Convert BIOS to UEFI VM

C

CharlieS4

Member
Need to move and convert for UEFI a 6 year old VM for windows 11 testing.

I know there is a way to switch from MBR to something can't remember what that was and then move it to a VM with UEFI?
 
So now, all simple questions require a formal technical report? Sweet... I guess that's how much @ParallelsCares about the usefulness of this forum.
 
I have the same request. I have a 2017 iMac running Big Sur 11.5.2 and Parallels desktop 17. I have a windows 10 VM which started out as a windows 7 VM years ago and hence it has a legacy bios as reported by msinfo32. I would like to update to Windows 11 when available and therefore need to update the VM's bios to UEFI. I tried creating a new virtual machine and transferring files from the old one. The new VM works (as expected, it wants a new key from MS to be activated, but that's not the main issue right now) but running msinfo32 within it still shows that the bios is legacy, i.e. a more modern BIOS was not created by Parallels when the new VM was. Is there any way to force a BIOS update? If not, if I buy Windows 11 de novo when it comes out and install it, will Paralells create the appropriate BIOS for it and report to it that there is a TPM module? Adding back my old apps and settings is really not problematic but I want to be sure I don't shell out for a new Windows license only to have it not install. Thanks.
 
EthanW5, what installation media did you use while new Windows 10 VM was created?
New W10 VMs created with UEFI BIOS enabled. You can always check it by selecting "Customize settings before installation->Hardware->Boot Order->Advanced->BIOS"
 
mmika said:
EthanW5, what installation media did you use while new Windows 10 VM was created?
New W10 VMs created with UEFI BIOS enabled. You can always check it by selecting "Customize settings before installation->Hardware->Boot Order->Advanced->BIOS"
Click to expand...
That would work for new VMs, but many of us have older ones or were virtualbox imports
 
The VM was installed years ago using a Windows 7 CD-ROM with an OEM license. It was upgraded within the VM to Windows 10 via a free upgrade when Windows 10 came out.
 
there is an excellent thread in this forum
Process for Converting from Legacy to UEFI (in prep for Win 11)
which details how to do the MBR to GPT conversion and then enabling TPM selection by means of editing a file within the PVM file for your Windows machine.
 
craigmcfly said:
So for me, it was:
Click to expand...
Just used the procedures as you've outlined and all good. Excellent. Only minor issue is with editing the config.pvs file. Had to do a save as "config2.pvs" then I renamed the original to "conqfigold.pvs" and renamed the new file to "config.pvs". This then due to permissions but all good.
Parallels suggested creating a whole new VM.
 
Add a new VMDK (vDisk) to the VM. Format this as GPT.
Backup the MBR partition Win10 install via VEEAM EP Backup (or perhaps CloneZilla would be best..?)
Boot to recovery media and *restore the MBR backup to the new GPT disk
 
I went through this process with my 2012 mac-mini i7 and everything is OK except I don't get the option to add TPM when I configure hardware settings for the Windows VM. Windows installations fails with the notification that TPM 2.0 is required.
 
I cannot get this to work. After I change to <EfiEnabled>1</EfiEnabled. with no other changes in the config.pvs file, I get consistent "Boot Skipped errors." I am booting from an external drive. I've gone through quite a few snapshots making these changes, i.e. conversion to UEFI from Legacy, enable the TCM chip in hardware config, and then change the EfiEnabled from "0" to "1" as written above. What am I doing wrong? Thanks.
 
Sounds like it might be simpler to buy a $3 eBay Win10 key and just start from scratch. Have you guys read the 500 page manifesto required to simply copy and paste your VM to another drive or work on it on another Mac due to the secure boot TPM in Win11? :confused:

Paul
 
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