Drag-and-drop not working with Parallels 6

i have noticed every time i try to drag some file from the VM (WinXP) to the MacOs desktop, a message shows with the following text:

"The file [insert filename] cannot be copied. Do you want to skip it?".

The options on this message box are Skip and Stop, which means no drag-and-drop at all.

I checked the preferences and setup and the Isolate Mac from Windows box in unchecked, and Share Mac clipboard box is checked.

Very frustrating. The only time when drag-and-drop worked flawlessly was on Parallels 4. 5 had its problemas and 6 looks it is going in the same way as 5 so far.

anybody else with the same problem?

 

Can you find the destination by going through \\psf\ in the virtual machine then copy the file to the window in the virtual machine and see if you get an error that way.

 

drag-and-drop works using the Parallels shared folders (psf). my Mac folders are on drive Z:.

it doesn't work when i try dragging a file from the Mac desktop to the Win desktop or an e-mail message on Outlook, or from the Win desktop or an e-mail message on Outlook to the Mac desktop.

 

I have no problems dragging a file between my Windows XP VM desktop and my Mac desktop.

When an icon from the VM leaves the window, it changes to a folder icon (probably represents Parallels Shared Folders) and I can drag it over Mac folder icons and place the file anywhere.

When an icon from Mac OS X is dragged into the VM, a + badge is added to the cursor.

Have you tried dragging different files?

Can you post screen shots (one for each direction) of the different errors?

One thing you could try is creating a new custom virtual machine and point the hard disk at the hard disk file in the old VM. This will ensure all settings are defaulted without affecting your old VM.

 

What does + badge mean?

I do get a green + badge added to the cursor when I try to drag and drop a file from Mac OS X to Win 7 in Parallels 5. It does not seem to mean anything, though: the files never drop, no matter where I try to put them. Is it that I must created a special Shared folder, and only drag files to that?

--Jim

 

Right, I'm talking about the green + badge. A badge is what I call any small icon that appears on top a larger icon including the cursor. For example alias and shortcut icons have a curved arrow icon in the corner of the bigger icon.

Dragging a file between the virtual machine and Mac OS uses the Parallels Shared Folder feature that is provided by Parallels Tools and is configured in the virtual machine configuration options. You need Parallels Tools installed to make it work. Have you tried reinstalling Parallels Tools?

If you don't have Parallels Shared Folder enabled for the Mac OS folder you are dragging the file to or from, then Parallels Desktop (at least version 6, I 'm not sure about version 5) will ask you if you want to enable it. If you click No, it will enable it temporarily so it can copy the file, then disable it. If you click yes then it will enable Shared Folders. If the Mac OS folder is in your user folder, then Shared Folders is set to Home folder only. Otherwise it is set to All disks.

This all works fine for me in Windows 7 32 bit and Windows 7 64 bit using Parallels Desktop 6. I don't remember using that feature in Parallels 5. I usually just use the Parallels Shared Folder feature and navigate to the Mac folder in Windows. e.g. My Documents folder on Mac OS in my user folder is at \\psf\Home\Documents. All my hard disks are at \\psf\Host\Volumes\ if Shared Folders is set to All disks.

 

Thanks for the information. I am aware of the meaning of "badge." My experience in Parallels 6 is the same as Parallels 5: I drag a file from my Mac OS desktop. A green + badge is added to the cursor. However, no matter where I place the cursor in the VM, nothing happens when I release the mouse. Normally in Windows when you drag a file there is a badge that switches between + and - depending on whether the place where you are allows you to drop. The badge here just seems to be lying.
I did reinstall Parellels Tools in Desktop 5, but that did nothing to solve this problem.
A question about Parallels Tools: how do you know if it is installed or not, or installed correctly or not? Normally if you install something it will appear in the list of applications in the task menu, or perhaps there might be a new drop-down menu in Parallels Desktop called Parallels Tools. However I see nothing in the Start Menu, or in the Mac OS list of applications. Nothing seems to change in the Parallels Desktop UI when Tools is installed. Am I correct that Parallels Tools is an invisible set of enhancements that are supposed to add functionality to Desktop? If so, why is a separate installation required--why don't the Tools just come with the main application? This is very confusing.

 

I went to the Parallels Troubleshooter Assistant. One of the topics listed helpfully listed there is "How can I create a Shared Folder?" Great! So I went there, and was totally confused. The screenshots of the UI there showed drop-down items ("Edit Configutation") that do not exist in my UI. Finally I saw that the tech note applied to... Parallels 3 for Mac.

Sheesh.

The note had told me to close my VM. I did find a Configure option for Sharing accessible through the launch VM icon. Check boxes there indicate that supposedly, I should be able to move files from the entire Mac to the entire VM, and vice versa.
Why can't I?

