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WeaverJK2011101
Contributor
Contributor

Can VMware Workstation run on a Windows 7 Pro laptop whose only hard disk drive is encrypted with Bitlocker?

Good day all.  While I normally find the answers I need with a few quick searches on the Internet, I wasn't able to find the answer to this question.

Does anyone know with certainty that VMware Workstation can run on a Windows 7 Pro laptop whose only hard disk drive has been encrypted using Bitlocker?

I need to write a proposal for a purchase at work and need to know whether or not I'll be able to use Bitlocker on the host computer on which VMware Workstation runs.

Thank you,

John K. Weaver

John K. Weaver - CISSP, CISM, CISA, MCITP-EA, MCITP-VA, MCSE Security, CCNP, CCNA-Security, VCP-DCV, VCP-NV, F5-CA
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4 Replies
WoodyZ
Immortal
Immortal

Since I have not actually tried it all I can say is I see no reason whatsoever that it cannot be done as the encryption should be transparent to the applications installed.  Although as with any process that has to be encrypted/decrypted on the fly there is a performance hit.

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Mikey3883
Contributor
Contributor

I'm in pretty much the exact same situation. I have a fairly powerful laptop running Windows 7 that will be Bitlocker encrypted, but will also need to run VM''s. I appreciate that the encryption/decryption will be transparent to VMware, but the potential performance hit on the Disk I/O is a bit worrying.

Does anyone have any experience/idea of what sort of impact I can expect?

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Umito
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I don't know if it will give any problem with Win 7 Pro.. But, I have been using Windows 7 Enterprise encrypted with Bitlocker and never got an problem..

VWorker99
Contributor
Contributor

I have a high-end desktop workstation with a SSD C: drive and a conventional (large) HDD D drive.  Host: VMware Workstation 11.  All Win 7 64-bit.

The C: drive is BitLockered, however, with the host and two well-spec'd VMs all using it (SSD), all three work well without any lag.  Most productive.

The 😧 drive is not BitLockered, but even with only one VM at a time using that (HDD), the lag/slow speed is abysmal - leave trivial things to run (eg open a file) and go do something else in between - a real productivity killer.

I  conclude that the physical speed/throughput of the drive (SSD vs HDD) itself has a much bigger impact on VM responsiveness than Bitlocker does.

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