Parallels would just hide on me and would not appear again

I'm coming across this issue almost every couple of days now. Infact, i'm recovering from a crash as I'm typing this out. And since I'm maintaining all my GTD lists in Outlook, this can get really bothersome.

What happens all of a sudden either while using Parallels or when I'm using any other app, Parallels would hide on me. And then what ever I do (click on the icon in the Dock, use Cmd+Tab, or Expose), Parallels would just not appear. If I right click on the Dock and quite, Parallels would not quit. When I Force Quit it does work. And then I restart Parallels again.

This is one of the main issues I'd like to format my Mac. Unfortunately I can't do that yet, but that's a story for another post.

Running:
Leopard 5.2
Latest Parallels Build: 5584

Anybody else facing this issue, please do post. And if anyone's got any suggestions, would be really mighty-grateful.

Cheerio,
Arif

 

Hello Arif,

Can you see Parallels Desktop menu bar?
If you can, try changing vew mode under View menu item.
You can also try Enter+Alt keys combination to change view mode.

Please let me know if this helps.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hi Xenos,

Nope, don't see the menu bar. But I tried changing the view mode by right clicking the dock and from the menu options that showed up. That doesn't work either. What's interesting is though, if I send a command, for eg. Crtl+Alt+Del or Open Start menu by right clicking on the Dock, the tiny screenshot on the Dock reflects these commands. But Parallels still stays Hidden. Till I Force Shut Down and restart it, that is.

Arif

 

Hello Arif,

This behavior is very strange for Parallels. The only idea I have now is to repair disk permissions and uninstall Parallels completely:

1. Reboot your Mac.

2. Browse the Applications folder. Open Utilities and launch Disk Utility.

3. Select Macintosh HD on the left tab and click the Repair Disk Permissions button.

4. Launch the Uninstall Parallels Desktop application (you can find it on the Parallels Desktop CD or in the downloaded Parallels Desktop DMG package) and follow the on-screen instructions. Please note that Parallels Uninstaller does not remove virtual machines from your Macintosh hard disk. It is important to use the Uninstaller of the Parallels Desktop version currently installed or newer.

5. Delete these folders, if they can be found in your system:

/Library/StartupItems/Parallels
/Applications/Parallels

6. You may also need to delete the following files (it is recommended to restart your Macintosh computer before deleting them):

/System/Library/Extensions/vmmain.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/hypervisor.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/Pvsvnic.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/ConnectUSB.kext
/System/Library/Extensions/Pvsnet.kext

7. Repeat steps 2 and 3.

8. Restart your computer again and install Parallels Desktop for Mac.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hi Xenos,

Thanks for replying and letting me know that this is not expected of Parallels. What I've done is that I first backed up my mac using Super Duper. I've formatted my Mac, restored my Profile and My Documents & Folders but not my applications. And then installed Parallels. Would this give the similar effect to the steps you've recommended?

What was interesting is that when I did install Parallels, (it was wiped out after my format), I didn't need to enter the Activation Key neither did I have to restore back my Windows XP. After installation it started as if everything was just as it was before formatting.

Thanks once again Xenos,
Arif

 

Hello Arif,

Glad to know you have managed to fix the issue.
The steps you've performed are more comprehensive then the solution proposed in my post.
It is OK that you didn't need to enter the Activation Key because you have restored your Profile.
Cheers

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hello Xenos,

The formatting has helped. i've been ruthlessly hiding and unhiding parallels and so far it's performed beautifully. It was worth going through a format!

Thanks Xenos. The only issue I'm facing now is that F11 and F12 is not working, which used to be fine under Tiger. Hope that will be addressed in future releases.

Cheerio,
Arif

 

Hi Xenos,

The hiding issue of Parallels has struck yet once again. Twice over the last couple of weeks. Symptoms are pretty much the same what I stated earlier. Specifically what happened is:
- The first time I would go to finder and hide all applications, all of them would hide except Parallels. Then I would go to Parallels and try to hide that only, but it would not respond. I begin work on the other applications and after some time, Parallels would be hidden and would not show itself. Only a Forced Quit of Parallels would then restore it.
- The second time, Parallels and Windows XP and been idle for a while. I try to go to Parallels, for some reason it would be hidden. Don't remember if I hid it or it did so automatically. Again nothing would restore it, except a force shut down. In both cases, when I do a Force Quite, Windows XP reboots.

