If you want to test a new software, then it is better to install and use it on a virtual machine first. VMWare Workstation is the best way to run virtual machines on a Windows PC. It allows us to run many guest operating systems such as many versions of Windows and Linux. We can run even some of the oldest operating systems including MS-DOS. When running a virtual machine with the help of VMWare Workstation, you may want to encrypt your virtual machine so that nobody can change its data without your permission.
Here is how we can encrypt a virtual machine created and running using VMWare Workstation:
- Launch VMWare Workstation and select the virtual machine tab for the virtual machine that you want to encrypt. If the tab is not already open, then you have to first open the VMX file for the virtual machine in the VMWare Workstation window.
- Click on the Edit Virtual Machine Settings for the selected virtual machine.
- In the virtual machine settings window that opens up, select the Options tab.
- Select Access Control from the list of settings in the left side.
- Click on the Encrypt button on the right side. This button is visible only if your virtual machine is not already encrypted and fulfills all the encryption requirements.
- Enter the encryption password twice and click on the Encrypt button. Depending on the size of the virtual machine, it might take a few hours for the encryption to complete. It also depends on your computer’s hardware whether the encryption will be faster or slower.
Once encryption is finished, you will have to enter the password used for the encryption for accessing the virtual machine. Even when you want to change the virtual machine configuration, this password will be needed. This is why you should note down this password because in the event you forget this password, you will lose the virtual machine entirely.