PD8 broke CTRL+SHIFT+arrow keys in Windows

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by Tim JS, Sep 7, 2012.

  1. Tim JS

    Tim JS Bit poster

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    In text fields in windows, you can hold CTRL+SHIFT and press arrow keys (right or left) to select words at a time.
    Parallels Desktop 8 broke this. It worked in PD7.

    I have tried it with "Optimize modifier keys for games" checked and unchecked, and neither seems to work.

    The guest OS is Win 7 x86, host OS is Mountain Lion.
     
  2. JackDunaway

    JackDunaway Bit poster

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    Tim: I've recently upgraded to Parallels Desktop 8 also (Mountain Lion as well), but I can confirm that CTRL+SHIFT+Arrows still works.

    Sorry to not have a solution, but the reason I'm posting here is because some shortcuts do not work for me, and I'm on a journey as well to find the answers. Specifically CTRL+SHIFT+Alpha shortcuts (discussed here: http://lavag.org/topic/15619-ctrlshift-shortcuts-sometimes-not-working-in-labview/). This problem actually started with Parallels Desktop 7, and is only affecting one program on the Guest OS, but I'm determined to find out why some CTRL+SHIFT shortcuts are not working.
     
  3. Tim JS

    Tim JS Bit poster

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    Hi Jack,

    Thanks for the info. Good to know it's not broken for everyone. Sorry about your CTRL+SHIFT+Alpha problem in LabVIEW. Is it possible another Windows program is blocking them?

    Support has had me try the following (none helped):

    - Disable Aero mode (it was already disabled)
    - Update to the very latest build of Parallels Desktop (8.0.18101.797180)
    - Enable the option "Enable access for assistive devices" in Mac system preferences (it was already enabled)
    - Reset defaults for keyboard shortcuts in Parallels (Launch Parallels Desktop => Parallels Desktop option on the menu bar => Preferences => Shortcuts =>Select the virtual machine from the left pane => Restore Defaults )
    - Reset machine defaults: => Shutdown your Virtual Machine. Navigate to this location Parallels Desktop option on the menu bar => Preferences => Shortcuts =>Select the virtual machine from the left pane => Restore Defaults.
     
  4. JackDunaway

    JackDunaway Bit poster

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    To respond to each of your five troubleshooting tips:

    - Aero was already disabled as well
    - Already had updated to Build 8.0.18101 (Revision 797180; September 5, 2012)
    - This was not enabled on my system! But enabling it did not help :-(
    - Resetting Parallels defaults did not help
    - Resetting VM defaults did not help

    Oh well. I got excited about the third one - this was something I had not tried before!

    In other news, I've got a sub-optimal workaround documented here (http://lavag.org/topic/15619-ctrlsh...ing-in-labview/page__view__findpost__p__98227) which uses AutoHotKey. In the meantime, will continue to look for a solution.
     
  5. Tim JS

    Tim JS Bit poster

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    We could try comparing our preferences files.

    From the terminal, I ran the command:
    defaults read 'com.parallels.Parallels Desktop' > parallels.txt
    This put my Parallels Desktop preferences into the file parallels.txt.

    I opened it in TextEdit and removed personal info (email, paths, support code, etc..). It's attached.
    Try comparing yours to mine with a diff tool, or something online like http://www.diffnow.com/

    -- Tim
     

    Attached Files:

  6. JackDunaway

    JackDunaway Bit poster

    Messages:
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    I could find absolutely nothing of interest between diffing our two preferences files; I've uploaded mine in case you'd like to take a look.

    For kicks, I tried modifying "User Preferences.Keyboard.Profiles version" = 15106; to instead have a value of 18101 (the current build), but this did not appear to do anything. (My value was from a PD7 release; yours was from PD6).

    Thanks!
     

    Attached Files:

  7. AleAve

    AleAve Bit poster

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    Desperate situtation

    Hi, the Control/Alt+Arrows key functionality in Windows 7 running as host on Mac OS is lost for me as well. I'm a new customer, having just purchased Parallels Desktop 8 and installed it on Mountain Lion. Parallels Desktop is useless for me if I can't write and edit text normally in the Windows virtual environment. Neither can I jump between words normally (which I suppose should work via ALT+Arrows as in Mac OS), nor can I highlight words using Shift in addition to those keys.

