Best Way to Upgrade to 3.0 from 3188

I am running 3188 (3/7/07). Program is working fine. Windows installation is within Parallels, not Book Camp. I have purchased an upgrade to 3.0. I have the keys. I have downloaded the program and read the instructions. What is the best way to upgrade with minimum issues? The instructions seem to imply a full installation with re-installation of Windows XP, etc. Is there a way to upgrade to 3.0 from 3188 without re-installing Windows XP from scratch? If so, how? I had to call Microsoft once already for a new set of keys and that is a procedure I would like to try to avoid. Thanks!

 

There's no need to reinstall WinXP.

Backup your virtual machines folder (Finder->Home->Documents->Parallels) to some safe place. That way you will always have a complete backup of your virtual machines in case something goes wrong.

Next, install 3.0. Activate. Power on the VM. Install Parallels Tools. That's it.

 

That's how I did it, too, on my VM last week. Works quite well.

 

Thanks for the advice. I will follow it and hopefully things will go well.

 

Mine seems to be in Finder->Home->Library->Parallels. Is my config wrong?

 

No. You are one of the early Parallels customers. We had changed default VM location from Home->Library->Parallels to Home->Documents->Parallels in 3188. Versions prior to it will have Library in path.

 

I mean, if you installed Parallels before 3188, you will have Library in path. If after - Documents.

 

I'd prefer to have them in ~/Documents/, and I'm currently on 3188 as my purchased release. If I move it would I also need to change a setting in my prefs or elsewhere?