Risk of storing a vmware fusion Windows XP Professional.vmwarevm on a shared disk

[pmcb]

I am running VMware fusion on a MacBook Pro.  I have a Windows XP SP3 image. 

What are the risks of storing this image on a shared drive or a shared backup device (e.g., Apple Time Capsule)? 

Can someone find/view files stored in the XP Image?

Are there other privacy/security risks?

Thanks

[WoodyZ]

The risks are the same as with any other files/folders you choose to store wherever.

[pmcb]

WoodyZ thanks for the reply.

Quick follow up...

Are all the XP files inside the multiple .vdmk files in the bundle able to be easily viewed, or is the XP Password somehow leveraged to encrypt or hash the contents?

Thanks.

[admin]

is the XP Password somehow leveraged to encrypt or hash the contents?

Not unless you've encrypted the files in the guest. If you're concerned about security, you might try keeping the virtual machine in an encrypted disk image, but I'd imagine this would impact performance.

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

Are all the XP files inside the multiple .vdmk files in the bundle able to be easily viewed

Eric already answered the second part of your question so I'll answer the first part.  While they are not as easily viewed as just seeing the .vmdk files exist, as seeing them in Finder as an example, nonetheless whoever has access can also with the right tools see the contents of the .vmdk files if not encrypted.  In other words the .vmdk files can be mounted with a ctrl-click > Open With... > VMDKMounter.  There are other programs that can open and view the contents without mounting them just like opening a .zip file in BetterZip.

The bottom line is, with the exception of being encrypted and one not knowing the password then, anyone that has access and knowledge can see whatever they want.

Which bring me back to my original statement: "The risks are the same as with any other files/folders you choose to store wherever."

[ColoradoMarmot]

Keep in mind it'll also be VERY VERY slow.