Results tagged “Parallels Desktop Upgrade”

Parallels 5 Update doesn't fix problems with Tools Installation

By James Lockman on January 21, 2010 2:12 PM
I have been attempting to use a Parallels Desktop 5 for Macintosh virtual machine with MacOS X Leopard Server on the VM, which is supposed to be supported in Parallels Desktop 5. Although I can create the VM and install the OS, I can't get Parallels Tools to completely install or, conversely, to uninstall. Although the installer reports success, the VM reports that Parallels Tools aren't installed. When I log onto the OS on the VM, some of the expected behaviors are working, like shared folders, but drag and drop files between the VM and the host computer doesn't work. 

Also, on a Windows XP virtual machine, Parallels Tools won't install if I allow the VM to have access to both cores on the laptop, so I have to set the number of CPUs to 1 in order to install Parallels Tools on the Windows XP VM, then set it back to 2. Not as bad as the MacOS VM, though.

An update was released on the 15th of January, which I installed. Unfortunately, the Parallels Tools install issue isn't resolved for either VM.
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Parallels 5 upgrade amazingly snappy

By James Lockman on November 4, 2009 9:03 PM
Having installed the Parallels 5 upgrade on my 3 GB Core 2 Duo MacBook, I was expecting a moderate performance boost with my Windows XP virtual machine. I made the upgrade in order to move to Windows 7, and although Parallels 4 supports Windows 7, Parallels 5 was supposed to provide some performance improvements across the board in addition to a better Windows 7 experience.

Performance boost is an understatement.

I haven't done any benchmarking yet, but starting apps (which used to take half a minute to several minutes, depending on the app) was unexpectedly fast. So fast, with Acrobat 9, for instance, that I didn't even notice that Acrobat had started. Powerpoint 2007 opened in about 4 seconds, and Captivate 4 took only 10 or 11 seconds to get running.

Parallels shared folders, which always took anywhere from 10 to 45 seconds to refresh, took around 8 seconds, no more, to refresh.

I am thus far delighted with this upgrade, and look forward to Windows 7.
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Windows XP Virtual Machine Blue Screen of Death after Parallels 4 to 5 Upgrade

By James Lockman on November 4, 2009 8:36 PM
Always eager to test improvements to Parallels Desktop, I purchased the Parallels 5 upgrade. I was frustrated by a Blue Screen of Death in my Windows XP virtual machine, however, which the help system did not resolve. A quick trip to Google, however, revealed this article in the Parallels help system:
http://kb.parallels.com/en/6873
It explains that you need to set the number of CPUs to 1, then let Parallels install the new tools, then set the CPUs back to 2 or more.

Seems to have done the trick. I just wish that Parallels' help system would have revealed this solution.
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