Upgrade Mac ios and Parallels

Hello. I am a little confused regarding the steps to upgrade Parallels/IOS for Mac. I am not sure if I can upgrade my IOS on my mac first before installing a newer version of Parallels with windows 10? or do it the other way around. I have Parallels 11 and running Sierra on my Imac. I would value guidance with this as I do not want to create issues if I do it wrong. Many thanks Gwen

 

I presume, you mean macOS. iOS is on iPhone.
You are running very old versions of both macOS and Parallels Desktop.
- Parallels Desktop 11 will not support anything higher than macOS Sierra
- Parallels Desktop 12 will go up to Mojave
First, I would recommend upgrading macOS to the highest version your computer will support. What is the model of your Mac?
Then download and install the highest version you have licensed. The latest Parallels Desktop (v18) supports macOS Mojave and higher. I would download the version from the parallels.com website and run the installer rather than using the build-in update function.
This table gives you the complete picture of macOS versions and compatible Parallels Desktop versions:

Parallels Desktop and macOS compatibility - https://kb.parallels.com/114381​

 

Hi and thank you so much for your welcome reply. I am sorry for the delay as i have been sick. I shall take a better look when I feel better. I appreciate your time with this. Gwen

 

Hi again I realised after sending the above text I had not answered your questions. Yes sorry I mean MacOS. The model of my Mac is imac (retina 5k, 27 inch late 2015 model. Processor is 4ghz intel core i7. Memory 16gb 1867 MHz DDR3. Hope that's right. Also could I ask why is there a
Parallels option, a subscription now? What is the advantage in regards to this and. Lifetime version. At my age (72) I'm not sure which one to choose for me. Many thanks again Gwen

 

Thank you so much Harald for all your advice. Just a few questions please.
Is it best to upgrade my macOS software first before I upgrade to another version of Parallels.
I use legacy family tree only on my Parallels side with windows 10. This software does not have a mac version.
I am a little concerned that there may be a conflict with my Family tree software.
Thanks again
Regards
Gwen

 

I would upgrade macOS first.
If the software works in your version of Parallels Desktop, it is very highly likely to work with the latest.

 

Thank you so much
Have a great day
Gwen

 

Hi again you have kindly helped me last year and I wondered if I could reach out to you again please.
I hope that maybe you could help me with the above issue.
I have not updated my Parallels 11 or windows 10 on my Mac with Sierra 10.12.6 as it was 8 years old and felt I needed a new computer instead first. However, while I was checking my Legacy family tree history on windows side a few days ago, I accidentally clicked an update window instead of cancel. My computer froze, so I turned it off, as it had done this on other occasions. When I turned it on again, the apple icon appeared, the loading window appeared but then I was faced with a black screen, a circle with a slash through it and could go no further. The computer is currently in for repair/recovery of files, I hope. My worry is that all my files for my family history are on the Mac hard drive but I do have an older backup on another portable hard drive. If I need to reinstall Parallels and windows on a new Mac and do not have a copy of Parallels 11 can I still download the version 11 so I can get up and running again. I have a 2023 zip backup of my Legacy file and am wondering how to go about opening this if I need to purchase a new iMac. Upon searching for older. Versions of Parallels I cannot see the option for downloading of an older version only 17-19. I would truly appreciate any guidance with this. I have 30 years of information on the zip file and hope I can resurrect the info if possible. Many thanks Gwen

 

Gwen,
I am sorry to hear about your trouble.
The circle with a slashed screen indicates that your macOS system installation was corrupted. You should be able to recover the system if it is not able to restore itself.
Do NOT select any options to repartition or erase your disk in and of the utilities.
- Turn the system off
- Turn it on while pressing Command-R. Command is the key that looks like a propeller.
- You should boot into system recovery.
- From Recovery:
1. Load Disk Utility and check the option to Repair your Internal Storage Device ( disk.) Then
2. Reinstall macOS. This will leave your files untouched.
If you are connected to the network via wireless, you will have to set up the wireless network connection first. The reinstalling macOS will download a new copy of your OS.
Apple's instructions are here:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/gui...estart your Mac.,other apps in macOS Recovery.
If you need to download an older version of Parallels, like v11, you can find that in the knowledge base article:
Download links for legacy Parallels Desktop versions https://kb.parallels.com/5802
Should you buy a newer computer, you can migrate your files from the iMac using Migration Assistant in the Utilities Folder in Applications. If the iMac is not recovered and you cannot boot it, connect your old and new computer via a Thunderbolt cable and put the old iMac into disk Target mode. Turn it on and immediately press T. It will show up as an attached disk to the new computer, and you can copy any files, including the Parallels Virtual machines disk file, with the Windows system.
Your ZIP disk should show up when you plug it in. I am not sure whether you created a backup by copying or using some backup application. I would need more info when you try to recover it that way.
If you are close enough to a town with an Apple Store, you can make a Genius appointment, and they will help you. I have seen them do this with systems out of AppleCare/warranty. You might also try calling the Apple Support over the phone and have them walk you through the steps.

 

Gosh thank you so much for the full detail on my iMac and possible recovery of my machine. As you outlined my main concern is not losing my data. I truly appreciate your in depth detail for addressing the issues I have and also for possible outcomes. I believe as my machine is about 8 years old and cannot really be upgraded with software further than possibly high sierra I may need to bite the bullet and purchase a new one. That way I could hopefully, migrate the information as you stated in the hope it will recover both iMac IOS and Parallels with windows 10., in tact. Thank you so much and if I have a positive result I would like to let you know if that is ok.
Warm regards, Gwen