Running VMware Player : Using Shared Folders

Using Shared Folders
With shared folders, you can easily share files between a virtual machine and the host computer. To use shared folders, configure your virtual machine settings to enable shared folders and specify which directories are to be shared.
 
Caution Enabling all shared folders might pose a security risk because a shared folder could enable existing programs inside the virtual machine to access the host file system without your knowledge.
You cannot change shared folder settings for an ACE unless it is running in administrator mode. See Entering Administrator Mode for ACEs for more information.
Enabling and Disabling Folder Sharing
Under Folder Sharing, you can select one of the following global options:
Disabled — No folders are shared.
Always enabled — Folders for which sharing is enabled in the Folders section (described next) are shared.
Enabled until next power off or suspend — Folders for which sharing is enabled in the Folders section (described next) are shared, but only until the next time the virtual machine is suspended or powered off.
Choosing Which Folders to Share
Under Folders, you can choose which individual folders are shared and set other folder properties.
If you download or move a virtual machine that someone else created and the virtual machine has shared folders, by default the shared folders will be disabled until you specifically enable them. Select or deselect the Enabled check box for the shared folder that you want to enable or disable. You can also modify this and other folder properties from the Properties dialog box (described next).
Editing Folder Properties
Use the controls in this dialog box to change the settings for shared folders used by this virtual machine:
Name and Host Folder text boxes— Edit to change the name or location of the folder on the host system.
Enabled — When selected, the contents of the folder are available to the current virtual machine.
Read-only —When selected, the current virtual machine can view and copy files from the folder but cannot add, change, or remove files.
Accessing Shared Folders on the Guest Operating System
To access the enabled shared folder on the guest operating system:
On Windows, map a network drive to the Shared Folders directory.
Viewing Shared Folders in a Windows Guest
In a Windows guest operating system, you can view shared folders using desktop icons. Look in My Network Places > Entire Network (Network Neighborhood for a Windows NT guest, or Network for Windows Vista) under VMware Shared Folders.
If you have trouble finding a shared folder using the desktop icon, open Windows Explorer and look in My Network Places (or Network Neighborhood).
For example, if you specify the name Test files for one of your shared folders, you can navigate to it on the guest system by opening My Network Places > Entire Network > VMware Shared Folders > .host > Shared Folders > Test files.
You can also go directly to the folder using the UNC path
\\.host\Shared Folders\Test files.
On the guest system, you can map a shared folder to a drive letter just as you would with a network share. In Windows Explorer, choose Tools > Map Network Drive and browse to the location of the shared folder. The shared folder is located at \\.host\Shared Folders.
Viewing Shared Folders in a Linux Guest
On a Linux guest, shared folders appear under /mnt/hgfs.
To change the settings for a shared folder on the list, click the folder’s name to highlight it and click Properties. The Properties dialog box appears. After making changes, click OK.