New M1pro Mac, old Win10 VM from Intel Mac

I see that I can't just open my Windows 10 VM from my old Intel-based Mac on my new M1Pro Mac. It's not compatible (Intel vs. ARM) and Parallels keeps throwing KB links at me that give very long-winded and not very clear information about it.

https://kb.parallels.com/125344 Talks about "copying personal data" between the Intel VM and the new ARM one, but that's not what I need.

https://kb.parallels.com/125375 Talks about installing a new copy of Windows on the ARM-based VM, but that's not what I need.

All I need to know is this: Is there a way to migrate my Intel-based VM to Parallels 17 on M1pro Mac WITHOUT having to reinstall Windows, and therefore also having to reinstall all my applications?

If "Yes" then HOW?

Thanks!

 

Hello, unfortunately there is no way to migrate your Intel based virtual machine to M1 Mac using Parallels Desktop 17.

 

If "there is no way" is your answer, it is very disappointing. And lousy customer service. There should be a way and it should, at least, be in process. "There is no way is an unacceptable answer.

 

I thought some more - that "no way" answer indicates a terrible development thought process. The migration across architectures should have been a primary feature and consideration. I've been a customer for years, and this shows little to no regard for us.

 

Hello, we are sorry to hear that. As of now, we do not have any update for using Intel virtual machine on M1 Mac. Kindly follow us to stay updated.

 

Hate to say it: It is very disappointing, but this really isn't a Parallels problem. So, not really worth taking it out on them, though I agree it might be a good business decision for them to develop a set of effective migration tools.

I have three VMs: Android, Fedora, and Windows 11, and none of these can be migrated, including the development environments that I have on each. Since you can't run a single Parallels license simultaneously on an old and new machine, you basically have to manually take an inventory of what's installed on the old machine and save off the user-created data first, then kill off the license on the old machine and activate it on the new one, then start the process of reinstalling everything including ARM-based OSes, applications and user-data on the new machine from scratch.

Yeah. It's a major league pain in the arse that will take hours if not days to get sorted. But from my perspective, this is really an Apple problem. They made the insane decision to move away from Intel after so many years. It's one of the reasons I'm looking for a late-2019/early-2020 Intel-based Mac to replace my older early-2013 one. Trying to find a new one is not easy and will only delay the inevitable.

 

Thanks for sharing, I found a lot of interesting information here. A really good post, very thankful and helpful that you will write many more posts like this one.

 

Hello, we appreciate your response.

 

I, too migrated from intel to M-1 mac. I installed the latest version of Parallels and then did a new install of Windows 11. Everything works seamlessly, albeit having to reinstall my windows programs.

I was told by the parallels forum that it was not a good idea to re-install windows 10.
Also, unfortunately, there is no way around having to reinstall the programs in windows.

 

Hello, you can transfer data from your Intel-based VM to ARM-based VM by following this KB article.

 

Harry - I am finding this a year later. Maybe you will notice it. Soemtimes technologies are so different they cannot be merged. Are you telling us that a few years ago when you got Parallels and installed Windows that you thought that no matter how the hardware changed and what Apple did with system changes it would work forever and when it did not it clearly is Lousy Customer Service and a "Terrible Thought Process". Did Parallels team develop the M1 architecture?

Perhaps just another sign of the harsh and rough attitude people have developed as a result of Covid and work from home and an apparent inability to get along nice with people. Lets everyone not always shoot the messenger.

Harry, did you ever do anything that later proved to no longer work? Was it due to someone else changing a core component? Was it your fault?