Unable to install any applications in WinXP VM

Up until recently I have not had any problems with my Parallels VMs - I have two of them, a Win XP SP3 VM and a Windows 7 32-bit VM. I was running Parallels 6 on a Macbook Pro (2.66 GHz i7, 8GB RAM). I'm running Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

Yesterday, I updated the Parallels tools per request, and once I did so, I found I was no longer able to download and install any applications. Any attempt to do so, yields a 2-3Kb file, and a message that "<programname.exe> is not a valid Win32 application."

It does not matter what the program is, or where I get it from. I found it happening on both the WinXP and Win7 VMs, even after reinstalling Parallels 6 from the CD.

Finally, I completely uninstalled Parallels 6 and removed all the trace files. I removed all VMs, and installed Parallels 6 from the CD, and created a new Windows XP VM from scratch from the original media.

Immediately after doing so, I attempted to download Firefox. Again, the downloaded file (which should have been sizable, 13MB), only came down as 2.7Kb and gave me the above error. The same was true for Symantec EndPoint which I downloaded from our campus software library.

I again uninstalled everything, reinstalled Parallels 7 from CD and repeated the above. The same errors are occuring there. The VM install is fresh, there can't be any virus or cookie issues, I am literally just out of the box. This never happened before, is there some new setting I am not aware of that has to be altered?

I did remove all possible sharing between the Mac and the PC VMs, in the hopes that that might be the issue, but it did not seem to have any effect. I am currently running Parallels 7.0.14924, revision 699487.

 

I should add that as a test, I downloaded Firefox on my PC, put it on a USB stick and copied it and it installed fine. It is definitely limited to downloads - and the browser that's used for the download does not matter, as I tested it with both IE 6 from the fresh install of Windows, and Firefox 7.0.1 which I copied over to install.

Going back as well, my Win7 VM had IE 9, and the same problems. I am not sure when it 'started', but before yesterday I had not had this sort of issue ever (dating back to February when I first installed Parallels 6.)

It is no Windows setting that I'm familiar with, I've never had an XP or 7 install out of the box yield this error repeatedly for downloads. It has to be something with Parallels, could it be related to the newest updates that added security changes for Lion?

I am also noticing that (after having copied the installer over to get it to work), after installing Symantec EndPoint, Live Update is also failing consistently as it attempts to download and install the definitions. I get a message every time, at the same point, that "LU1835 - the connection has timed out." Interestingly enough, in testing on multiple boxes and installations, this error only occurs on EndPoint when it is in a Parallels VM. Using the same network, and various PCs of various ages and types, the updates run without incident.

Again, this never happened before, I am wondering if something in the newest updates/revisions is causing the connections to fail. The timing and the specific nature of the problem is suspicious.

 

One further addendum

I just installed Parallels 7 for a user in the building yesterday, and I remember that I had no issues with him downloading and installing programs. It's worth mentioning that he is running Lion, while all my problems have come in SNow Leopard.

As a test, I took a test box that is running Lion, and installed Parallels 6 with all the updates. I have no problems downloading any executables in Windows XP on it. Similarly, Symantec EndPoint ran its LiveUpdate without incident.

As a final test, I have asked a co-worker to install Parallels 6 on his Snow Leopard box, install XP and try to download/install these same applications. If he has the same errors I did, that points directly at a compatibility problem with Snow Leopard and Parallels. I will post the results once he has done this.

EDIT: My co-worker installed Parallels 6 (6.0.12106, revision 692267) on his iMac running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, and he has the exact same problems that I described for my laptop (also running Snow Leopard 10.6.8). He cannot download executables, and when he manually copied Symantec EndPoint and installed it, the LiveUpdates time out during the download attempts.

So we've reproduced this on three 10.6.8 boxes now (I also did it on my own iMac). We've tested two Lion boxes and the problems do not appear on either one.

The only question now is, what is happening?

 

Further Update

I did another test, and it's gotten more complicated.

All the previous tests on this issue were on a Macbook Pro, and 2 iMacs (all Intel.)

My latest test was on a Mac Pro desktop, running 10.6.7 (and then updated to 10.6.8).

I began by installing Parallels 6 *without* the maintenance update: So I was on OS X 10.6.7, and Parallels was version 6.0.11822, rev. 604190 (from 9/14/2010). The download issue was fine.

I then updated to OS X 10.6.8, Parallels same version. The download issue was fine.

I updated Parallels to 6.0.12106, rev.692267 (from 9/7/2011). The download issue is still fine.

So based on these results, it seems like the problem can be narrowed down to the hardware specifically. Possibly the chipset? Here is what I know about the machines in these tests (specifics where available):

1) My laptop: (Macbook Pro6,1) purchased May 2010. Running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Parallels 6.0.12106, has the issue with downloads.

2) My iMac: (iMac 8,1) Purchased May 2009. Running Snow Leopard 10.6.8, Parallels 6.0.12106 and then 7, has the issue with downloads.

