How to: Resolve trouble between Parallels and Windows under Boot Camp
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Sep 8, 2007, 08:08 PM
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bulletproof Junior Member Join: Sep 2007 Posts: 26 |
How to: Resolve trouble between Parallels and Windows under Boot Camp - UPDATED After seeing several threads relating to this issue, I decided to make this it's own thread instead of trying to reply to each. This article NOW resolves all issues pertaining to using Windows under Boot Camp through Parallels, INCLUDING activation. Hopefully Parallels will be able to integrate these fixes into a future release. Before doing anything, I would recommend preparing your existing Windows installation under Boot Camp, for Parallels, before trying to access it through Parallels. If you have already installed Parallels and now have problems, don't worry, this article should address and resolve these issues as well. Something to know upfront: using your existing Boot Camp installation with Parallels will most likely require you to activate your Windows installation a second time. The reasons for this are addressed in Section 4 of this article. Section 1: Preparing your Boot Camp Installation for Parallels (If you already tried to access your Boot Camp installation through Parallels, and can no longer get into Windows through Boot Camp or Parallels, please skip this step and come back to it after you have completed Section 2.) First we need setup one Hardware profile for Boot Camp and one for Parallels. Please note, these steps are not available in Windows Vista. (Credit for this fix goes to logan_barnett.) 1. Open your "System Properties" either through the Control Panel or by right-clicking on "My Computer" and going to Properties. 2. Go to the "Hardware" tab and click on "Hardware Profiles". 3. Rename the current profile "Boot Camp", and then copy it. Rename the copy "Parallels". 4. Under "Hardware profiles selection", make sure "Wait until I select a hardware profile" is selected. 5. Check the properties of each profile and make sure the following options are selected: "This is a portable computer" "The docking state is unknown" "Always include this profile as an option when Windows starts" 6. Click "OK" on everything. This will allow you to choose the correct hardware profile when booting into Windows using Boot Camp or Parallels. Select the "Parallels" hardware profile when using Parallels and select the "Boot Camp" hardware profile when using Boot Camp. Section 2: Resolving issues that may arise from installing Parallels There are two things that I had to do to resolve the issues that arose after installing the latest version of Parallels 3 (build 4560). First, I started receiving "Windows XP could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" when booting to Windows using Parallels or Boot Camp. (If you do not have this problem, please skip this step.) I had to resolve this issue by restoring this registry file using the Recovery Console (I actually used MacFUSE and NTFS-3G to access the NTFS partition from OSX to do this, but will not get into how to do this. If you want to look into it for yourself, you can find information here.). I restored the "system" registry file from the latest backup located in "C:\System Volume Information\_restore{D86480E3-73EF-47BC-A0EB-A81BE6EE3ED8}\RPX\Snapshot". There is more information on how to do this here. Section 3: Resolving issues with Stop Error 0x0000007b After I resolved the first issue, I could boot back into Windows using Boot Camp, but was still getting a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) when trying to use Parallels. The Stop Error I was getting was 0x0000007b. If you "Disable automatic restart on system failure" by using the boot option (F8), you should be able to see what the stop error is. If it is 0x0000007b, then see this article to resolve the trouble. (When trying to run your Windows installation under Boot Camp, through Parallels, Windows reacts in the same way it would if you physically moved your hard drive from one PC to another. Thus, you have to do the procedure listed above to get Windows to run in Parallels.) Section 4: Issues Using the 0x0000007b fix appears to resolve any BSOD issues when booting into Windows using Parallels or Boot Camp, but there are a few other issues that arise from doing this: Activation: Windows will need to be reactivated. This is because of the "Significant Hardware Changes" detected by Windows when switching from Boot Camp to Parallels, or vice versa. When using the latest version of Boot Camp (1.4), Windows has complete access to all hardware in your Mac. When using Parallels, Windows has a different Hard Disk Controller, Video Card, and Processor core count (1 instead of 2). After Windows has been activated under both Boot Camp and Parallels (twice), you will be able to boot into either configuration without any trouble. (If you were able to prepare your Boot Camp installation for Parallels before trying to access it through Parallels, you may not have to reactivate Windows, but I am not for sure on this.) This may be a major issue for those of you using Vista. From what I have read, Vista is even less forgiving than XP, when it comes to reactivation. If you cannot get Vista to activate successfully a second time under Parallels, I believe that you can still get it activated by speaking to a CSR in Microsoft's Activation Department. Drivers: After doing the procedures listed above to get windows to run, Windows will need to have the proper drivers installed (Boot Camp drivers for running on Boot Camp, and Parallels drivers for running on Parallels). Parallels Tools: It appears that after installing the Parallels Tools under Parallels, the Boot Camp drivers for Windows no longer function correctly under Boot Camp. For example, the keyboards back-light no longer works, nor do any of the shortcuts shared by the function keys. (If you find that this issue does not actually apply to your installation under Boot Camp, please ignore the fix I have listed below.) The only way you can get around this issue (since you cannot uninstall the Parallels Tools unless your are running Windows under Parallels) is to: change the Parallels Services (in the Windows Services Manager) from Automatic to Manual, stop the running service(s), disable the Parallels "startup" options (using Windows Defender or MSCONFIG), and reboot. After completing this, in addition to everything else, there should be no problem with using Windows under Parallels or Boot Camp. Additional Comments: I think these issues should have been addressed in detail, by Parallels, before releasing a product that has the ability to utilize the Windows installation under Boot Camp as a virtual machine. And it is my opinion that resolving these issues, or integrating these fixes into their existing product, should be Parallels top priority! If Windows is running natively on Boot Camp, then Parallels should be able to run Windows seamlessly without having to use the fixes listed above, causing the Boot Camp drivers to malfunction, or (if possible) causing Windows to have to be reactivated. I would recommend that Parallels create an install file that would need to be run in Windows under Boot Camp, as a prerequisite (automatically resolving these issues or applying these fixes), before allowing Parallels access to the existing Windows installation under Boot Camp. Parallels will also need to be very clear with the fact that Windows will need to be activated twice for everything to work correctly. If anyone has any additional information about these issues, or has found this information helpful, please reply to this thread. Thanks! |
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