Using Shared Profile

Parallels Desktop provides close integration between your Mac OS and Windows guest OS. Now you can access certain Mac Home folders directly from Windows and vice versa. To use this functionality, you should have Parallels Tools installed in the virtual machine and the Isolate Mac from Windows option disabled in the Security pane .

Note: To enable the Shared Profile functionality, you must share all Mac disks or at least your Mac Home folder. You can configure the necessary sharing settings in the Sharing pane . If neither Mac disks nor Mac Home folder is shared with the virtual machine, select Redirect Windows user folders to Mac in the Sharing pane , click OK and then Continue . Mac OS X Home folder will be automatically shared with the virtual machine and Shared Profile enabled.

If you activate the Shared Profile functionality by selecting Redirect Windows user folders to Mac in the Sharing pane , you can click Configure below this option and specify the following options:

• Select Desktop to use the Mac desktop as the desktop in your Windows guest OS.
• Select Documents to use the Documents folder on your Mac as the My Documents folder in your Windows guest OS.
• Select Pictures to use the Pictures folder on your Mac as the My Pictures folder in your Windows guest OS.
• Select Music to use the Music folder on your Mac as the My Music folder in your Windows guest OS.
• Select Movies to use the Movies folder on your Mac as the My Videos folder in your Windows guest OS. (for Windows XP/Vista/7 only)
• Select Downloads to use the Downloads folder on your Mac as the Downloads folder in your Windows guest OS. (for Windows Vista/7 only)

Warning: If you delete any Mac OS X file from the Windows desktop when the Mac OS X desktop sharing is enabled, you will not be able to find this file in Mac OS X Trash or Windows Recycle Bin. The file will be deleted from your computer permanently.

When Shared Profile is enabled, the virtual machine desktop will display the icons present on Mac OS X Desktop, the My Documents folder will contain items stored in the Documents folder on your Mac. The other folders will behave in a similar way.

To enable and configure Shared Profile, use the Sharing pane of the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog.

Disabling Shared Profile

You can disable Shared Profile either by clearing the Redirect Windows user folders to Mac option in the Sharing pane or by disabling Mac folders sharing at runtime or in the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog.