaspersky which comes with Parallels pakage and has 1 year free subscription.