Importing a Virtualbox Windows VM from an Intel Mac to Parallels on Apple Silicon (M4)

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BenH22

Bit poster
I am trying to figure out if I can import a Windows 10 VM that I had running in Virtualbox on my old Intel Mac to Parallels on my new M4 Mac.

I have followed the steps in https://kb.parallels.com/124491 but when I try to open the file (.vbox or .vdi, I've tried both) nothing happens at all except that the file chooser disappears. The Installation Assistant does not appear, I do not get any error message, nothing.

I am running Parallels 20.1.1

Is this supposed to work? Is there anything I can debug? Is there any other way to copy this Windows installation so I can run it in Parallels?

Thanks!
 
Intel/AMD based Windows will not run on an ARM processor (like Apple M series chips, Snapdragon chips, etc.). So you can't move the VM from an Intel Mac to a M4 based Mac. Parallels gives you the option to directly download and install ARM based Windows 11.

You could then move over your apps and programs and those would work. Many companies now have ARM or hybrid versions of their software, so downloading the latest versions and installing that would make sure you had the best version for ARM based Windows 11.

When I moved from Intel to M3 I installed Windows 11 ARM using Parallels, then installed my programs fresh. I used Microsoft OneDrive to move my documents and files. Pretty much everything works, and about 85% of my apps are either ARM or hybrid apps.
 
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