How do I free disk space please?

[rickaungiers]

When I try an open parallels I get the following message. How do I clear some disk space please?

Only 195 MB of free disk space remains in the /Users/rickaungiers file system. Guest operating system is unable to run until at least 512 MB free disk is available. Please free some disk space.
Click OK if you cleared enough disk space or click Cancel to shutdown the Virtual Machine.


Thanks

Rick

[plfish@msn.com]

I am getting the same message. I do not know how to free up any more space in my user folder than I already have. I hope someone has an answer, because I cannot get into any of my stuff inside of the vm.

[Hugh Watkins]

I rushed out and got as La Cie fast firewire disk and copied all my photo jpgs to there

and moved my parallels clones
(you do make a clone weekly and before any upgrade?)

I keep all my data in shared folders and back it up off site too

about 20% free space on AMcintosh HD and 30% free on C drive in VM WinXP sp2

so I am a happy camper
I lost work in Septemebr 2006 so I learned thehard way too

sorry about all your probs :-(


Hugh W

[Nathan Hall]

Why are their no replies to these and so many other posts from Parallels team members? This is getting frustrating... about to ask for my money back as this product has way too many bugs.

[Xenos]

Hello,

Rickaungiers and Plfish@msn.com, you can use Windows Disk Cleanup to free your disk space (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> Disk Cleanup).

You can also create a new hard disk for your VM (Configuration Editor -> Add), then Initialize it and Make Partition (Start -> right click My Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management -> right click the Disk -> Initialize Disk -> right click the picture indicating the Disk state on the right of the Disk -> Make Partition). Now you can see your new disk at My Computer window and use it.

Best regards,
Xenos

[yannick]

Hi,

I have the same problem, with same error message. I browsed the Virtual Disk with Parallel Explorer to remove as many files I could find to create more disk space within the VM, but error message still appeared after removing them. I have also plenty of HDD space left on my MacBook Pro.

The steps you suggested to resolve the problem assumed that you can gain access to Windows. Because of that error message stating the lack of disk space, I have no way to implement your solution because the VM will not start until I create more disk space. Is there another way to get my VM to work again? Will removing more files with Parallel Explorer resolve the problem?

Thanks!

Yannick

Parallel 3.0 Build 5582
MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz, 4G Memory, 120G HDD (50G Free), Leopard

[Xenos]

Hello,

Yannick, please check, how much free space do you have in your user folder.
Could you try moving the .pvs file to the Desktop or another folder and launch Parallels from there?

Best regards,
Xenos

[tbeyers]

Xenos,

Same problem here. I've no idea what you mean when you say to move the .pvs file. Could you please provide some more detailed instructions?

Thank you,

Tim

[tbeyers]

Yannick,

It may not make a difference for you but I deleted my old system files from an archive and install of Tiger, thus freeing at least 10 GB of space on my hard drive. Following that, I was able to start up Parallels and am now running Disk Clean-Up in XP.

FWIW,

Tim

[kshadlen]

I'm having the same problem. I'm locked out of Windows. I can open parallels, but when I try to start the VM I get the message saying the OS cannot until more space is available. I can' delete files and free space, however, without being able to get into windows. Please help. Tks, Ken

[Xenos]

Hello,

Tim, thank you for the feedback. Glad to hear you can access Windows now.

By moving .pvs file I meant you should find this file (use Finder) and move it to another folder. Then try launching Parallels by double-clicking the file's icon.

Ken, did you try this?

Best regards,
Xenos

[kshadlen]

Thanks for the response.

I moved the winxp.pvs to the desktop and double-clicked to open parallels. Parallels opens, but with a dialogue box saying the following:
"Virtual machine cannot be started because of the following problem:

The virtual Hard Disk 1 image file /Users/kenshadlen/Desktop/LSEMSWINXP1PLAIN.hdd could not be found"

I went to finder and did find for files with the suffix .hdd but cannot locate any.

What do you recommend? When I click on the file "Parallels-Desktop-3214-Mac-en.dmg" I get a box with files that allow me to uninstall parallels. Should I uninstall and then reinstall?

Thanks,
Ken

[Eru Ithildur]

Did you just search for '.hdd' without quotes?

If you can't find a .hdd file you must have deleted it somehow and you will have to re-install your VM.

[Xenos]

Hello all,

Ken, please find your .hdd file and then indicate the path to it in Virtual Machine Configuration Editor -> Hard Disk. Click the [...] button at Use image file field and browse to the .hdd.

Best regards,
Xenos

[kshadlen]

Thanks for all your help, but i seem to be back to where we started.

I located .hdd and moved it to desktop
I entered the VM's configuration editor and followed the instructions to indicate the path.
I then tried to restart XP and received this message:

"Unable to allocate virtual machine memory!

This error may occur mostly if there is no enough free disk space available on the physical disk to allocate virtual machine paging file. Try to clean up the physical disk (remove unnecessary files). If it doesn't help, try to re-install Parallels Desktop."

This, of course, is where the entire thread began. I gather I should re-install Parallels, but before doing so will wait to see if anyone has any suggestions. I don't see how my harddrive can be so full.

Ken

[Xenos]

Ken, there is a known issue concerning memory allocation on Macintosh computers with large amount of RAM (4+ GB). Our developers are investigating it but it's more like a current technological design limitation that is to be changed in future Parallels Desktop versions.

Currently you can work around the problem in several ways:

- lower the total Parallels Desktop reserved memory limit (under Preferences - Memory);
- try different memory values;
- lower the amount of memory allocated to the particular VM;
- start Parallels Desktop right after the Mac restart (thus we put our main drivers in the first 4 GB address space of the system).

Best regards,
Xenos

[plfish@msn.com]

After much experimenting, I realized that the Parallels error message was possibly wrong. I had pretty much emptied my user folder, and I kept getting the same error message. It turned out that I needed more space on the hard drive itself. When I upgraded my hard drive (Other World Computing--very easy), I found Parallels running just fine.

[RonaldD]

Wow, the solution was simple for me. Delete files, and make sure you also empty the trash.