3) User's iMac: Purchased October 2011. Running Lion, Parallels 6.0.12106, does not have this problem. Also he has a Macbook Air purchased earlier this year, running Parallels, no issues.


Now here's where the hardware differences come into play.

I have two different HDs in the Mac Pro, each running a different OS. So these two are the same physical computer:

A) Mac Pro (4,1) - exact purchase date unknown, but it is several years old at least. Running 10.6.7 and then 10.6.8, Parallels 6.0.11822 and then 6.0.12106, no problems.

B) Same Mac Pro (4,1) - Running Lion, Parallels 6.0.12106, no problems.


So I'm stumped. It's clearly not *only* a problem with Snow Leopard, is it possibly a chipset issue with the Parallels updates? All I do know is that it's happening on enough computers to make it a serious problem.

 

Solved!

After going through everything possible that I could about the machines that were having this problem, I found one more similarity between them.

Both of them have, or had, Norton Antivirus on them at some point in the past.

I found a script on Symantec's website that removes all traces of Norton Antivirus from Macs, and ran it. Then, just as neat as you please, all .EXE files downloaded without incident, and the EndPoint installed and updated the virus definitions without any problems whatsoever.

I'm relieved this is over, but it's one more example of why Norton and Mac just do not mix well.

 

Norton is the culprit

Just wanted to second that un-installing Norton AV on my Mac solved not being qble to download exe's correctly in Windows on the same machine. Here is the link to the script:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/nor...ted+states&product=home&version=1&pvid=f-home

 

Norton solution works!

Can't tell you how much time you've saved me! Was online with Parallels support for nearly 2 hours this morning with no resolution including letting the support team shadow my session and take control of my machine. After uninstalling Norton everything works like a breeze.

Surely, Parallels' support team should've known about this.

Now, what antivirus software do I need to run in the Parallels Windows session?

 

I too wish to express my thanks for the suggestion that the cause of the problem was the Symantec AV software.

My problem began on Oct 22; the day that updated my Parallels 6 (running Vista on a Mac Pro with Snow Leopard) to the latest version. I didn't notice that this was the moment until recently...but my Kaspersky updates stopped working correctly. This week, I decided to track the problem down...I reinstalled Kaspersky, I tried new browsers (which provided new information as realized that I was getting the "*.exe is not a valid win32 application" message over and over and over with new install attempts), I created a new VM with a clean Vista installation, I tried copies/backups of my old virtual machines from before the problem began, I upgraded to Parallels 7 and created a new machine...NOTHING WORKED! ...until I found this thread. I removed SAM et voilà, my Kaspersky quickly did its update with no problem.

So, it's not simply SAM. It was something about SAM and Parallels after that update on Oct 22 (ParallelsDesktop-parallels-en_US-6.0.12106.692267)...and was carried forward into the new version of Parallels. It seems unlikely that SAM chose to change their definitions at the same time that I upgraded Parallels (though I suppose that it is possible). So, I also echo the sentiment above: "Why is this issue still so unknown to Parallels support"? Hopefully this is not some nefarious scheme to get people to upgrade to version 7 (I wouldn't have done it if I had found this thread sooner).

Anyway, my problem is solved as a result of the user forum. I will start here first next time...

 

Is a problem in Parallels Desktop 7 too.

This is also a problem in Desktop 7 too. I am new to Parallels (having just migrated away from VMware 2.x) and this same problem was occurring to my migrated WinXP vm. I actually thought that my vm was corrupted and I was about to open the old vm in VMware to test this problem when I stumbled across this post via Google. Thank you for figuring this out.

My situation was the same as the rest of you. I was trying to install JRE 6, then any .exe. I am using Symantec's Norton AntiVirus 11.1.2.(17) for the Mac. I really like this product and don't want to change. Version 11 was the first version that Symantec made for the Mac (in a long time) that was very Mac-ish. Small, lite, quiet in the background and doesn't degrade the performance of my MacBookPro5,1 2.53 GHz with 4GB of ram.

I tried simply disabling Auto-Protection and Vulnerability Protection on the Mac and leaving Symantec's EndPoint 11.0.2010.25 for WinXP operational and the .exe ran properly. When I was done, I reenabled Norton. I wasn't worried about the Mac being harmed during this evolution as the Mac is mostly immune. I have Norton because I work with lots of Windows users and my Norton catches all the Windows viruses from them. My Mac is yet to get a Mac virus in the three years I've had it. Again, thanks to you clever vm users.

 

Turning off Norton on the Mac did not completely solve my problem. I was able to install JRE6, Shockwave11 and a few other .exe I downloaded. However, I was not able to install Adobe Reader X and Adobe Flash. So I disabled the EndPoint11 in my WinXP vm and then the installs worked. I have reenabled all AV.

Now I have to contend with the fact that Reader X doesn't want to open PDFs unless I accept unprotected mode. Not sure if this is a quirk of Reader X. I may want to down grade to an earlier version of Adobe Reader. Of course, it is always easier to just open the PDFs on the Mac in Preview.