New Parallels user. A few questions and a problem

Hi,

I am new to a lot of things of late... New to MAC, New to Parallels etc. etc.

On the whole I am amazed at how well Parallels works.... Running XP in a VM inside OSX is incredible... I am still amazed.

I am not yet sure how to properly set the system up... I mostly going to use it for a few MS office functions and to run my wife's favorute game which is PC only.

I am running a MacPro with 2 GB RAM. I have the VM set to use 1GB and the HD seems to have set itself to use 8GB of space. I think the game requires 7GB so I will probably have to ramp that figure up... I am no so sure how smart it would be to allow the hard space allocation to increase as needed as I was told that once it has been allocated it can not be decreased... What is the popular opinion on this?

I have yet to figure out how to set the system up so that when a key combination is pressed the MAX OSX screen is up and vice versa... How is that done... and is the Windows VM up and running when the MAC OSX display is the one visable?

So far the biggest problem has been the fact that with XP running I can open the CD drawer on my Mac Pro by pressing the eject key but I can not close it.

Any hints for someone new to this arena? Good idea to update to the latest beta release from build 1970?

 

Taking your issues in order, you didn't name the game, but if it takes that much space it may use 3D graphics, and if it does, it won't run in a VM in the current release or the upcoming release.

In a machine with 2G RAM, giving XP 512 or 768 Meg and allocating 100 MB more to Parallels itself (612 or 868) will probably give you better performance in both XP and OSX, counterintuitive as that may seem.

You can increase your virtual HD size if you need it, or create a second virtual HD and attach it as drive D. If you want to increase the size of your current disk, it is a two step process using the Parallels image tool to increase the size of the drive, and then another tool of which there are many, to increase the size of the partition. Read the sticky thread at the top of the forum for insight on how to do this. If you delete files from your virtual HD, compressor will recover the space.

If you start the VM, it will continue running regardless of its visibility until you pause, suspend or shut it down.

If the CD drawer is open and you want it closed, give it a little poke with your finger. This will absolutely not harm the drive, despite the opinion of all those folks who know little about hardware and are afraid of that which they don't understand.

I wouldn't run a beta of anything unless I wanted to contribute to the development effort by testing it. Betas are ALWAYS buggy. If they weren't, they would be releases.

Have fun.

 

Is the advice the same for Vista?

Dear Joem

I asked a similar question about 48 hours ago but no-one replied to my query.

I was asking if I needed to specify disk space in a custom installation (because I want to bring over about 15G of PC data) or could I use the Easy Install and then the process in the sticky to create more space (I can't say I really understand the sticky but I expect if you take it slowly step by step it probably works, but then I can't really understand the custom installation bit in the manual either...)?

Would you mind answering my question? I paid for this package over a month ago now, I've had it in my hand for two weeks, and I have not been able to start using it because, first I didn't get any reply from Parallels email advice service, and then I couldn't get logged in on this forum, and then no-one answered my post!

Thanks for any help you can give. I have a Mac Book Pro 2 Gb ram and about 145 Gb hard disk space free.

Imogen

 

If you know in advance that you're going to need more space than the default HDD size, I would use a custom install and specify the larger size at the outset. That'll be a lot easier than expanding your drive after the fact.

Note that a Vista installation by itself is much larger than an XP installation. The default HDD size for XP is 8GB but, for Vista, it's 16GB. If you're bringing over 15GB of data, add that to the default size. So, for Vista, create a 32GB HDD image.

 

Hopeless package cannot even get it installed....

Dear Palter

Thank you for your advice. I decided to try to do a custom installation of Vista. I loaded Parallels. It wanted me to register which I w ould have been happy to do but whenever I get on the registration screen and complete it, it just reverts back to the same screen again (I did uncheck the bit that allows them to spam you product info but I was sure to check the bit that says you agree to the website usage terms...).

Never mind, I thought, I can deal with the registration bit later. Let's try and install. Chose to install a new machine, custom installation. It is set to Windows XP and will not allow you to select any other option on the list ie Windows Vista.

I am using Build 1970 and I checked for updates before attempting the installation.

