Specifications

5 Browse to a virtual disk (.vmdk) file, select it, and click Open.
6 Select the volume to map or mount and select an unused drive letter on the host system.
7 (Optional) On a Windows host, if you do not want the drive to open in Windows Explorer after it is
mapped, deselect the Open drive in Windows Explorer after mapping check box.
8 Click OK or Mount.
The drive appears on the host system. You can read from or write to files on the mapped virtual disk on
the host system.
Disconnect a Virtual Disk from the Host System
To use a virtual disk from a virtual machine after it has been mapped or mounted on the host system, you
must disconnect it from the host system.
On Windows hosts, you must use Player to disconnect the drive from the host system. The mapped drive
letter does not appear in the list of network drives when you use the Windows Disconnect Network Drive
command.
Procedure
1 Select the virtual machine and select Player > Manage > Virtual Machine Settings.
2 On the Hardware tab, select Hard Disk, click Utilities, and select Disconnect.
You can now power on any virtual machine that uses this disk.
Add a Host Printer to a Virtual Machine
You can print from a virtual machine to any printer available to the host computer without having to install
additional drivers in the virtual machine.
The Player printer feature uses ThinPrint technology to replicate the host system printer mapping in the
virtual machine. When you enable the virtual machine printer, Player configures a virtual serial port to
communicate with the host printers.
Procedure
1 Select the virtual machine and select Player > Manage > Virtual Machine Settings.
2 On the Hardware tab, select Add.
3 In the Add Hardware wizard, select Printer and Finish.
The default device setting is to connect the virtual machine printer when the virtual machine is
powered on.
What to do next
In a Print window, when you attempt to select a printer in Windows 7 virtual machines, you might see only
the default printer, even though other printers are available. To see the other printers, right-click the default
printer and point to Printer properties.
Using Removable Devices in Virtual Machines
You can use removable devices such as floppy drives, DVD and CD-ROM drives, USB devices, and smart
card readers in virtual machines.
Some devices cannot be used by the host system and a guest operating system, or by multiple guest
operating systems, simultaneously.
Getting Started with VMware Player
52 VMware, Inc.