Does Parallels v7 'upgrade' older VM files?

Hi, I'm (nervously) migrating from Snow Leopard to Lion, and so from Parallels 5 to 7. I've Lion just installed on an external for now, with Parallels 7 installed; but can I open my existing Windows VM, does Parallels 7 alter it in any way?

If I use the VM with v7, can I go back later (booting in Snow Leopard) and open it with v5? Obviously I'll back up the VM before using it in v7, but I don't want to find issues two or three weeks down the line and have to roll back to an old VM backup.

Thanks for any advice!

 

AFAIK the format of the VM has been unchanged since v4, the real hiccup is with Parallels Tools, when you boot a VM that has PDM7 Tools installed it will start the process of downgrading the tools, and when you go back to 7 it will upgrade the tools, this might be a nuisance as it will take some minutes plus restart of the VM.

 

Thanks for your reply!

That sounds good. I tend not to shut down the VM too often, just suspending when I quit. I guess that's not a good idea if I suspend a VM in Parallels 5, then resume it in Parallels 7, particularly if the Tools need reinstalling. (I try to avoid shutting down, as there's a ~5 minute black screen between login and the Windows desktop appearing).

 

Before changing versions it's advised you shut down the VM, don't suspend it.