This is the MOST frustrating piece of software for a Mac I have ever encountered. I have been using both Macs and PCs for over 20 years and am experienced at installing applications. I suppose the problem is that it's created by Windows people. Anyway do you, or does anyone, know how I get Parallels to understand that I do wish to choose an option other than Windows XP?

Sorry to keep asking newbie questions but the Parallels email service seems to be a joke. It is nearly a week since I first emailed them and they haven't replied. I could not recommend this product to anyone else (not that I've managed to use it yet) because of the inadequate documentation and customer service.

Thanks again for any help you can give.

Imogen

 

welcome

I was a newbie too in July 2006
the only dumb question on these boards is the one you did not ask

boards are more efficient than email
I am in UK so I see them when the office is closed

they also get read by the uber geek and staff
who chime in if one of us users cannot help

and they note repeated problems on their to do lists

we are volunteers because we love Parallels

i have a hunch that importing data to a disk image is a bad idea

I keep all my data in the shared virtual network folder so I can use it from either OS

and when I update parallels it will still be there
in fact I can "see" an external hard disk too

WInXP sp2 good housekeeping is just the same
you must use firewall / ante virus / ante spyware and adware etc to keep it clean

through the parallels shared folder look for volumes and your user name on the main mac HD and you will enter the mac desktop

i just posted some examples of paths across OS
so look at my earlier posts from today

to get Mac OS tips read
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.mac.system/topics

newbie questions are welcome there too

I was in there i 1997 OS 7.1
and 2002 OS 9.2

then in Sept 2006
now I am giving it a rest until I need help again

quickest to use nntp not Deja-Google

I think it is a really good idea to use MS products native on WinXP on Parallels
better than Mactopia versions
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/

enjoy

Hugh W

 

Thanks!

I am sooo new to this stuff. I just upsized my XP virtal HD disk space from 8GB to 28GB... that was a chore. I have XP pretty well sandboxed. I have no networking installed for it so it will remain pristine. No data in it yet other than the XP SP2 OS. I have not yet figure out shared folders... but I will mostly be using to play PC games for my wife... Maybe install Adobe Creative suite for PC although on the MAC side I have CS2, CS3 and Aperture. Planning on doing all the work and Internet stuff on the Mac side. No Antivirus installed... but I don't think Mac needs it as of yet.

I am going to check out the Google group as it looks like a real gold mine.

Cheers,

Rich

 

If you're planning to play games, you'll be disappointed. Parallels doesn't emulate 3D hardware which means that most modern games simply won't work. You'd have to use Boot Camp for that.

 

IIRC, 1970 doesn't support Vista very well. There's a new version in beta now that will support Vista when it's released (or if you want to try the beta, which I would advise against if you are using it for production).

I would strongly suggest XP or even Win2k if you want a stable machine. Vista is new and given Microsoft's long track record, almost guaranteed to be very buggy for many months after release. The Vista eye candy doesn't work in a VM yet, and there's nothing it it that I see as a compelling upgrade, so I doubt I'll be installing it for at least a year.

 

Build 1970 does not support Vista

Joem, thank you for your reply.

What I still do not understand is why the software would also not allow you to choose any other operating system eg Win2000. It is stuck at Windows XP and will not allow any other option to be selected from the list. This is why I think there is something else wrong with the software I have bought in addition to:

inadequate support
confusing documentation
inaccurate advertising (the retail box CLEARLY STATES that this product supports Windows Vista).

Great company I don't think... I must check where they are based because I can probably make an effective complaint if they have a European office since clearly the product is not fit for the advertised purpose.

So, even if I could work out why it won't let me select anything other than XP, I've wasted my money as it doesn't do Vista properly... Unfortunately, I'm sure the retailer won't take back opened software. Obviously the company knows about this problem which is why none of their staff are contributing on this thread they are just hoping maybe the next release might fix it instead of being up-front and offering me my money back which is what they should be doing. Presumably that's also why they haven't replied to my emails either.

Anyway, thank you very much for helping me not to waste any further time on this product at the moment.

Imogen

 

Dear Palter,

I realize the problem addressing the 3D cards... but I have heard that these issues will be addressed within the next 6 months or so. I have no problem waiting for a later release as I am not a rabid gamer. I will just keep up and install the latest releases as they become stable.

