I use VMWare Player to run Linux Mint under Windows, then use sftp and ssh to connect to our network. Once you install the VMWare Tools (after setting up the linux machine re-sizing is no problem. I also imported XP Mode into VMWare Play and got that working as a VM. Again you have to install the VMW Tools after setting the XP VM. You need to download the VMWare converter and install as client-server.