Today I received and installed Parallels 3.0 without a hitch. Then I made a big mistake by trying to install an OEM Windows Vista OS. The system refused to install it. The big mistake was accidently hitting the desktop icon that referenced the Windows Vista disk. At that point, it started copying DVD files to somewhere on the HD and then it locked up. I realize that I will have to get another version of Vista. After the above happened, I uninstalled Parallels and then reinstalled it again hoping this would fix my Parallels installation. However, as soon as Parallels loads, a window pops up to install Vista even without me indicating that I want that OS. When this happens, the Vista installation locks up. If anyone has an idea as to how I can get rid of this problem, I would certainly appreciate the help. My idea is to use the Time Machine and go back to just before I started the Parallels installation today and make that the starting point. I figure if I could do that, I could then do a clean Parallels installation and then a clean installation of Vista. I intend to buy another copy of the complete installation that is NOT an OEM which apparently caused this whole problem.
TimeMachine sounds pretty ideal to me. Or you could do an un-install and search for the post detailing a complete un-install of Parallels.
Since my first post above, I've learned more about the problem. As above in my first message, I DID uninstall Parallels and then reinstalled the program. When I start Parallels, a VM (I think that's what it is called), pops up. It is labelled "Microsoft Windows Vista-Parallels Desktop". However, it's a "dead" VM (if I can call it that.) In the window, it says "stopped" which reflects the failed installation of Vista. It also shows the configuration of the failed Vista installation. This "dead" VM is what I want to get rid of and so far, I haven't figure out how to do it since I don't know what to delete on my HD.
There will be a .pvs file for it and a .hdd file for it. If it is the only VM you have installed those will be the only two such files.
Thanks for the help Eru. I'm new to the Mac World and not sure how to find these files (*.psv and *.hdd). I did a search which came up empty. I can live with the way it is at the moment since when I now start Parallels, it prompts me to create a new VM. Before I got your last message, I DID delete an file and it may have been one of the files you mentioned because now when I start Parallels, it doesn't "HANG" when the program comes up. However, the error message VM still comes up and states that it is "stopped." As I said earlier in this note, I can live with this, but I HATE error messages on my screen even if they don't really mean anything.
I did the search without the * and some files did show up. I deleted all the files with a current date (January), but the annoying error message still shows up. I guess it's not really an error message as it only tells me the Vista installation was "stopped." So, it's not that big of a deal. Perhaps it will even disappear when I load Vista in a few days. The VM message in question showed my proposed Vista installation hardwear, 512mb, DVD drive, etc. I think there were 5 or 6 items that showed up in the message. After deleting the files mentioned above, the window that pops up now only mentions 256mb of ram. All the other items are gone. I suspect one of the files I deleted cause the loss of listing the other items. If I have any trouble installing the Vista package I have coming in a couple of days, I add that info to this thread.