 

OK. But, in keep mind that 3D support is going to be in the 3.0 release which is going to be a paid upgrade. At this time, we don't know what, if any, upgrade pricing will be offered.

 

I just checked. Version 1970 does support Vista, apparently although I haven't tried to install it. If you tell it to install a new OS, you get three choices. The first is XP or Vista, and I haven't gone further with the express install because I don't want it cluttering up my disk with another VM at the moment. The second choice is standard installation which gives you many choices. If I'm building a VM, I use the last choice, custom, which lets me specify all parameters including HDD size.

As far a I can tell, Parallels doesn't comment in the forums much for two reasons. First, this is a USER forum, for users to share experiences, and not a place to communicate with the Parallels team, and second, they are busy doing development, and post here only when they have some spare time. Most of the time when they do post, it is about a beta they are working on.

I have no intention of installing Vista any time soon as I don't see it as a compelling upgrade for my needs, and I have no doubt that it will be a while before it is as stable as XP (although I'd be happy to be proved wrong).

IMHO, Parallels has done an outstanding job of making virtual machines accessible to not-super-technical users. The very nature of multiple OS on one machine is complex, and not at all easy for non-technical folks to deal with. I'm surprised at how easy it is, and am very happy with my installation. I use it in production almost daily, and have no problems with it. I can't comment on their level of support because I haven't needed any. The one question I had was answered, and that wasn't something that stopped me from getting it working. Others have complained here, but I have no idea with the experience of those who aren't complaining has been.

 

Parallels inadequate support

Thanks for your reply and experiences Joem.

I can just about understand why Parallels staff might not contribute much on these forums, but I cannot fathom why they would not reply to an email requesting support when they advertise providing email support - it implies that they must know it doesn't work (custom installation and Vista on 1970).

Selling products which are not fit for advertised purpose and not providing a method of recourse via replacement, repair or refund is illegal in the EU. I would suspect it is probably illegal in most US States as well but I don't know.

Has anyone on these forums ever received any email support from this company?

All the best

Imogen

 

I have - but it was for the released product, not beta. I don't expect any response for the beta. As a beta tester I pretty much think it is my role to send them results of testing and enough info about my environment that they can do something useful with it. Most questions in this forum are for technical help for beta code, and the answers are from others who are also beta testers. It becomes a bit of a chore sorting out beta solutions from production code solutions. Some very smart guy recently suggested that the forums and participants, and even Parallels, could benefit from segregating the beta posts from production support posts by adding another forum for one purpose or the other, but not both.

 

How would you rate the stability/usability of Win2K vs XP with Parallels?

Thank you,

David

 

I'm running Win2k with Parallels and it's rock solid, just as good as my WinTel desktops which I reboot about every six months whether they seem to need it or not (although a couple of them used for software development get rebooted more often since I'm not quite perfect yet. <grin>)

My one XP installation is in bootcamp and it's solid too. From reports, both work well under Parallels. I like Win2k because I don't like playing Microsoft's prove-you're-not-a-criminal-and-you-can-use-the-software game. I need bootcamp for one USB related app that won't work in Parallels, and bootcamp won't work with Win2k. Since Win2k support will eventually end, I'll switch to XP some year, and probably Vista in two or three years when I'm forced into it. In the meanwhile, I do everything I can on the Mac because I like it better.

 

In that case I'll get a copy of XP. It's a moot point anyway now since I had mistakenly assumed that I could use the Win2K from my Connectix OS Pack but apparently that isn't possible (or at least it would take someone a lot more technically skilled than I am to do it).

My only question now is whether to get XP Pro or Home.

David

 

XP Pro and XP Home both work fine. It depends on whether you need the extra features of Pro.

 

Answer to problem with selecting custom vista install

I finally received a reply to my request for email support from Parallel's subcontractor, Avanqest after 11 days. In fairness the agent did apologise for the extremely slow turnaround time due to the level of enquiries. It was quite hard to understand the response at first due to the rather odd written English used. Anyway here's a translation...

In build 1970, If you select custom installation, there is then a problem where you cannot select the operating system version with a mouse on a Mac. Instead you must use the cursor down arrow key to scroll through the options in order to select Windows Vista.

Just in case anyone else hits the same issue I thought you'd like to know...

Imogen