Connecting External Hard Drive to Parallels on iMac

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berkspencer

Bit poster
I run Windows XP Professional in Parallels on an iMac. I use an external hard drive as backup for XP. Lately when I turn on the hard drive after Windows is running I get a message telling me that the USB device (my hard drive) I'm trying to connect to the virtual machine is being used by another application. It then instructs me to close the application or unplug from the USB port and reconnect. When I unplug it doesn't solve the problem, and I have no idea which application is using my hard disk. Can someone tell me how I can solve this problem? Thanks! :confused:
 
My best guess is that you are experiencing a known bug that occurred after the release of OSX 10.4.10. Parallels has released a fix. You just need to upgrade to the most current 2.5 release, which you can find by going into Parallels and clicking HELP/CHECK FOR UPDATES.
 
Thanks Purplish, but the update didn't solve the problem. The curious thing is that I had connection to my external hard drive from Microsoft XP up until about a week ago, and I don't recall doing something unusual which might have triggered the change. Do you have any additional suggestions? How can I determine what the "other application" is which is using the hard drive?
 
The "other application" is OS/X.

Here is one thing to try...
1) Disconnect external drive
2)Start Parallels and Start VM
3) Look in Devices/USB (on menu at top of screen) and see what is on the list
4) Plug in your USB external drive
5) Look in Devices/USB and see if drive is now on list. Click it to place a checkmark next to it.
 
Does Parallels 3.0 solve this problem?

Yes, I have the same problem and have done that - the USB device (external HD) does NOT show up in the device list, so there is no way I can connect it). (ie When I plug it in, Parallels give the "being used by....." message, and then it's not in the list.) If 2.5 updates cannot solve this, does 3.0 have better functionality for external USB HDs?
 
If you have a hub or other USB devices, you should notice that one of the other devices is actually the culprit in keeping the hard drive from connecting properly. Some of us have had this discussion before.

Unplug all the USB devices except the drive and it should work. The only exception to that is the bluetooth (if I remember correctly). It seems that I recall someone having a problem with it conflicting with drive hookup.

Anyway, try unplugging other devices, maybe disabling them in the device manager temporarily, and then try to connect your drive. Once the drive is connected, you should be able to plug your other devices back in successfully without conflicts/messages.
 
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