XP Installation Woes...

A

Anim8or

Bit poster
I've been trying to install Windows XP Home Edition SP1 using the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac. The CD I have is genuine, with a genuine serial number. When I enter the serial number, everything is fine, and installation proceeds normally. However, when the installation reaches to the "Installing Start Items" point, Parallels does a little "flip" and displays the system info all of a sudden. It also says "Installation Stopped." I did not use the computer while installing, and no other apps were working in the background. I have a 2.4 gHz MacBook Pro with 2gb of RAM, and Leopard 10.5.2. Tell me, how can I solve this problem?
 
Please try to instal from iso image, see instruction bellow how to create iso
1. Insert CD/DVD source

2. Fire up a Terminal, you can then determine the device that is you CD/DVD drive using the following command:

$ drutil status
Vendor Product Rev
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-835E GAND

Type: DVD-ROM Name: /dev/disk1
Cur Write: 8x DVD Sessions: 1
Max Write: 8x DVD Tracks: 1
Overwritable: 00:00:00 blocks: 0 / 0.00MB / 0.00MiB
Space Free: 00:00:00 blocks: 0 / 0.00MB / 0.00MiB
Space Used: 364:08:27 blocks: 1638627 / 3.36GB / 3.13GiB
Writability:
Book Type: DVD-ROM

3. Umount the disk with the following command:

$ diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
Disk /dev/disk1 unmounted

4. Create the ISO file with the dd utility (may take some time):

$ dd if=/dev/disk1 of=file.iso bs=2048

5. Test the ISO image by mounting the new file (or open with Finder):

$ hdid file.iso

6. The ISO image can then be burnt to a blank CD/DVD.
 
i did that and...

it didn't work! I created the ISO image and when I tried to use it to install XP I get an automatic boot fail message. When I try to mount the disk image I get a "not recognized" error. What do I do!?
 
have the same problem

I first installed a trial version which worked fine and after purchasing a CD version from a store, I activated the trial version with my new activation number (did not re-install because the CD was an older build).
However after a few days I noticed a certain program and a few files were missing from Windows XP and decided to reinstall Parallels. The CD version did not work and I suspected that te earlier build was not Leopard proof, so I used the trial version download again.
I have not been able to install Parallels and have the same symptoms as mentioned above, despite doing the obvious things like uninstalling the previous installation of Parallels.
Any suggestions?
Andre
 
got it

I finally got it to work. Select "Typical" instead of Express Installation mode and then pick Windows Other for OS type. It stalled fine...from a disk image! Use Disk Utility to create and image, change the file extension from ".dmg" to ".iso" and do the installation from there.
 
disk image

I don't quite know how to make a disk image, but if my Parallels CD is build 4560 and the download from Parallels' website is build 5600 (and it's already a dmg file), why make a disk image?

I have it saved on my hard-drive and use the CD's activation code. Is that OK?
Andre
 
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So if I'm understanding your issue...you had Parallels trial version up and running with XP just fine, then decided to go with the full version and it won't run? I don't know that I can help you with the Parallels problem but....

I also don't know why creating an ISO image of my XP install CD allowed the system to work. Anyway, if you need any help with creating a disk image, let me know.
 
disk image

OK, ...... I got it !
Have to make a disk image of my Windows XP, and not the Parallels cd.

I am not really sure how to make an disk image file even after reading the post above.

Any suggestions on how to make the process easier or should I just try the method above?
Andre
 
ISO image

Thank you for the link, will update.

I have made an ISO image of my Windows XP cd and burnt it to a CD.

How do I proceed?
Andre
 
yeah, except .dmg didn't work.

To create an image of any disk...use the Disk Utility (Application>Utilities>Disk Utility). Select the disk you want to create an image of and then click the "New Image" icon at the top. Save it wherever you want but switch to READ ONLY Once its complete (and it might take awhile) change the file extension to ".iso" ...then once you are going through the parallels set-up process, select to install from a disk image instead of the CD/DVD drive. It should work like a charm.
 
You actually won't need the burned cd (I did the same thing, haha). Like I said...save it wherever you want to and then access that file when you browse to find the ISO file. Happy Hunting!
 
Suggestions

I became a Mac user 3 years ago and have had very little to no problems at all with my iMac G5 (recently got the 20' Intel version with Leopard). I believe Apple have it right because they make the hardware and the software - that's the only real way to properly debug software in my opinion.

The possibility of running Windows appeals to me though and Parallels could be the perfect platform for this, but why do I need struggle to install it. When I installed the trial version it installed perfectly and I installed XP directly from my Windows CD, but after purchasing a CD version of Parallels my problems started.

Firstly I don't believe that the Parallels CD I purchased (build 4560) works with Leopard and even if it did, the uninstaller does not work properly and creates more problems.

Suggestions:
1. Improve the uninstaller, so that the installer is not compromised.
2. Allow users to update Parallels to the latest version before installing the OS.
3. Have volunteer users test run new builds before making them available online.
4. Make it easier for the average person to install the OS, like using the CD.

I was really impressed with the speed of XP on the trial version, but it seems to have slowed down a lot with build 5604, particularly when updating Windows online. There is also no progress bar shown during the download and it looks like the download is not happening. I have to monitor the internet connection to make sure that the download was still progressing. I updated my Leopard to 10.5.3 and this may also be the problem.

I have tried to update to my Parallels to build 5608, but I keep getting a message that my software is up to date, even though I have build 5604.

Hoping that the bugs will get sorted soon.
Andre
 
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I will try to answer all your questions
1. Suggestions - we exactly trying to achieve this goals too
2. Builds 5604 and 5608 has the same internal number, therefore it shows no update
5604 actually is not official build, please download manually 5608
We are now also improving autoupdate , to avoid such confusion in the future

For Windows performance please see some tricks bellow
1. Set memory for Virtual Machine to less than 1 GB
2. Perform Mac and Windows side disk defragmentation http://www.xvsxp.com/system/system_tools_defrag.php
3. Set Adjust memory limit from Auto to Manual at Parallels Desktop -Preferences-Memory, and set limit a bit more higher than VM memory
4. Disable Themes in Windows XP serives.msc stop Themes service
5. If you are running in Coherence, try to switch to Single Window, or lower Mac resolution
6. Some antivirus software can load CPU when Heuristic Prediction is set, or Tamper protection (Symantec, MacAffey), adjust settings to risk you are supposed, high security settings is not always good idea, as it can also affect software running
7. Run msconfig , and disable unneeded startup items
See http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.htm
 
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