Populating Mac Applications fails

Hi,
I'm having problems accessing Mac Applications from Win XP.
The first time I installed Parallels Tools I got the Shared Apps choise in the Start Menu, but the it disappeared. Trying to Populate Mac Apps fails altogether.
I have the C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\Parallels\Shared Applications\ folder, but it is empty.
I've read all I've been able to find related to this issue, but so far nothing has worked.
Accessing WinApps from MacOS works OK.

MacBook Pro latest, MacOS 10.5.2
Parallels 3 build 5584

Any ideas?

Best / Per

 

Hello Per,

What are the settings in your VM Configuration Editor, Shared Applications section?

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Xenos, wow, you're fast ...

The settings are:
Share Win apps to Mac: Ticked
Enable Smart Select: Ticked
Show in Dock: Always
Show Mac Apps to Win: Ticked

BTW, I haven't installed MacFuse)

Best, Per

 

Hi again!
Now, this is a bit scary..... I just noted my Start Menu signalling New Software, and what do you know..... The Parallels Shared Applications are there... I didn't do anything, I swear...
The only thing is that the list is incomplete, specifically, Excel 2004 is missing. (Word and Power Point are there, however)
I think I have seen something resembling this somewhere in the Forum, but how do I add Excel (or any other app) to the list?
Also, any idea what possibly could have caused this???

I'm totally lost... :|

Best, Per

 

Hello Per,

The issue might be caused either by Tools reinstall or by Shared Applications folder removal. Or you might have made some operations with "Populate" or "Edit" options from Parallels Desktop menu bar -> Applications menu.

Anyway, you should move to Trash the folder Shared Applications on Mac side (you can find the folder through Finder, on the mounted virtual hard drive).

Start your VM after this and reinstall Parallels Tools.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hi Xenos, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate your assistance!

I tried this, but it seems like the hard drive (labeled Untitled) is mounted read-only on the Mac side. I simply cannot remove the directory, neither in the Finder nor with rm -fr.
It seems like the volume is writable only when the VM is running. (I could easily remove it from Windows, it that would help.)

Also, when trying to restart the VM it claims that the drive can't be opened. So I try again, and end up with the eternal spinning ball...
After a forced quit of Parallels and a reboot the VM starts nicely. The Win partition is now labeled "[C] My Boot Camp" on the Mac side and is mounted read-write. The Shared Apps are there, albeit still lacking a substantial number of apps (most prominently Excel).

I might add that I run Parallels on my Boot Camp partition, if that might cause any problems.

Sigh.... is there a way out of this?

Best, Per

 

Hello Per,

Please make a backup of the virtual hard disk (.hdd file) and save it on any data storage.
Delete your VM.
Uninstall Parallels.
Reinstall Parallels and create a new VM.
Create two hardware profiles for Parallels and Boot Camp.
Make sure "Share Mac folders" option is enabled in the VM Configuration Editor.
Launch Windows and check if it works properly.
If it does, shut down and add the old .hdd as a second Hard Disk in the VM configuration.

Best regards,
Xenos

 

Hi, thanks for the suggestion!
Before I go ahead, though...

There is no .hdd file to be found. I find the "My Boot Camp" folder, but it only contains the .pvs file.
Using a Boot Camp partition, is there really a .hdd file?

Once - and if - found, should the back up be made from Parallels DT or just by copying the file?

Best / Per

 

Xenos, I'm still in mid-air with this issue....
I would really appreciate some further input regarding the questions in my last post, I dare not continue until I'm on safe ground...

Some additional questions:
Is deleting the VM the same as ConfigEdit->HardDisk->Clear?
When re-installing parallels, creating a VM means accepting the VM automatically suggested when the boot camp partition is foud, right?

Friendly / Per

 

having problems populating Mac applications

Xenos, I have had Parallels and Windows XP installed for several months. I finally just installed Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 and I see a Parallels Shared Applications folder with the correct files (C:\Documents and Settings\(User)\Start Menu\Programs\Parallels Shared Applications). When I hit Populate, nothing seems to happen. Any thoughts? I see some posts on this, but before I do anything drastic, I figured there might be an easy solution since I just put the new software on. I'm running Build 5608

 

When you populate Mac applications, it only creates new links in C:\Documents and Settings\(User)\Start Menu\Programs\Parallels Shared Applications

 

Ksikkema,
populating Mac apps still seems entirely random, and mostly erratic... I never got a proper answer to this and I still haven't got it working properly. Sometimes the apps are there, sometimes they are'nt, and I still have never seen all available apps at the same time.
As an example, 5 minutes ago I had some 20 shared Mac apps, apparantly picked at random; just for the fun of it I just now chose 'Populate' from the menu. Sure enough, now I have no shared apps. Zero :-(
But I bet, some of them will turn up automagically in a couple of days, hehehe....

Parallels works really nicely for me and I'm very happy with it. However, this particular feature never worked well.

Not much help, I'm afraid, but at least - you're not alone ;-)

Best,
Per

(BTW, Xenos left Parallels)

 

Probably the best test is to install Mac OS on external drive and new VM, and test

 

Same problem

I am seeing exactly the same problem. If I click on Populate (Shared Mac Applications), I can see the folder show up momentarily and then it disappears again.

 

Permissions repair may help in this case, also make sure that you have right access to VM folder (in case Multi-user access)

 

Thanks for the quick response. I had tried the permissions repair but it hadn't helped. However, today, I upgraded my laptop from Tiger to Leopard and now it seems to work fine.

 

No Apps?

Hello,

I am having the exact same problem as several people describe here. Everything was perfect with Parallels until about a month ago all of a sudden all Mac Shared Apps disappeared on the Windows side. The folder ../Applications Data/Parallels/Shared Applications is there, but it's empty. Shortcuts on my desktop ("Safari" for instance) don't work anymore ("Windows is searching for "Safari.exe"...).

I have tried reinstalling Parallels Tools, "Populate", etc everything multiple times but no success.

Now yesterday all of a sudden I had some very few applications back - about 10 or so only - (without changing anything!), but when I tried to get the rest through the "Populate" button, everything was empty again and the folder in the Start Menu gone.

There seems to be some serious issue with this?

I have a MacBook Pro with a Boot Camp partitiion, Mac OS 10.5.5 and Windows XP Pro SP3.

Help?
Christian

 

Remove antivirus from Windows side

 

I have no antivirus installed. Nor much other stuff - just MS Office 2003.

 

What are in Applications and System logs on Windows side?