I have a MacBk Pro running OS 11.7 (Big Sur). I am running Parallels Desktop 18 with a Windows 10 v.m that has been upgraded for over 5 years (began with Parallels Desktop 5 maybe?). So I have the Legacy bios in my windows v.m. (confirmed by checking system info) running on an Intel Mac. I am very confused about the options I have to upgrade to Windows 11. As I understand it, the only option I have on THIS Mac host is to create a new virtual machine running Windows 11. But, as far as I can see, there is NO pathway to then migrate my Window 10 v.m.'s programs and data to this new v.m running Windows 11. The only option would appear to be to start over with the new v.m. and install everything from scratch..........am I correct in this assumption?? If those assumptions are correct, are they any different/better IF I were to purchase a NEW MacBk Pro and install Parallels there? Is there then any way I can migrate (as opposed to having to start over and install fresh) from one physical machine to another in that situation? One issue I see is that my Parallels license is only for 1 computer. So even if I was transferring programs & data prior to wiping and abandoning the old machine, would I be able (legally at least) to run Parallels on both those hosts as the same time for a transfer of data?? I sort of feel like those of us long term Parallels customers who are in this unforeseen situation are kind in a "digital coffin corner" like pilots who are in an aircraft flying where stall speed is approaching the critical mach number: slow down or speed up at all and you're dead!! In our case, eventually we will be running programs that won't be supported or upgraded, but we can't upgrade any longer and are forced to just wipe our programs, try to manually port over some data somehow and start over installing software!! If anyone out there knows that I am wrong (I hope I am), please explain to me how I might proceed here without having to start over with a new, empty v.m and re-install everything while trying to preserve as much data as possible.
I'm in the same quandary and confusion. If nothing else, Parallels should provide a step by step "Idiot's Guide" to making this transition. Anything else is just ignoring long term loyal customers.
Let me clarify what I'm asking Parallels Tech Support to publish a guide to do. A guide to (a) create a New virtual machine without the legacy BIOS on the SAME MacBook Pro. Then (b) transfer apps/data from the existing legacy BIOS Windows 10 virtual machine to the NEW BIOS virtual machine on the SAME MacBook Pro. Then (c) delete / clean up of the original legacy BIOS Windows 10 virtual machine. Then (d) upgrade the NEW BIOS virtual machine to Windows 11.
I am the O.P. and here's what I ended up doing: 99% of the use of my V.M. is to run Quicken Windows on my Mac. I had acquired a couple of minor windows apps. beyond Quicken but basically, ALL my computer use was on my Mac. Since it was not possible to transfer my existing V.M. to Windows 11, I just created a new, Windows 11 V.M., downloaded Quicken Windows to it, loaded my .qdf (quicken back-up file) and called it good. I deleted my old Windows 10 V.M. with everything on it. As I say, that took care of 98% of my Windows needs (100% of important ones really). I did this after acquiring a brand new M2 MacBook Air which was a LOT faster than the 5 yr old MacBook Pro it replaced. Parallels Desktop, Quicken (in the V.M.) and everything else starts up and runs so fast and seamlessly that the existence and operation of Parallels is transparent and virtually unnoticeable. So it really is like just running Quicken Windows in my Mac. Why? Well I have a 30 yr set of financial records (huge Quicken file!) in Quicken Windows. Once Quicken for Mac got halfway decent, did a trial transfer and run but it's just TOO much trouble and the transfer much too glitch prone. And even without transfer considerations I don't think Quicken for Mac is nearly as good a financial management tool as Quicken for Windows. It is probably slowly improving and will eventually catch up I'm sure, but running Parallels Desktop and doing what I'm doing is just too fast, easy and trouble free!!
There's never been (AFAIK) a way to move Apps on a Windows OS. Even back in the day where some apps are 'portable', it was still recommended to reinstall. Now you throw in the M series Macs and you add another layer of compatibility considerations when using Windows in a VM. User data is simple enough (so long as you're not talking encrypted drives) to copy as you can literally mount the original VMs HDD as a secondary drive and pull it over. Or, better yet, keep the files on OneDrive and download them that way. That's what you'd have gotten from me had I seen this before. :/
First... thank you Willjp and Kilo Poster. As Willjp, I have decades of Office files, and continue to generate them daily since Office is still the business world standard. I also have legacy TurboTax programs going back a decade. So it looks like I'll have to treat the VM as really a new machine: clean VM, Windows 11, and Office 2021/Microsoft 365. I was hoping for a quick simple automatic upgrade. This will now be a longer process.
