I just bought my new iMac in October, and I love it. When I found out about Parallels, I thought, "This is great news!" Having using Virtual PC in the past, I was eager to try this new program. I just received Parallels with a new copy of XP on Friday, Nov. 24 and installed it over the weekend. The installation took forever. One problem I had was that the instruction in the Quick Start Guide for Parallels stated that I should press the start button after inserting the XP installation disc, and for the life of me, I couldn't find that start button! There was even a picture of it in the guide! Later on of course, I discovered that the start button is located on the frame of the Parallels screen. I think that this instruction should be made crystal clear for idiots like me. As things turned out, I installed the XP as a Guest OS rather than the typical VM, which I hope is okay. But I haven't been able to connect to the Internet on the VM yet, and I've read every thread in the forum that relates to this topic! So if I could receive step-by-step instructions from some wise soul at Parallels, I would be most grateful. As I mentioned, I have an iMac. I am using ClearWire as my ISP. Thank you very much for any help you can give! Janiek
Well, if XP boots, the install is probably OK. BTW, it's impossible to idiot proof anything because as soon as you make something idiot proof, the world comes up with a better idiot. Don't feel bad. I'm no good at brain surgery, even with detailed instructions. First, if you haven't already, install Parallels tools. Start the VM, and select install Parallels tools from the VM menu. Answer yes to all the questions. Shut down the VM when you are done. Next, make sure the Mac is talking to the Internet -- this is a required first step. Then with Parallels running and the VM off, select shared networking. Start the VM, and tell XP to connect to the Internet via a local network. Then it should work.
Thank you, Joem, for your response. I did as you suggested, but after entering Clearwire as the ISP, I got the message that a connection couldn't be made because there wasn't enough memory or because of the disc size(??) I believe that the Parallels Tools were automatically installed because I remember seeing that when the installation was taking place. But it's strange . . . I don't see any Parallels Tools icon in the VM. There is a Parallels Shared Folders there, but no Tools. I've decided to pay for a call to Tech Support to have someone walk me through a possible solution. Thanks again! Janiek
I didn't enter an ISP. If you use shared or bridged networking, you are connecting via an internal LAN and the ISP has nothing to do with it. Shared networking provides an internal NAT router, and bridged networking requires that you have a DHCP capable router on your network.
