Booting Parallels from a Firewire HD?

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by seanmac, Jul 17, 2006.

  1. seanmac

    seanmac Bit poster

    Messages:
    4
    Is it possible to boot Parallels from a Firewire drive attached to a MacBook? It would be ideal to have all the Parallels stuff on a separate drive to keep the original one nice and clean, if that's the proper term. : )

    Per an earlier post, will that mean getting a new install code for XP, or can I simply drag everything over that's already on the MacBook?

    Thanks...
     
  2. Annunaki

    Annunaki Bit poster

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    5
    Hi,

    I actually have all my virtual machines and virtual harddisks on an external HD which is connected to my MacBook Pro through Firewire 800. So it is possible :)

    You can simply drag the files over to the external HD, you don't need to reinstall a virtual machine. If you currently have a virtual windows running on your local HD, copy the two files over to the external HD ( pvs = the paralels virtual machine, hdd = the virtual harddisk ). Make sure you change the options of your virtual machine so it finds the virtual HD in its new location.


    Regards,


    Stefaan
     
  3. bahman

    bahman Bit poster

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    5
    Ummm, everytime I drag winxp.hdd to an external firewire I get an error half way through the copy and copy fails. Error code 1309. Ideas?
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2006
  4. alkalifly

    alkalifly Hunter

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    139
    Whatis your firewire drive formatted as? If it is anything other than HFS+ you might be running into file size limits. HFS and NTFS have maximum file sizes.

    Error code 1309 is a file bounds error, so if it is not the problem above, then there is something wrong with the end-of-file descriptor (i.e., it is inconsistent with the actual size of the file).
    If this is the case, try making an archive of the hdd file and copy that to your firewire drive instead, then unarchive it on the firewire drive.

    By the way, the purpose of this particular "How To" forum is supposed to be to "Discuss and share useful tips and ideas that help you use Parallels software." This thread more properly belongs in the "Parallels Desktop for Mac" forum, which exists to "Discuss technical issues arising when using Parallels Desktop for Mac."
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2006
  5. bahman

    bahman Bit poster

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    5
    howdy alkalifly,

    Don't get so obsessed with what goes where, I did a google search and found this thread. That said, if you do want to help:

    a. where is the right place to post this, move it there and send me a URL.
    b. I tried the archive thing and it didn't work. I do agree that this is an end of file error, I think I selected the variable size when creating the hdd and that may be confusing the system.

    Thanks,
    Bahman
     
  6. MarkHolbrook

    MarkHolbrook Pro

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    350
    How is the speed of the disk access for the VM on an external drive?
     
  7. Delphyne

    Delphyne Member

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    51
  8. alkalifly

    alkalifly Hunter

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    139
  9. alkalifly

    alkalifly Hunter

    Messages:
    139
    Hi Bahman,

    Truth is, I don't really care where forum stuff gets posted, I actually went in and added that little bit as an extra because I had just read this thread http://forum.parallels.com/thread6364.html and realized that I might have been fanning the flames a little. But if it were up to me, I would get rid of all the categories completely and just have one big Parallels forum with a slightly better search engine.

    Anyway, it sounds like we can rule out the possibility that the problem is with your destination media (drive format), because if you are getting an error while archiving then that indicates some problem with the original file. Yikes, I'm not sure quite what would be the cure for that . . . I would definitely try reparing the disk with Apple Disk Utility, though I don't suspect that will do much.

    I have never messed around with Transporter, but would it be possible to use it to transfer your hdd contents to a new static-size hdd? If that is possible, maybe the static size hdd will transfer without a problem. Or, even better yet, maybe you could use Transporter to transfer your hdd contents to fill a new hdd file that you set up on the firewire drive?

    Best of luck to you, and sorry I don't have any more suggestions.
     
  10. tgrogan

    tgrogan Pro

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    255
    Typical elitest mac user who does give a d*mn about anyone but themself or people who don't look up their own a** the same way as they do. You would be a great candidate for someone living in the good ole american south around about 1930. Your mentality reflects that.
     
  11. drscience

    drscience Member

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    30
    Please do not feed the troll

    Trolls are the tapeworms of the online community. They say obnoxious things to piss people off, because they thrive on disagreement.

    Please, do not feed the troll.
     

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