Vista RC1 and 1896.2 Install For Dummies

Vista Install For Dummies

How To Install Vista (RC2 or later) under Parallels (1940 or later)
Note: These instructions appear to work for the newest version of Vista (5744) and Parallels (1940).

Things you will need

• An Intel Mac with a minimum of 1Gig of RAM
• At least 10Gigs of free hard drive space (about 3 gigs for the Vista ISO, and about 6 for the basic Vista install)
• The Vista Installation ISO file
• A valid Vista Product Activation key
• Parallels build 1940 or later

Download and Install Parallels

• download: http://www.parallels.com/en/download/desktop/
• Install
• Restart your mac

Get the Vista RC2 installation ISO.
You will need a valid product activation key, which you can get by registering w/microsoft. If you have a Vista Beta 2 product key, this will work.

• NOTE: MS has pulled the RC2 download page, so these instructions which were for RC1 may or may not still work
  
  

Configure a new VM in Parallels

• Create a new VM in Parallels. Choose the "Windows Vista" settings. Note: Re-using an old VM is not recommended, since it may not have the right settings. Let the wizard create a new one for you to be safe.
• Click the "CD/DVD-ROM 1" link. Click "Use Image File" on the "Emulation" section. Click the "..." button, and then drag the ISO to that window to select it.
• For better performance, I recommend that you make one additional change: Click "Options" at the top of the window, then click the "VM Flags" tab, then change "Choose virtual hard disk cache policy..." to "Mac OS X". This may slow down the install a little, but it makes your Mac much more useable in the mean time.
• Click OK, then the Play button, and Vista will boot.
• Install as per the onscreen instructions.

install Parallels Tools & Drivers
After Vista has installed and finished booting,

• From the Mac "VM" menu, choose "Install Parallels Tools". Do NOT click "Install/Run PrlTools".
• Instead, click "Open folder to view files"
• Right click "PrlTools", choose "Properties, and click the "Compatability" tab.
• Select "Run this program in compatability mode for Windows XP (Service Pack 2)"
• Click OK, then double-click PrlTools to run it.
• Choose all the default installation options, and click "Install this driver" to any messages asking for permission.
• Restart Vista when it asks.

To verify that your installation went well

• Click the VM window -- your mouse should flow between the VM window and the rest of your mac. If the mouse gets "stuck" in the window, the Mouse driver didn't install.
• Right click the desktop, and choose "Personalize", then click "Display Settings". It should say "Generic non PnP Monitor on Parallels Video Driver". If it doesn't say "Parallels Video Driver" then the video driver didn't install.
• Try to browse the internet using Internet Explorer. If it works, then your network driver is fine.

Notes

• Upon first boot, Vista does a bunch of hard drive indexing which can use 100% of the CPU and cause the machine to act sluggish. Let it run for a few hours and it should finish these tasks and then start performing better.
• The installation takes about 6Gigs -- this is an improvement over Vista Beta 2 which took about 9 gigs.

I hope this is helpful!

Please add any additional Instructions / Tips to this thread.

 

Mac Book Pro HARD CRASH

I have tried to install vistal 4 times now with the most updated build 1898 (I think) and it makes it most of the way through and then I get a hard crash on OSX. Any Suggestions?

How much RAM should you select for vista?

I have 1.5 GB of RAM.

Thanks,
Jason

 

I use 512MB (the default) for Vista.

By "hard crash" do you mean a Kernel Panic? Can you post your copy of "panic.log" in a new thread?

Also, you might want to try un-installing parallels, rebooting, then re-installing and rebooting your mac again. That sometimes fixes things, as I think Parallels installs some pieces at startup.

 

I get a blank black screen after the files finish loading and then it restarts and does the same thing over and over

 

I finally got vistal installed... Took forever!

The only thing I did differnet was:
"For better performance, I recommend that you make one additional change: Click "Options" at the top of the window, then click the "VM Flags" tab, then change "Choose virtual hard disk cache policy..." to "Mac OS X". This may slow down the install a little, but it makes your Mac much more useable in the mean time."

That seemed to do the trick

 

Now that I got it installed can someone post a "File sharing and Networking for Dummies"????????????????

 

Your post made me take the descision to try out Vista. Nice instructions, everything worked first time. Thanks!

H

 

Doesn't work for me!

I followed the directions and began the install. After entering my activation code the install program began to copy files to my hard drive. However, it never got past 0%, and after a few minutes I get an error message " Windows setup could not reinitialize the deployment engine. To install Windows, restart the installation." When I click OK, the error message disappears, but I'm left at a Vista screen saying "The installation was cancelled. Any changes that were made to your computer during the installation process will not be saved." The program hangs and I'm forced to shut down the Virutal Machine.

Anyone else have this problem? Any solutions? BTW, I'm using Paralles Desktop for Mac, Build 1898 Release Candiate (September 17, 2006) I was also using RC 1 of Vista.

Thanks!

 

this is a fantastic list of directions! I have vista rc1 running fine including the parallel tools except for the file sharing. I have tried everything I have found in the different posts with no luck.

anyone have that "file sharing for dummies"????

