Convert Bootcamp Partition to Virtual Disk?

I am going to be installing a new HDD into my MBP, and installing Snow Leopard at the same time.

The current config is: 12MB BootCamp partition (Win XP Pro), 99 MB Mac OS partition, MacOS 10.5.8, Parallels 4.0

I use my BootCamp partition in Paralells.

I originally built the BootCamp partition because earlier versions of Parallels were not working with some proprietary USB devices I needed to use. Parallels 4 eliminates my need for that, so I am thinking of dropping BootCamp altogether.

My question: Is there a way to convert or copy the BootCamp partition into a Parallels virtual disk? Or do i have to just create a new virtual disk once I get it all set up on the new HDD.

I don't really need BootCamp any longer, so I'd rather not be wasting the partition space if I can avoid it.

Thanks

 

Any replies on this? I was just about to do the same.

 

Is the lack of an answer to this a bad sign? I want to convert a Boot Camp partition to a virtual disk in Parallels 4 and can't find clear instructions.

 

Backup your windows side and take a look at Parallels Transporter Agent for Windows and the instructions in the PD5 manual. That being said, I did not try this myself.
hope this helps.

 

Google is your friend: http://download.parallels.net/doc/Parallels_Transporter_User_Guide.pdf. See page 38, "Migrating From Boot Camp Partition".

 

Google is what got me to this unanswered thread And a dozen others with very complicated answers that never seemed to be complete or led offsite.

But I was able to run the transporter agent within the Parallels virtual machine and convert to a disk image. Seems like the kind of thing that ought to be in the FAQ.

 

Any changes under Parallels 6?

Here's a very old post that I found here first...
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=3261

Anyway, this thread makes it seem as though Transporter works fine, but I was just wondering if there are any changes to this process under Parallels 6 on Snow Leopard.

Thanks -

 

Under Parallels Desktop 6 there is a new feature called "Import Boot Camp", which can import your Boot Camp-based virtual machine into ordinary virtual machine. More on this here: http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v6/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/23112.htm

 

I tried importing my Boot Camp partition again, and it failed again. The message given was, "Failed to import the virtual machine. An error occurred while trying to import the virtual machine."

Not sure if that makes it easier to trace in the code

I'd really like to get this squared away soon, so I can get back to work, thanks for your help!

Brad Walker

 

I'm not sure why, but my post above was actually the second post after giving setup details.

I have a 3-year old 17" Intel MBP (with a failed graphics card) that has a Boot Camp partition on its internal HD. I can connect the old MBP to my new i7 MacBook Pro (firewire 800 cable, boot the old one in hard disk mode by pressing "T" on startup), and I can see the Mac and Boot Camp partitions on my new desktop. I installed an evaluation copy of Parallels on the new Mac, created an XP VM, and can run Windows under this VM using the Boot Camp partition. I can see the Windows desktop, see all my files, and run my apps this way. What I really want to do, though, is transfer those files into a Virtual Machine on my new MBP so I don't have to switch between Mac and Boot Camp at startup, or have this 17" tethered via firewire umbilical all the time.

So, I start the "Import Boot Camp", accept the default location where it wants to put it on my new MBP's internal hard drive, and it looks like all is going well for about 40 minutes while it copies everything. At the very end, it hangs, with the error message "Failed to import the virtual machine. An error occurred while trying to import the virtual machine."

I can't see any reason it should do this, is it because it's a trial version of Parallels? Any permissions thing I should be doing before I start?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!
Brad Walker

 

Here is some more info based on the "requesting help" sticky:


1. Mac OS Version
Old MBP is 10.5xx Leopard (can't see it right now due to bad graphics card)
New MBP is Snow Leopard 10.6.4

2. Parallels Build #
6.0.11826 - this is the trial version copy I downloaded to get started. I expect to get a full copy from my son later this week (he had an extra unused copy that cam with one of his Macs)

3. What kind of computer
MacBook 15" i7

4. Total Physical RAM
4 GB

5. Hard Drives
500GB in new MBP,
160GB in old one, with Boot Camp partition being about 10 GB if I recall correctly

6. If you are using a BootCamp configuration or not
yes, see above posts

7. Did you upgrade from a BETA
No

8. With what Build did the problem start
N/A

9. If Parallels Tools are installed
It says they are not installed on the XP VM window, but I thought I saw it getting installed on the Boot Camp partition

 

Trial versions have all the features of an activated Parallels Desktop. "Import Boot Camp" shouldn't fail even if the Boot Camp partition is on a 2nd FireWire target disk mode Mac. When the error appears, use "Report a Problem" in the Help menu to report the issue to Parallels.

