Aero does not work in Parallels 5

[gewappnet]

I use Parallels 5 with the Bootcamp installation of Windows 7 Home Premium (32-Bit) on a MacBook (late 2007) with Snow Leopard and 4 GB RAM. When started in Bootcamp Aero works fine, but in Paralles 5 there is no Aero. I have set the memory for the virtual machine to 2 GB and for the virtual video card to the maximum (256 MB). Anything else to do?

Aero was the only reason I did the costly upgrade, so please fix the problem!

[serv]

gewappnet,

I'm assuming your late 2007 MacBook is of version 3,1 with Intel X3100 video.
Unfortunately Intel drivers for OS X are not as capable as Windows drivers. Texture size limits are lower than what Windows Aero requires. This makes official Aero support on X3100 impossible.

You may try some hack though. It is possible to force Aero compatibility at the cost of possible 3D problems. In virtual machine properties select Hardware tab and Boot Order. Type in "video.dx_profile=6" without quotes into Boot flags and start your VM.
Note that this setting may cause artefacts or instability to 3D applications because it stretches the system beyond its capabilities. Remove this boot flag in case of problems.

[gewappnet]

Thank you, this works. There are in fact strange redraw error. Maybe you should state this information in a support article.

[serv]

The thing is: this boot flag and its effect on Aero is unsupported. It works by pure luck.
Anyway what error are you seing? Can you generate a problem report via Parallels Help menu at the moment when the error is visible and post the report ID here.

[gewappnet]

The thing is: this boot flag and its effect on Aero is unsupported. It works by pure luck.
Anyway what error are you seing?

It's not an error message, it just the redraw of the normal opened start menu. Underlying desktop icons are drawn over the opened menu and underlying window frames flicker through.

[Bill Baxter]

I have noticed that Aero is not supported on my Macbook. Not too surprised. I know how demanding it can be on the graphics. Is there a HW compat list? Are the new 13" Macbook Pro compatible with this feature?

Oh, and since this might be the only reason to upgrade to 5.0, can a get a free activation key? :) I really don't want to waste time downgrading back to Parallels 4.

Thanks, Bill.

[serv]

gewappnet,

such artefacts are the sign of Snow Leopard, 10.5.8 is a bit better in this respect.


Bill,

Aero is not supported on MacBooks with GMA950 or X3100 graphics. Starting from 2009 MacBooks are equipped with nVidia 9400M and will run Aero just fine as well as all MacBook Pros.

[johnf]

I also can't get Aero to run under Parallel 5.0 and Windows 7. When i run the Microsoft performance assessment i get a rating of 2.9 for graphics (3.0 needed to run Aero).

Are there some settings i need to "tweak" to up my score? Or does your driver not support this graphics chip?

I have:

Macbook Pro 17", Core Duo 2.4ghz, 4GB Ram (1096MB allocated to Virtual Machine), Video set to 256MB, Nvdia Geforce 8600M GT

Thanks,

johnf

[AlexanderW]

same problem for me, Aero turns itself off, although it worked for one time directly after Win7 virtual machine had converted from Parallels 4 to 5. Still, the Aero rating is 2.9, just short of the 3.0 needed .... Why? I thought , Parallels 5 supports Aero in Win7, and the Macbook Pro I have (see below) is definitely not a slow machine ...

Also, Win7 reports an error message, that Aero will turn on again, once I kill a certain process - and that process, as the Task Manager shows, is the Parallels Tools!!!!!!

So what the heck is Parallels Tools doing in blocking Aero, when it is supposed to enable it???

Please Help, and please FAST!!!

Macbook Pro 15", Core Duo 2.4ghz, 4GB Ram (2048MB allocated to Virtual Machine), Video set to 256MB, Nvdia Geforce 8600M GT

[JephC]

I just installed Parallels 5 and Windows Vista on my iMac and Aero isn't working. The box or the manual doesn't really say how to get it working, just that it 'works'.

I have GeForce 7600 GT graphics card that should be more than capable and yet, no Aero. Can anyone help me get it working?

[Jaroslav Hruska]

Hello, I would ask you:
I installed a new version Parallels 5.0.9038 that oficially supports Aero on GMA X3100, but Aero did not appear.
I have Windows 7 64-bit edition.

Where could be a problem? Thank you.