How best to migrate to Win 11/Parallels on M1 Mac

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon' started by Don Awalt, Jul 25, 2021.

  1. Don Awalt

    Don Awalt Hunter

    Messages:
    203
    Hi all, I think I will be getting an M1 Mac this fall. I currently have a MacBook Pro with Parallels running Windows 10. My understanding:

    1) I have to install a fresh Windows 11 (or Win 10) .PVM in Parallels on the M1, there is no way to copy/migrate my existing PVM file to the new Mac;
    2) Formerly when moving to a new computer I deactivated (that may not be the right term) my Parallels license on the old Mac, copy the PVM and then use the 1 license on the new Mac;
    3) Ideally if I am installing from scratch, I would like to be able to keep the old PVM running in case I miss something that needs to be installed, configured, etc. that I forgot about. If I just deactivate my Parallels license on the old Mac, and start setting up the new, there will be no way to look back on the old PVM.

    So - how are people doing this kind of migration? Is there a way to keep 2 licenses alive for a short period of time to do the migration, or some other way to view/review what I have installed while setting up a new M1/Parallels/Windows? Seems like this area needs work by Parallels unless they are making a migration easier somehow and I am not aware of it.

    Thanks!
     

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