Is there any alternate repair I can try Xenos?
Would reinstalling my Windows XP on a new Parallels Machine help?
If so, what would be the easiest way to transfer data & programs from my old Parallels Machine to my new one?

Do help me out on this Xenos. Would really highly appreciate it.

Arif

 

Same problem - just started yestserday

Hi,

I am experiencing the same problem. Parallels windows (for no apparent rhyme or reason) will simply disappear from my desktop. This can happen when Windows is running or not. The whole thing is still functional because I can take screenshots that show the data that should be displayed on my screen, but is not actually shown. All of the menu bar selections for Parallels are greyed out. The only way to restore proper (read:visible) operation to the program is to reboot my Mac. Then, Parallels may work for a few minutes, and then becomes invisible again. Help - this is a HUGE problem for me!!! I've reinstalled Parallels to no avail.

-Rick

 

Sorry if this sounds sadistic, but I'm glad that I'm not the only one facing this. Xenos, would be really pleased to hear any inputs on this.

Although this has not attacked me for a while, I suspect it's because I'm really careful to close Parallels (by hitting Cmd+Q and Windows goes in Suspend mode) when I'm not using it, therefore not letting it be in idle for too long.

 

Hello Arif and Rick,

I am sorry for being away for long. An engineer has been investigating the issue. I can not give you any solution unfortunately. We are at loss and can not reproduce the issue.

Could you let us see a screenshot of your Mac desktop when Parallels is hidden and can not be restored?

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hey guys,

Since I last posted, I tried a couple of things.

First, I created a new account, uninstalled and reinstalled Parallels and created a new Windows instance in the new account. No problems with Windows disappearing in the new account, but when I logged into my old account and used the old Windows instance, it continued to disappear. So this makes me think that the problem was not necessarily with the Parallels application, but with something else in my system maybe interacting with it.

So, I got bold and wiped my machine clean and reinstalled everything from the ground up (not from backups). So far, so good. Here are my theories:

1. The Windows HDD file got corrupted (low probability).
2. Interaction with some other program or some other background system task (high probability).
3. Corrupted preference settings or something like that.

Recently I had installed ADmitMac from Thursby, perhaps this had something to do with it. Not sure.

At any rate, reinstalling everything on a fresh OS X 10.5 installation has done wonders for overall performance on my machine, so this little experiment was worth the trouble anyway.

Please keep us posted on what you find out. And, if this problem crops up on my machine with all new installations, I will advise.

-Rick

 

same problem here

when i minimize...i can see the parallels icon on my dock...but it just wont reappear...i tried changing views various command keys...its working and there ..but i just cant get it to show on my full screen......

the only solution has been a force quit.. any clues.?

running parallels 5584 on a macbook pro with 10.5.2 and XP as a virtual machine..

 

Hello,

Rick, thank you very much for the clue.

Arif and Salras77, could you let us see a list of applications installed on your Mac and on Windows side?
We will try to find out what application might cause the issue.

On Mac side please make a screenshot of Applications list from Finder.
On Windows side please make a screenshot of the list from "Add or Remove programs" window (open from Control panel).

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Glad to see this thread catching speed. Here are my screenshots.

Arif

 

Arif, I've just sent you an e-mail on the address you used to register on the forum.
Please send the screenshots by e-mail. The attached pictures are too small.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

screenshots

i tried to upload but pics are too big..can you send me an email?

 

Hello Xenos,

The help desk email I got was giving me an invalid message. However I replied to your email and that seems to have gone smoothly. Do confirm receiving it.

Thanks a million Xenos!
Arif

 

Hello,

Arif, I got your e-mail, thanks a lot. It is under investigation.

Salras77, check your e-mail, please.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Thanks for the super-prompt reply, Xenos. Do let me know if you need any other info.

Arif