 

Thanks for the instructions. When install off the ISO I get a black screen that says

File: NDIS.SYS

Status: 0xc0000017

Info: Windows failed to load because a required file is missing, or corrupt



I am using 1986.2 and my checksum is good. I have one other VM (XP) configured. Any ideas?

TIA

 

Installed VISTA RC1

I have managed to get VISTA RC1 installed and working on my macbook pro, using the instructions above. The only problem I had was trying to install off the CD, it would not boot and I got a black screen with a similar message as eatupmartha. I got around it by using the Parallels image tool to create an ISO of the DVD, and then mounted the ISO to install VISTA and it worked first time.

Only problem at the moment is that the sound is juttery (may be a memory or resource problem as I am running two other parallels at the same time). Also because the graphics card is the Parallels driver I cannot install the catalyst drivers to get the Aero effects. Anyone know of a way around this?

 

Vista install went flawlessly

I was very impressed with the installation of Vista. The speed of the install on my MacBook with 2GB of RAM (allocated 796MB) was very good. The only problem I have had since the install is with Suspending the VM. It does not come back from Suspension the way you would expect. In fact, it gives you the feeling that it is stuck because there is no progress on the Progress bar. It then comes up and says there is a problem and you click OK and then you can work in Vista.

Going to play more now. Oh, I also loaded Beta2TR of Office 12. It went well too.

Terry Hatmaker

 

install failure

I followed the above instructions and am receiving the following error, which looks like a couple people had or have the same issue.

"Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:
1. insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. Choose your....

file: \windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
status 0xc0000017
info: windows failed to load because the kernel is missing or corrupt. "

MD5 = success
I have tried burning the original ISO to disc = failed
I have tried creating an iso using parallels Image Tool from the disc = failed
downloaded another copy of the ISO from MS and the same thing happened.

Any suggestions?

 

disk space error on Vista RC1

I tried to install Vista with 6GB, and the installer said I needed something like 6.2GB. so I started over and gave it 8GB, to which it came back and said it needed 9.7GB! I didn't have anywhere near that kind of space, so I ignored it. Now Vista is whininig to me regularly about not having enough space, but the .hdd file is only using 5.49GB, not expanding to the 8GB I gave it.

I also have the hinky sound (and i did install the Parallels tools).

What should I do?
Allison
NosillaCast at http://podfeet.com

 

xochi,

Thanks ever so much for your install instructions. This post is being sent from Vista running in Parallels running on my 20" Intel iMac (sadly, not the Core 2 Duo variety, however). The only "issue" I have is with sound, but that's not really all that big a deal, as I somehow never really quite find the need to use Windows a whole lot - something about already having a much better OS to use

Has anyone else had any issues with sound? Mine sounds as if the sound file is chopped up with the volume turned down a bit, almost as if the sound program is crashing while it attempts to play the sound.

HawaiiMacAddict

 

install successful

Update:

I was able to finally get RC 1 installed. I only made one change really. I increased the amount of ram that parallels is using from 210 MB to 610 MB. I forgot to increase the memory when I installed the extra GB of RAM. The only other difference is I downloaded the latest build of RC 1. However, I did get the same error message with that build before I increased the RAM to be used by the VMs.

 

Does Vista in Parallels support Aero Glass? I am thinking of installing Vista on my Mac Pro today - in Boot Camp, Vista, or both.

 

Updated RC1 Build

MS released an updated build (not sure of the official #, but the disk image is titled vista_5728.16387.060917-1430_x86fre_client-lrmcfre_en_dvd.iso.

Unfortunately, this won't work in Parallels. It goes through the black "windows is loading" screen, and then gets to a blue screen with the error...

"*** STOP: 0x000000A5 (0x00010000B, 0x50434146, 0xFFD01050, 0x0000000) "

 

Some other Vista Tips:

Shared Folders don't work.
To share files, do this:

• On your Mac, turn on Windows sharing (System Preferences/Sharing)
• Inside Vista, go to My Computer, then hit the Alt key, and choose "Map Network Drive".
• Enter your mac's IP address
• You may need to click the "Log in with different user" link to change user/password

The Shut Down button is not a Shut Down button!
You can either choose "Shut Down" from the Start/Right Arrow menu, or you can make the shut down button actually shut down.
(Stolen from http://forums.parallels.com/thread4478.html)

• Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Change Battery Settings.
• Once there select the "balanced" power plan, and
• Click Change Plan Settings >
• Change advanced power settings > Power buttons and lid > Start menu Power button > Plugged in --> Shut down.

Power saving mode seems to hang the VM
To fix it:

• Inside Vista, go to Start Menu-> Control Panel -> Hardware & Sound -> Power Options
• Choose "Create a Power Plan"
• Make sure "Turn off the Display" and "Put the Computer to Sleep" are set to "Never"

 

Upgrading?

Has anyone else tried to upgrade to Vista from an XP HDD image? My last try (Build 1848, Vista Beta 2) failed utterly. I changed the hal.dll to a halacpi.dll in XP, still Vista said it couldn't install. Any hints?