In the mean time, you could try the following:
Create a read write disk image using Disk Utility. Make it big enough to hold all your Windows files, plus space for anything you might want to put on the disk in the future. Format it as MBR partition scheme. Use something like WinClone to clone your Boot Camp disk to the mounted disk image. When the cloning is done, unmount/eject the disk image. Change the extension from .dmg to .hdd. Create a new virtual machine (without installing Windows), remove Hard Disk 1 from the virtual machine configuration (move to trash), then add a new Hard Disk 1 and point it at the new .hdd you created (before you do that, you can move the .hdd to inside the .pvm). Make sure the virtual machine boots. If it boots, then you can shutdown, and convert the disk to an expanding disk type to save some disk space.

 

Thanks for the details joevt, I appreciate the reply.I'll be able to work on this over the weekend and let you know how it went.

Brad Walker

 

From September 26 (http://forum.parallels.com/showpost.php?p=423645&postcount=8)

The page from the manual referenced above, states "If you have a Boot Camp partition, you can create a virtual machine that will use Boot Camp partition as its hard disk...". And in Step 2 of the process, the instructions state: "In the Create New Virtual Machine window, choose Boot Camp partition from the Install from menu, click Continue and follow the instructions."

For some reason, I'm unable to see or choose the Boot Camp partition from the Install from menu.

Is it because I used WinClone to copy the Boot Camp partition from my old Mac Mini to my MacBook Pro i7 (2.66GHz, 8Gb RAM, 500Gb Hard Drive) using Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac v6.0.11828 (Revision 615184)?

How do I work around this issue?

Please advise. Thanks!

 

1) Create the virtual machine:
File -> New -> Install from: Continue without disc -> select the OS that is on the Boot Camp disk -> Like a PC -> Customize settings before installation

2) Remove the created virtual hard disk:
Hardware -> Hard Disk 1 -> click the [-] button to remove Hard Disk 1 -> Mve to Trash

3) Add a new virtual hard disk:
click the [+] button to add Hard Disk -> Type: Boot Camp; Location: the disk containing your Boot Camp partitions; If there's more than one Boot Camp partition then select the ones you need to include for the virtual machine to boot and work.

Of course, if you don't see a Boot Camp option in the Install from menu of step 1, then you probably won't see a Boot Camp option in step 3. In that case, you may need to fix your partition maps on the Boot Camp disk.
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=103653
http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=104855

 

Hi Joevt and all - I got wrapped up in work, then a big storm that knocked out power and internet for six days, so it's been just recently that I could get back to this.

I posted a couple of replies just before the storm hit, but for whatever reason, those replies didn't show up here. A week later, my trial version of Parallels had expired, so I was out of luck in getting back to it.

The short version was I couldn't get the import function to work at any time, from the direct target mode hard drive on the old MBP, or from a WinCloned disk image file. I thought it was most likely something damaged on my old Boot Camp partition, and I was ready to go back to original discs for a clean install of Windows and my other applications, but that was just before the storm hit.

Since I was out of the trial period, I thought it couldn't hurt to try VMWare Fusion, and for whatever reason I was able to create an XP VM from the Boot Camp partition, then import that Boot Camp partition into the new virtual machine, and it seems to be working as expected, so that's where I stay for now.

I have no doubt I could have worked it out in Parallels, too, but I had a collision of circumstances keep me from being able to do that this time.

I wanted to be sure and give at least a simple wrapup and and a big thank you to Joevt and the rest of the gang here for giving your time and expertise to help me learn and get this sorted!

Thanks!
Brad Walker