Windows finds no boot drive, won't start

E

EricW2

Bit poster
Newly installed latest version of Parallels Desktop and Windows 8.1 on mid-2014 top-of-the-line 2.8GHz MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM, 690GB free space out of 1TB flash storage, and OS X 10.10.5. Parallels and Windows started successfully several times, and I used Internet Explorer to download AVG antivirus and installed it on the Windows VM (not on the Mac side). Sometime after that (and, I believe, after several normal quits and restarts of Parallels and Windows), Windows suddenly decided it could no longer find a boot drive. Now whenever I start Parallels, Windows presents a black MSDOS-looking screen with that message, and the only way I can extricate myself from that screen is to force-quit Parallels using Command+Option+Esc.

I would be happy to remove and reinstall Windows and/or Parallels if only I knew how to do so completely. I have no familiarity at all with Windows, and only installed it in order to run ArcGIS (not yet downloaded or installed) on my Mac. I'm an accomplished 30-year Mac user.

On another subject, Parallels Support has sent me a support code and says I have 29 days of free phone support remaining, but I've scoured the support pages and I find no other hint that phone support exists at all -- no number, no mention whatsoever. Is there any such thing?
 
PaulChris@Parallels said:
Hi Eric, please provide us with the problem report right after reproducing the issue and you can generate the report using this KB. Please reply us back with the report 8-digit ID.
Click to expand...

Problem resolved via remote access during a two-hour phone call with a superhumanly patient and expert Indian support technician for Parallels. I may have understood as much as 5% of what he did -- nowhere near enough to have any idea what caused the problem. High praise and respect for Parallels tech support!
 
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