 

Parallels Desktop is software for your Mac to run Windows. Parallels Tools is software for your Windows that makes it run better with Parallels Desktop and Mac OS X. The Parallels Tools features are listed in the Parallels Tools Overview section of the help documentation. http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v5/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/22272.htm
I'm not sure why the .html documentation isn't available on the web site for Parallels 6 but you can find it in the Help menu in Parallels Desktop. The web site includes the .pdf documentation and the .html documentation in .zip format but you can't google inside a zip file...:
http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/technical-documentation/

If Parallels Tools is installed then
1) The virtual Machine menu shows "Reinstall Parallels Tools" instead of "Install Parallels Tools"
2) The tooltip for the Parallels Tools icon at the bottom right of the virtual machine window says "Parallels Tools are installed".
3) The bottom left of the virtual machine window won't say "Parallels Tools are not installed. From the Virtual Machine menu, choose install Parallels Tools."
4) "Add or Remove Programs" ("Programs and Features" in Windows 7) includes Parallels Tools.
5) In Windows Task Manager, you'll see Processes: coherence.exe (Parallels Coherence service), SharedIntApp.exe (Parallelse Shared Internet Applications Tool), prl_cc.exe (Parallels Control Center), prl_tools.exe (Parallels Tools), prl_tools_service.exe (Parallels Tools Service) (prl = Parallels just like the stuff you see in the Mac Activity Monitor)
6) In Computer Management -> Services (or Task Manager -> Services in Windows 7), you'll see Parallels Coherence Service (points to coherence.exe), and Parallels Tools Service (points to prl_tools_service.exe).

All the Parallels Tools are installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\Parallels\Parallels Tools. It includes lots of .dlls and drivers. The tools come from an .iso image installed on your Mac at /Library/Parallels/Tools/prl-tools-win.iso. I'm not sure which files are responsible for copying files between a Mac and VM window.

I don't think there's a way to know if it's installed correctly or not. You can try looking at the Parallels.log in Console.app to see what's happening when you drag a file to or from the VM.

What was the URL for that Parallels Troubleshooter Assistant topic?

If Parallels Shared Folders is working then you should see a list of folders when you double click the Parallels Shared Folder shortcut on the Windows desktop. The shortcut goes to \\psf\. Inside \\psf\ you should see Host if you have Shared Folders set to all disks, and Home. There may be other folders if you added specific individual shared folders. Host goes to / on your Mac (your Mac OS X disk). All your disks which are listed at /Volumes/ will be available in Windows at \\psf\Host\Volumes\. Home goes to ~/ on your Mac (your user folder in /Users/).

 

Thanks again joevt for the detailed explanations. If this information is available in the explanations of how to use online, I must have missed it.

FYI, when I point my cursor at what I suppose is the Parallels Tools icon at the bottom right of the virtual machine window (it looks like a miniature version of the Configure icon in the header), the tooltip does not say "Parallels Tools are installed." Instead it gives the filename and details of a .jpg file I downloaded from the internet yesterday and brought into Photoshop for a while. Strange.

The out-of-date Troubleshooter Assistant topic mentioned above is at http://kb.parallels.com/en/4782. I reached it by selecting "features" on http://www.parallels.com/support/free/troubleshooter/categories/?id=731
then "Parallel Shared folders are inaccessible" then "Creating and Using Shared Folders."

The Troubleshooter could use some attention in general. If you select "Parallels Desktop application" as "the category your problem belongs to," the only option you get is "I want to update or upgrade Parallels Desktop."

Btw, I can now move most files back and forth between the Mac OS and the Win 7 VM. I may have been able to do so before, at least for some files. The file I was using as a test, a .pdf on the Mac desktop, still will not drop when I drag to the VM. Other files, including other .pdfs, will. Curious.

Thanks again for the clarity.
--Jim

 

I mean the device icon that looks like one big gear and one small gear to the left of the configure button and the disclosure triangle button.

The device icons are: Keyboard, USB, CD/DVD, Network, Floppy, Printer, Sound, Disk, Sharing, Parallels Tools.
Next is the Disclosure triangle to hide the device icons.
Then the Configure button, the Coherence button, and the View mode menu.

I have no idea where that .jpg message is coming from.

Parallels Desktop 6 is not much different than what is described in kb 4782 (Parallels Desktop 3). The UI is just organized differently and you don't have to turn off your guest OS to add a shared folder.

Are the other pdfs that you can copy also on the Desktop? Is the pdf you can't copy opened by an application? Compare the permissions of a pdf you can copy and the pdf you can't copy. Also check the name for special characters. Maybe rename it. Or duplicate it first then copy it.

 

Thanks again for clarifications and suggestions.
The .pdf (a web page printed to Acrobat) indeed had a special character in its name (\). Name change fixed the problem. My bad luck to have chosen that as my test copy file.
The .jpg name is from a Firefox document in the Dock. The Dock seems to show tooltips even if the cursor is not over Dock icons at all, but close. I had my VM window near enough to the bottom that the Dock tooltip superseded.

I do think the 4782 kb article needs updating. The Ui is quite different between 3 and 6 and the kb article is very specific about the steps taken, with screen shots that must have been helpful in the day of Desktop 3 but are confusing now.

 

Same for me. This should be a simple drag-and-drop operation, window to window, like previous versions. Now the whole thing is FUBAR!