Why am I getting a memory error notice?

Been using the latest build of Parallels for months and it has been working fine.

Suddenly, out of the blue, I have been getting an error message, "unable to allocate virtual machine memory." I have 4 gigs on this computer and even with 2 dedicated to Parallels, I should have plenty of memory to run it. Any suggestions why I suddenly cannot?

If it is a hard drive space problem where I have too many Vista apps installed,
where do I go to start removing them?

I can't seem to find a folder anywhere within my Mac OSX where all my
Vista folders are located. I went to LIBRARY->PARALLELS and see nothing.

Where does Parallels store the file tree for its virtual engine?

 

Strange... Did you try the basics, re-boot, OS X built-in utilities? Change the memory allocations around a bit?

I had this issue once, I ran Onyx, downed the allocated memory to .75GB (2 GB total on the system), restarted after the Onyx utilited were done, booted up again, ran Windows, shut it down, restored the Windows to the normal amount of memory, and it all worked. Not a rationalization of your issue, but it did work for me.

 

Eru,

First, thanks for your help.

I am a long-time PC user, new to Mac. Last thing I want to do is to start
playing around with memory settings and mess something up.

I maxxed out Parallel memory at 1500. It goes no higher than that.
Still, that's almost 2 GB and I have another 2GB for the rest of my Mac
(4GB total)

I highly doubt it is a memory problem, though I'd love to hear arguments
for it.

Now...

Parallels, unfortunately, only lets you use 128000MB of hard drive space
though I have 500GB available.

I am thinking that perhaps I installed too many programs and that I am
running out of allocated hard drive space.

I would LOVE to go in and try to remove files. The problem is, I can't find
the files anywhere on my MAC OSX -- not even in the Parallels directory.
If I knew exactly where my VISTA virtual tree was located on my hard drive
it would help the situation.

Please....would very much appreciate continued assistance in this matter.

 

Get Onyx... Run those utilities. I've cleaned this issue up with those before.

 

Eru,

I already have Onyx installed though I never used it.

Your directiosn above seem confusing.

If I may trouble you, would you give a clear and well defined
explanation of what to run in Onyx and exactly step-by-step what
needs to be done after that.

I am new to Mac so I would appreciate you being thorough and making
it simple to understand.

I really want to thank you for the help.

 

Hey, sorry I was not clear, I was trying to bang out an answer quickly so I could get to something at work, I just did not want to leave you hanging longer than usual, I know how painful it is for things to be broken!

Sorry about the confusion. Here is what I would recommend (Note this is using version 1.7.4 to check your version, right click on Onyx, or when it is opened up click the 'Onyx' menu and then go to 'About Onyx'):

1. Set your memory in XP to ~756MB RAM
2. Open Onyx and type in the admin password
3. Go to the automation tab.
4. Select everything except Verifying and Repairing permissions and the four items under the 'Reset:' grouping. Also, have it preform actions for all accounts (unless you have particular reservations about things, it does what it says. e.g. you really don't want to lose your browsers history)
5. When it prompts you to restart, restart. Then load Parallels, and hopefully it will let you launch... Then up the RAM back to where you used to have it.

As I said before, this does not specifically debug things, it just sees if regular maintnence tools can fix your issue. It has for me in the past... It also can fix issues like applications crashing when trying to print... Some of these utilities are run if, and only if, your computer is awake in the middle of the night, as it does eat up a good deal of processor for some of these utilities.

If that does not work, see what happens if you re-index your computer with a utility such as DiskWarrior, this can fix a lot of problems as well.

 

Eru,

One last question...

I take it do this in the virtual machine, Yes?

I'll take a chance that was it and try it now.

 

Eru,

You are a genius.

That worked without a problem.

Parallels now works!

It all makes sense in some of the things you said...

I was running my Mac nonstop for a few nights. It must have
eaten up system resources.

Thanks to your terrific instructions, I am up and running.

Thank You! Thank You!

 

Great! Glad to hear that things are working!