Parallels Tools installation looping

I've upgraded to Parallels 4, which seemed to go OK, mostly. However when my XP VM starts up the message "Parallels Tools are outdated." appears in the status bar. If I update Parallels Tools the download proceeds correctly, the installer runs and then validates. Then a dialog is shown "An error occurred while Instaling Parallels Tools. Click OK to restart your virtual machine, and then try to install Parallels Tools again." If I click OK the VM reboots and the process is repeated. If I shut down the VM and restart it without pressing OK, again the installation restarts on start up.

Are there any suggestions about how to install Parallels Tools successfully or abort the cycle of attempted installation?

 

lotaresco,

Are any antiviruses running on your virtual machine? They might not be allowing Parallels Tools to properly install. If so, please disable them and try again.

 

No antivirus installed

No, there's no antivirus installed.

Things have progressed slightly. I can now start up the VM without being prompted to reinstall Parallels Tools and the "nag" message has disappeared from the status bar. However if I try Virtual Machine/Reinstall Parallels Tools, the installation starts to loop.

I *think* I overcame the problem by manually mounting the Parallels tools ISO and installing from that. However each installation attempt results in the dialog box shown in the attachment.

 

Hello, Lotaresco,

first of all, please, try to remove previous version of Parallels Tools from Start -. Control Panel -> Add or Remove programs and install new tools from Virtual Machine/Reinstall Parallels Tools.

If this doesn't help

1) Please unzip the attachment to some place and start virtual machine.
2) Right-click to the CD-ROM Icon on parallels VM window and choose "connect image". Select the unzipped prl_fs_drv.iso file. As well the image may be connected through VM configuration
3) After Windows is booted, log on to it as Adminitstrator or some other user with Admin-rights, open the CD-Rom content (usually drive D:\ ; My Computer -> D and select install.bat. After that you should see several messages and invitation to reboot.
4) Please reboot the VM and try to install Parallels Tools. This time it should work.
5) install.bat should log all actions to the c:\temp\setup.log. If something will go wrong with the solution, please

 

Attempted Uninstall - Fails

I tried to uninstall Parallels Tools and was unable to do so. I've tried in two ways, using the Control Panel -> Add or Remove Programs which gives the error: Fatal error during installation; the other way was to start up XP in Safe Mode and then use the uninstall.bat file in \\Program Files\Parallels which also failed with a "Fatal error."

I'll try again using the file attached to the previous message and see what happens. I've attached the Paralels Tools setup log to this post.

 

OK, I tried that and it also fails. In the console window there's a "cannot find the file specified" fault and then it recommends a reboot. I've attached the log and the console window transcript to this message.

 

Could you please check your system for viruses using cureit.exe from drweb.com?

 

Yes, I've checked with CureIT.exe, no viruses found. I didn't expect any this VM does not get connected to the internet, and does not usually run any downloads. CureIt is the first downloaded item that I've run.

 

Hm, I think , it will be good idea, to create ticket in support and investigate situation
http://www.parallels.com/support/desktop/request/

 

OK, thanks I've raised a ticket and I'll see where it goes from here. I can't see anything obvious to indicate why the installer is failing.

 

did you find the cause? I'm facing the same problem

 

Start with checking for viruses, uninstalling AV, then creating ticket in support

 

I think I have found a solution. I followed the instructions to solve the problem, like uninstalling Parallels Tools, but I got a "fatal error". I also tried deactivating antivirus software (or running it to look for threats) but no luck again. Finally I downloaded the zip file (prl_fs_drv.iso.zip) and mounted the ISO on the virtual machine. Tried to install but got the same error that lotaresco: "Cannot find the specified file". I noticed that the problematic file was "newdev.dll", so I searched online for it, and replaced the one I had on "Windows/System32" with the one I downloaded. Then I tried executing "install.bat" from the ISO image and, although I got a missing file warning, the installation completed. I restarted the virtual machine and Parallels Tools began the installation automatically. It finished and everything is working normally. I haven't had the chance to use Windows for enough time to confirm this as a definitive solution, but so far, has worked.

Hope it helps someone.

PD: This is the website from which I downloaded the DLL:
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?newdev

 

That work!

That Worked, Thanks!

 

I have the same problem. I upgraded from Parallels 4 to 5. I have tried all of the above and nothing has worked. Parallels Tools will NOT unistall so far...I am sure this will get fixed, but sooner would be better...

 

I've got a strange thing happening too which doesn't really match the above. On a normal virtual XP SP3 machine, all goes fine when upgrading from pdt 4 to 5. In the virtual machine that uses the bootcamp install of XP SP3, though, the parallels tools installation goes almost completely to the end, the progress bar is full, but the installation never stops. If you kill it, the next time you boot up that vm, you need to install the tools again.

Without the tools, the networking components seem not to work right. You get nothing at all from ipconfig, and the network stuff in control panel shows that you have no networking set up, but you also cannot configure it...

 

@ronald: Yep - that worked for me! Thank you!

Feels strange replacing a newdev.dll dated 2008 with one dated 2004, but... Did you check whether it's all right to put the original one back after the install? Mind you, I was a little trigger-happy and replaced it rather than moving and adding (doh!!!), so I guess it's moot.

 

None of the above solutions work for me

I downloaded the zip and tried the method of running install.bat, I still have the same error, it just cannot proceed with the installation of Parallel tools. No virus software running, this is really screwed up that you can't uninstall the tools either. There's got to be a bette resolution to this problem, somebody competent in their dev team should have resolved this by now.

 

Parallels Tools are outdated

I, too, have had this issue since Parallels 4. When I upgraded to 5 I began having this issue. I went through a myriad of tech support nightmares to still have it unresolved. I decided to purchase the disk (rather than online upgrade), removed Parallels entirely, installed 6 and it took care of the problem. The very first update I was notified that I absolutely needed to use, the message was back. I have learned to ignore the problem and IGNORE the updates. I do not trust the updates from Parallels. Everything was working fine until I used their update. You are correct, someone at Parallels should have addressed this by now--more than a hypothetical solution--one that actually works!!! I doubt that I will further upgrade my Parallels and am now actively seeking to rid myself of a need for windows based operations.