before I take the step of upgrading should backup or clone my existing xp virtual machine? is it possible to make a second vm for xp and only upgrade one? I am not sure if this would be possible unless I have dual xp licenses. Very new to all of this so any help would be appreciated.
. When you installed Parallels, you would have specified a location for your virtual hard disk. In that directory, you will find a .hdd file, which is your virtual hard disk, and a .pvs file, which is a configuration file. Copy both those files to a safe location, for a quick, easy backup. As for the licencing issue, you either work within the requirements of the evil empire, or you work around them. If you only have an upgrade version, and not a new install version of vista, then you will obviously have to install xp first. You can create a new vm to do this, which leaves your current xp vm untouched. If I were doing this, and I didn't have another licenced copy of xp, then I would just do whatever it takes to get around the licencing hurdle. .
thanks. just a few more questions.... If I make the backup and then install vista on the original will I be able to run two virtual machines - one with xp and one with vista? I would rather not start a new one from scratch since I then have to reinstall other apps.
. That's a great idea. Copy your .hdd and .pvs, then create a new vm pointing to the copy. Then upgrade the second vm to vista. I should have thought of that, as I've even posted in a thread about supplying vm images for Parallels Desktop. .
