Parallels tools randomly closes in XP

Hello.

Running build 5608, and all's fine save for Parallels Tools randomly closing in XP. I notice it because I'm suddenly not able to cut-n-paste between OSes. I can't figure out what I'm doing that causes it to do that. I try to close PT in the Task Manager, but it won't close. The only way to fix it is to restart XP -- which takes too much time.

Any advice? Thanks, Aaron

 

Please restart VM, and after that try to disable Screensaver in Mac OS and Windows

 

Thanks John. I did as you suggested, but it still happened. I think it might have something to do with taking my flash drive out and re-connecting the shared folder. Otherwise, I can't think of anything else I'm doing that's causing this.

Aaron

 

Is situation reproducible?
I mean is it possible to constantly reproduce, that Parallels Tools stops working after those steps?

 

It is reproduceable, but sometimes it does not do it after the first time I remove and replace the flash drive but only after a second or third attempt. I think (but I haven't found this to be entirely consistent because testing it requires so many restarts etc.) that if I have to disconnect and reconnect the shared folder that is the flash drive, then it will crash, but if I put the flash drive back in and do NOT have to do any reconnecting of the shared folder that PT will not crash. Does that make sense? Thanks, Aaron

 

Try to uncheck Shared Folders first from Share Folders icon in staus bar

 

Thanks John. I didn't find a "Shared Folders first" option. In the Configuration Editor, I had "User-defined folders" checked and so I unchecked that; I have "All Windows disks" and "Map folders to drive letters" checked otherwise. Does this approximate what you suggested? If not, please clarify. Thank you!

 

Hi again. I realize that in unchecking that option, I cannot connect to my drives. So I need to have "user-defined folders" enabled. But maybe I'm still misunderstanding.... Thanks, Aaron

 

Sorry, I mean disconnect all from Shared Folders , or only Mac disks.
Anyway, this is only last cause, Shared Folder driver is running on Windows side, and in Applications and Systems logs in Windows you probably find something (specially errors)

 

Okay, so I've disconnected from JUST my flash drive and reconnected a few times and it seems to be working. (The problem with me disconnecting from all shared folders is that I have about 6 of them, but I only regularly connect to 3 or 4 of them, so it's sort of a pain to have to redo that every time.... I suggest coming up with a way to understand what I do in the Mac OS side: when I eject the disk there, Parallels and the guest OS should take note and not crash!)

I'll update if there is anything new, but it'll take a while to figure it out. Where are the system logs I should look at?

Thanks!

 

Start Console application from Applications/Utility you will see system.log

 

John,
Thanks for that. I followed the console's system.log today, when my two removals of the flash drive, as usual, resulted in PT crashing. It's a lot of info, and I've removed anything that might be a unique identifier of my machine and replaced that info with XXXXXXX etc., but I hope something here is useful... oh, my drive is called MAPLE. (I can tell you that I removed the drive and returned it twice: out circa 09:50, back in circa 11:00; out circa 13:55, back in circa 15:00 -- if that's any help. PT crashed after the second one.) I've attached the file.
Aaron

 

From first look, there is nothing unusual,
What can you see in Application and System log on Windows side?

 

Attached are the Application Log and System Log from Windows from a single day when the problem occurred.

 

Symantec Endpoint Security

 

Thank you. I've finally gotten my IT help to uninstall SES 11 and install the older version of Symantec Antivirus (version 10). And I've let it run a few times to see what happens with Parallel Tools closing randomly.

Well, I'm afraid to say, that PT STILL closes randomly!

Any more ideas?

 

I meant to uninstall and check situation for some time, not install back, try meanwhile AVG free

 

Okay, I'll do that. Thanks! Aaron

 

Okay, I've uninstalled Antivirus and told XP that I'll montior AV myself (to get rid of the annoying security alerts), but PT STILL closes randomly on me.

I guess it's back to square one...

Any more things I can try?

Thanks, Aaron

 

Hey Aaron,

you just have to deal with this. I'm having this issue forever since I use Parallels. I tried to find a solution with the help from the Parallels support team, but after they gave a few hints that didn't work out, they just put the blame on third party software and closed my support ticket.

Poor service for a commercial product, but you'll have to get used to it...