installing windows 10 as separate VM

I am using parallels 11 with windows 7. Can I install Windows 10 into a separate VM or must I update my Windows 7 VM?

 

Hello @RLDumfries
If you have an installation image(.iso)/CD/USB Stick of Windows 10, you may create a new Windows 10 virtual machine as outlined in this article

 

Ahhhh. Only the upgrade is free and that can only be installed on an existing Windows VM. Bummer as I would like to have both installed to make sure my existing programs work under win10.

Thanks.

 

Hi RLDumfries,
Check this link to clone your existing virtual machine as a separate one and you can upgrade to Windows 10, which in turn gives you ability to keep both Operating system inside individual virtual machines.
Thanks, Dhana.

 

Thanks. Created the clone. Using the instructions posts on Facebook downloaded the Iso file and burned it to a DVD. When trying to connect the image (devices\CD/DVD1 >connect image), it takes me to the documents\parallels folder, where my cloned VM resides and won't actually access the DVD where the ISO file is.

What am I doing wrong or missing?

 

Alternately, you could locate the source of CD/DVD to the .iso file on the Finder instead of your DVD. This might actually speed up the upgrade process. Try and let us know how it goes.

 

Found my problem - I initially ignored a pop up that said to click here to install. I did move the file from downloads.to desktop to avoid using the dvd'. Thanks for the tip.

I ddo notice one thing. I had cloned my bum and named it Windows 10. The install appears to have started another VM and gave it the same name. Am I seeing this correctly?

 

Mesh. Instead of bum. I meant VM.

 

WINDOWS 10 is installed but nothing is like I thought it would be.

I had VM named Macbook windows 7. Cloned it and named it Macbook Windows 10, thinking this would be the one I upgrade. Started win10 VM, then started the Win10 install process. I though I would end up with my Macbook Win7 VM and my Macbook Win10 VM, with my software programs installed.

What I have are three VMs: Macbook win7, Macbook win10 (with win7); and a Windows 10 VM, with none of my programs installed.

Question: IS this what I should have expected? If so, why did I have to clone my VMs? Can I delete the macbook win10 VM? If so , how?

 

You could remove any unwanted VMs as suggested in this article.

 

If you need separate copies of the same VM, I would suggest you to manually copy the virtual machine(.pvm) file from Finder. Check this link to find the virtual machine files in Finder.

 

Sasti: This is putting the cart in front of the horse as I already have the copies of my VMs. What I need to know is why did the win10 upgrade create a new VM instead of upgrading an existing one? Not having the Windows software in Win10 is not much of a problem on my laptop as I only have a couple. IT IS A REALLY BIG DEAL on my desktop.

As it stands now, I cannot afford to 'upgrade' my windows VM on my desktop - I don't have the time to reinstall all of. Yo software.

Since I was told by this forum to clone my VM so I could have both versions of Windows, why did I end up with three VMs? Is there anyway to upgrade my Windows VM to 10 and have my software convert?

 

@RLDumfries, if you upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, the applications and files are generally intact. This means when you upgrade to Windows 10 as suggested in this KB article, all of your Windows applications should be available. The advantage of using VM over PC is you can have a full backup(by backing up the .pvm file) of your Windows. This will prove useful if your upgraded Windows 10 cannot run your third party Windows application. Let us know if you need more information.

 

Sasti: Thanks for the info. I read the article and downloaded the tool (media......?). I've not tried to upgrade on my desktop yet but I do have a couple of observations/questions.

1: The article states that of I have the latest version of Parallels 11 (which I do) I should be able to select the 'upgrade to windows 10' option. I do not show this s an option on any of my VMs. Should I be concerned about this?

2: On my cloned VM reading on my desktop, I cannot change the name from within settings. No mater if the VM is open or closed, the name is 'locked'. Again, should I be concerned about this, as this is the VM I was planning to use to update to Win 10?

 

I have the same issue with no "upgrade to windows 10" option and I have the latest version of 11.

 

Dear DianS,
If you would like to upgrade to Windows 10, please follow the below steps
NOTE: for installing a 64-bit version of Windows 10 please make sure your virtual machine has at least 2GB of RAM assigned. To check virtual machine's RAM please open configuration menu -> Hardware tab -> CPU & Memory. To increase the memory you would need to shut down your virtual machine.
Also, at least 10 Gb free space on the virtual hard disk is required. Add more free space on Windows as perhttp://kb.parallels.com/113972.
1. Take a snapshot of the Virtual Machine by clicking on Action > Take Snapshot.
2. Download Windows 10 installation image(.iso)
3. Connect the downloaded Windows 10 installation to the Virtual Machine. Go to Virtual Machine configuration > Hardware > CD/DVD1 > Source > Choose an image file
4. Run a Setup.exe to the begin the upgrade process.

 

When you say "choose an image file", are you referring to the VM? That is where I end up.

 

If you have downloaded Windows 10 installation image(.iso), choose the installation image(Windows10.iso) as suggested and the installation image will be mounted in the Windows side.

 

I am getting confused and very frustrated as I am being told at least two,different methods of upgrading an existing VM To Windows ten.

One method is in the post above. Method two is the procedure described in article 122884. The third method involved running the iOS setup by itself. Method three created a brand new VM with none of my software carried over. Fortunately it was on my laptop with only three programs installed.

I want to update my existing VM tomWindows 10 AND have ALL of my current software included and ready to run. Which method best achieves this goal?

 

Hello RLDumfries,

You have three options for upgrading to Windows 10.
1.) Through normal Windows updates for upgrading to Windows 10
2.) Using Media creation Tool - which can be downloaded from Microsoft Website [Actions -> Windows 10 Upgrade, will also download the same tool]
3.) Using Windows 10 ISO [Mounting the ISO in VM and launching setup.exe]

You can use any these options for upgrading Windows, the fastest way for upgrading is the third option but if you prefer all the programs to be updated to Windows 10 then you can use any of first two options and during the upgrade, you will be prompted to keep files and apps or remove. If you are not getting that option then the is issue is within Windows 7 file system.

Thanks,
Ajith M.