Given that all VMs on a host use the same underlying hardware, shouldn't all VMs on that host report the same network adapter? I have two VMs -- Windows 7 (6.1 SP1, build 7601) and Windows 10 (1511 build 10586.318) -- hosted in Parallels 12.2.0 (41591) on a Macbook Pro (OS X 10.11.6 (15G1421). The configuration of the Win7 VM (under Hardware > Network 1 > Advanced Settings) reports a Type of "Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT". While the Win10 VM reports a Type of "Intel(R) Gigabit CT (82574L)". Shouldn't these each show the same adapter given they're running on the same hardware?
ANSWER: Yes, they should. This is a selectable option that is not selectable unless the VM is not running. I don't know why mine auto-selected the wrong adapter, but there you are.
Yes, you can only change the type of network adapter if the virtual machine is shutdown. You can also refer to this article to know more about the network adapters.
The default network adapter for Windows 7 is Intel e1000. For Windows Vista and later - intel 82574.. Changing default settings is not recommended until there is no a clear need in this.
@Elric. You mean a "clear need" like having it work at all? The Intel 82574 did not work at all with the Windows 10 VM as described in my lengthy post. The e1000 (the same one being used by the Windows 7 VM) works flawlessly with the Windows 10 VM and the issues I described have not returned.
As I've just looked into your post, you have HyperV role installed. Changing adapter type could have created new network interface in Guest without HyperV binding to it. May be just uninstalling HyperV also solved the issue.
I assume you are referring to my original post Windows 10 VM has inconsistent network issues. This current VM does not have Hyper-V configured while the original VM did have it configured. However, both were set to the Intel 82574 adapter and both exhibited this network issue. It was only changing to the E1000 adapter that corrected the issues. So, I don't know what is recommended or preferred or whatever. All I know is changing to the E1000 adapter on this Windows 10 VM allowed the network to operate correctly (meaning, "operate at all") wheres neither VM worked with the Intel 82574 adapter.
