laptop & desktop access to virtual machine on external drive

[drum365]

Hi, everyone-

This is my first post here. I've tried several searches in these forums, and although I've found a few threads that seem to suggest that what I want to do is possible, I want to make sure this really will work (and be legal, etc.) before I go spending a lot of time and plunking down a lot of money on this.

I rarely need to run Windows, but when I do, I really need to run Windows. I have an Apple laptop (MacBook) and desktop (Mac Mini). What I would like to do is have a Windows 7 virtual machine sitting on an external drive, and be able to run that virtual machine from either my laptop or my desktop machine when the need arises. So my questions are:

1. Does a VMware Fusion license allow me to install the program on both my laptop and my desktop?
2. Assuming the answer to the first question is "yes," can I then create a virtual machine that resides on an external drive that I can plug into either of my Macs and run the virtual machine for either one?
3. Assuming affirmative answers to the previous questions, can I do this without running into Windows 7 authorization issues, running a virtual machine first on one piece of (Apple) hardware and then on another? (I am vaguely aware that Windows XP authorization was somehow tied to hardware. Is that how Windows 7 also handles authorizations, and does Fusion somehow trick Windows into thinking it's on the same machine each time?)
4. Assuming I can do all these things, how do I go about setting this up?
5. Are there any other "gotchas" I need to be aware of? Do I need, for instance, to be sure to shut down the virtual machine, rather than merely suspending it, stuff like that?

Thanks for any input on this! Your help would be much appreciated!

[drum365]

P.S. Just in case I need to clarify - I am not trying to access the virtual machine from both Macs simultaneously - just from one Mac at a time.

Thanks again-

[ColoradoMarmot]

1) Can't answer 1, but I believe you need two copies.

2) Yes, assuming that they have similar hardware (i.e.  if one's an i7 and the other a core2duo, the hardware change will be exposed to the VM and may trigger OS reactivation).  You MUST shutdown (not suspend) the VM to be safe.

3) See #2 above - depends on the underlying hardware.

4) Just do it - plug the drive into the computer, and doubleclick on the VM.  Keep in mind that USB drives are very slow and performance will suffer.

[WoodyZ]

1. Does a VMware Fusion license allow me to install the program on both my laptop and my desktop?

No, you need to have a separate license for each system that you install VMware Fusion on.

5. Are there any other "gotchas" I need to be aware of? Do I need, for instance, to be sure to shut down the virtual machine, rather than merely suspending it, stuff like that?

If WPA is triggered you will not be able to keep moving it back and forth.

Yes you should never suspend a virtual machine that will be moved to another computer.

[drum365]

Thanks to dlhotka and WoodyZ for the replies.

I'm surprised that I can't install VMware on a laptop and desktop. That strikes me as kind of strange - so many companies allow that these days. So I guess I stopped at Question 1. Bummer.

Oh, well... like I said, thanks for the replies!