Hello there!
First of all, I use the German version of VMware Fusion 5. So if you encounter any weird words I used, sorry for that but I couldn't find a way to contact the German support (if specific support exists at all).
Today I installed VMware Fusion 5 on my Macbook and updated it to the newest version. Then I installed Windows XP Professional inclusive Service Pack 3 and Windows 7 Ultimate (both in isolated environments) without using bootcamp. (The OS I am using: Mac OS 10.7.5 (Lion)) The virtual machines both run without any problems except for one: When I installed Windows XP, I had to leave 40GB of disk space to WinXP and when installing Win7, I had to leave 60GB to Win7. I don't need that much of disk space for my virtual machines though. I tried to decrease the amount of disk space left behind for WinXP and Win7 ('Settings' -> 'Harddisks' -> 'Virtual Harddisk.vmdk') but I was not able to decrease the amount of 40GB (fpr WinXP) \ 60GB (for Win7). How do I do that? I seem to be able to increase the amount, though. It just won't get lower than 40GB\60GB.
Apart from that, I noticed something strange: When I installed WinXP and left 40GB for this VM, the amount of space on my MacintoshHD went down 40GB. When I installed Win7, though, it did not go down the 60GB used for Win7. What happened here? Besides, I cannot find any data on my MacintoshHD which corresponds to the 40GB I "lost".
Then I got two more questions:
Is the amount of RAM reserved for the virtual machines temporarily unusable by Mac OS while the virtual machine is running or is it a permament reservation so that I cannot use the RAM when I only use Mac OS?
Can I use the space on a usb-stick for a virtual harddisk? If so, can I even use one virtual harddisk for WinXP and Win7? Let's say, I use a 30GB usb-stick, can I use the 30GB as a virtual harddisk that can be used by both, WinXP and Win7?
By the way, I would really like to get advice on how to fix this problem by only using VMware without any other software I would have to download. I have read some tutorials on how to fix this, but they said further software is required. I think it should be possible to do this without any other software and well, hopefully, it will work somehow.
Oh, and one more thing: If I delete a virtual machine, what is going to happen to the disk space left for the VM? Can it be used by Mac OS right away?
Many thanks in advance!
Greetings,
orangebanana
EDIT:
Also, I managed to transfer space which is "not needed" (marked yellow) by WinXP and Win7 to Mac OS. This doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for, though, because I could anly transfer about 1 or 2GB.
