Upgrade to Desktop 11 fiasco

Where to begin...

I've owned and upgraded various versions of Parallels since Desktop 7, which I purchased with the OEM license for Windows 7 Professional. (So, the installation included Windows 7 license and installation). (This was back in early 2012). I've gone back and confirmed the order for that purchase (from where I purchased it), and the Description was:

Parallels / Microsoft: Desktop 7 For Mac OEM & Windows 7 (64-bit) Professional OEM.

I still have that installation disk. The disk envelop has an activation key, and also has the following info printed on it:

PDFM7XL-OEM1DVD-EN
PARALLELS DESKTOP FOR MAC 7
LIC 1U OEM W/DVD (NT)

Fast forward to today ... I decided to upgrade to Parallels Desktop version 11. I purchased and performed the upgrade for Parallels. When I started up Parallels (following the upgrade), I discovered that my most recent .pvm image for Windows 7 had disappeared (via a drive replacement/swap operation that occurred a couple of months ago). I was able to locate an older .pvm image from late 2012. That .pvm image just hangs upon startup, however.

I'd like to be able to just perform the free upgrade from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10, but I can't get Windows to boot up to the point where I can run the updater program (MediaCreationTool.exe).

Meanwhile, the online account info says I get free support if I register my product (the registration info for Desktop 11 doesn't show up), but when I try to register the product key, it says the product is already registered. Go figure. So, I can't even get chat or email support at this point without shelling out another 20 bucks.

So, how should I go about cleaning up this mess? I have the original install disk, but I don't know if I can even get the Windows install to work at this point. If I just attempt to create a new VM, I'll need a Windows image, and the only one I have won't load (except in Safe mode). Is there an old link where I can still download a Windows 7 Pro image, and then perform the upgrade? I can boot the old .pvm in safe mode, but I can't point it to somewhere where it can see the upgrade .exe file to run (and I'm not even sure it would perform the upgrade to Windows 10 correctly from safe mode).

I'm stuck. What is the recommended path forward?

 

OK. So I'm trying this from a new direction... I'm attempting to simply create a new Windows 10 .pvm image from scratch, since Parallels is already at version 11 and installed. I've downloaded a Windows 10 .iso image, and I'm at the point where the Parallels wizard is asking for a product key. There is no product key with this CD. The CD has "OEM Version" printed on it.

I tried the Parallels activation code, but of course, the Windows Setup application didn't like that, since it is apparently looking for a Microsoft activation code. It did give me the option of proceeding with the installation, saving the actual activation for later, so I proceeded.

The install completed, Windows 10 booted up, and allowed me to log in and change some settings. The one nagging question I have remaining is ... is all of this behavior I've seen so far just the default behavior for Windows 10 (which allows installation and running of Windows 10 without an actual activation code). Am I going to run into a problem at some point attempting to do something that actually requires activation? And... is there a way for me to get an activation code from Parallels, since my original purchase was for an OEM version of Windows 7 Pro (which I can find no activation code for).

 

OK. I think I just answered my own question (yet again). Attempting to change some settings brings up the following message: "You need to activate Windows before you can personalize your PC". What I'm seeing so far is simply the default ability to install and run Windows 10. So, I still need an activation code.