I'm having some real trouble setting up a good way to share files between my Parallels VMs and my Mac. I don't want them stored on virtual disks because it's a pain for backup and synchronization. Some Windows apps have issues with the Shared Folders, so that's out. The only other good option may be a FAT partition. So, a couple questions: (1) How much of a security issue is it to install Windows on a FAT partition? You lose permissions and such. (2) Can I set up Boot Camp on an NTFS partition (with associated Parallels VM), create a third FAT partition for my documents, and still keep Boot Camp happy? Thanks!
In my experience, using FAT instead of NTFS had little security implications. You could use MacFUSE + NTFS-3G and get read/write support for the NTFS partition, but then I heard it might have trouble with Parallels recognizing a partition mounted via this solution. Here's what I do: get a USB flash drive (getting cheaper every day!), format it as FAT. Mount from OS X or Parallels as needed.
Thanks. Dunno if I want to go the flash drive route - somewhat of a pain with a laptop - but it's good to hear that installing on FAT might be OK security-wise. As to the other question: Boot Camp is cranky about nonstandard partition setups. Is there a way to set up Boot Camp with a partitioning scheme with NTFS for Windows, HFS+ for Mac, and a third FAT partition for sharing files? Would one set up Boot Camp first and then repartition with iPartition, or is there a way to do it all in one go?
