Virtual Machines" & "Microsoft User Data"

[sburg]

I have installed Fusion on my Mac running OSX 10.5.1 and for some reason Fusion has placed Virtual Machines" & "Microsoft User Data" into my Downloads folder in my dock stacks. I thought my cloned XP PC created with the Converter Program would have installed those 2 folders along with VMware Fusion in MAC Application so I went ahead and put them in the trash. Everything functioned properly until I shut down the virtual machine and tried to start it again - the virtual machine did not exist in the Fusion startup window. I can't recall how I got it to find the Virtual Machine, but it did - I then pulled the 2 folders out of the trash and put them back in "Downloads" Stack on my Dock where Fusion put them during the install. Is Downloads the proper place for these files or should I create a folder in Applications and place everything in that folder? This seems like an odd place for those 2 folders... Thanks and any insight will be appreciated.

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

By default, with a Virtual Machine of the Boot Camp Partition the exception, native VMware Fusion Virtual Machines are created in the "~/Documents/Virtual Machines" folder. ~ Is your Home Folder.

This does not mean that you have to keep them there or can't create them in a different location. As an example I place all my VM's in the "/Virtual Machines" folder (that's the root of the hdd) because it suites my various backup schemes better then having them within my Home Folder.

If your computer came with Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac or you installed it, the "Microsoft User Data" folder was created by that and it should be used only for Microsoft Products so as to not mess-up what MS is doing within that folder.

I would shutdown any running VM's and close Fusion and move the VM's to a more appropriate location and then go from there.

Note: When you restart each VM you will be asked if you moved or copied them and in this case you want to say moved.