    I hope this can be resolved, otherwise I have wasted my money purchasing Parallels Desktop. :(
     
  8. AleAve

    AleAve Bit poster

    Messages:
    5
    Solution

    OK, I've got it. After trying all 5 solutions listed by Tim, which didn't help, I resolved the problem as follows:

    * go to Mac OS System Preferences => Keyboard => Keyboard Shortcuts => Mission Control => Disable (or change) the "Move left a space" and "Move right a space" shortcuts

    Hope this helps everyone affected.
     
  9. Tim JS

    Tim JS Bit poster

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    AleAve, brilliant! That did it, thank you!

    -- Tim
     
  10. JackDunaway

    JackDunaway Bit poster

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    Glad the CTRL+SHIFT+Arrow problems are solved!

    I'll continue searching for the solution to the "unrelated" CTRL+SHIFT+Alpha problem (http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=262802) - unfortunately I had already tried turning off all Host Shortcuts on the "Keyboard Shortcuts" dialog.
     
  11. MarceloM

    MarceloM Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Actually it's a workaround not a solution

    Hey guys,

    In fact this didn't solve it, it's just a workaround. Til today I was using PD7 with Win8 and when not working on the virtual machine, I used a lot the "change spaces shortcut". And, when I was working on the virtual machine I also used the CTRL+Arrow to quickly go to a sentence begin/end. In my first use of PD8, those shortcuts started to work only changing spaces (Mac OS functionality). I've already tried the PD8 Preferences option to put "Send shortcuts to system" to "Never", but it still keep changing spaces when i try to use the CTRL+Arrow inside the Win8 VM.

    Hope Parallels releases a fix to this, as this is a very anoying issue and the above workaround shuts down an OS X functionality.

    Marcelo Myara
    Rio/Brazil
     
  12. GregLund

    GregLund Bit poster

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    doesn't mean what you think it means

    I'm using:
    PD8
    Mac OS X 10.8.2
    Windows 7 Home Premium virtual machine
    Maclook
    Coherence.

    The wording doesn't seem quite correct for the Preferences->Shortcuts->System Shortcuts->Send system shortcuts.

    The default option, "On Condition" says, "Mac system shortcuts (cmd+Tab, Dashboard, Mission Control, etc.) will be sent to your Mac OS X virtual machine only when it is in focus. Otherwise they'll be sent to your Mac operating system." The Help information contradicts this by saying, "If you're working with Windows, system shortcuts that don't function in Windows (for example, Control-Up Arrow button to display Mission Control) trigger functions in OS X.." So, from experience, the Help seems to be more correct: Cmd+Tab still switches Mac tasks, Ctrl+-> still switches destops, etc.

    Next, the "Always" option says, "Mac system shortcuts (Cmd+Tab, Dashboard, Mission Control, etc.) will be sent to your virtual machine." The Help says, "When Windows or Windows applications are active, function keys and other system shortcuts always trigger functions in Windows." This seems to fix my issue where I really like using Ctrl+Left and Ctrl+Right to navigate through words in my Windows text editor. However, the function keys on the Mac keyboard still perform their duties as per their icons, and not as function keys. So "Always" is actually the only option within Parallels that partially solves my problem. I would still actually like to use Cmd+Tab to switch applications, but "Always" turns that off, while somehow leaving the Function keys alone.

    The "Never" option says, "Mac system shortcuts (Cmd+Tab, Dashboard, Mission Control, etc.) will be sent to your Mac operating system, not the virtual machine." The Help information corroborates this, "Function keys and other system shortcuts always trigger functions in OS X." As far as I can tell, this behaves exactly like the "On Condition" option.

    So how about using profiles? It thought I might be able to create a shortcut mapping. So, under the VIRTUAL MACHINES section in the left-hand pane, I selected my Windows 7 profile. I then added a shortcut that allegedly maps "^->" (From Mac OS X) to "Ctrl+Right" (To Windows). This apparently has no effect. I even tried it while not in Coherence in windowed and full-screen mode with no effect. The key combination still "Ctrl+Right" switches desktops unless "Always" is selected.

    If anyone has found any fixes for this, it would be much appreciated!
     
  13. Walter2

    Walter2 Bit poster

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    Also unclick Mission Control that shows you "^up arrow" in order to use the function control up arrow key to move up.
    unclick Application windows that shows you " ^ down arrow" in order to use the function control down arrow key to move down.

    Hope this helps!
     

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