I installed the latest Beta version 3094 on my MacBook Pro. I now get a black screen. Nothing shows up. I uninstalled and reinstalled Paralleles. I had installed the new tools initially but now cannot see anything to install them. Nor sure where to go here. gorron
This should be up in the sticky notes, as I originally came to this forum tonight for the exact same reason and now I see others having the same issue. Found the answer in another thread....reboot in safe mode (hold down F8 when you see the Windows logo) and then install Parallels tools again. Works perfectly.
Black screen question... I tried holding F8 when I see the Windows XP logo, but I still get a dark screen. I tried installing Parallels tools in the dark, but couldn't see anthing to press the right buttons. Help!
If you're running on a laptop, you may need to hold the fn key, then press and hold F8 to tell it you mean F8 and not keyboard illumination off. Note that the fn key must be pressed first and held.
i also have the blackscreen problem and tried the F8 trick. i get the safe mode menu and start to boot in safe mode but then windows briefly shows a blue screen of death and reboots NOT in safe mode. any suggestions on how i can avoid reinstalling windows? thanks, -r
I just went through this on a macbook pro core 2 duo, and found a few details that need to be added. 1- reset the windows machine 2- click inside the black screen BEFORE the windows logo appears (in order to capture the keyboard's input) 3- when the windows logo appears, press the function (fn) key AND f8 simultaneously 4- you should quickly get a "Safe Mode" boot screen 5- you will get a dialog box confirming your desire to boot in safe mode. Confirm Yes. If your mouse does not work (mine didn't) then press enter on the keyboard. 6-use your up and down arrows to make sure you choose safe mode 7- Safe mode will boot to a black screen, but will fully boot as opposed to the black screen you were getting before. 8-Install Parallels Tools. 9- You will have to confirm this installation in a dialog box via the mouse. If your mouse still does not work (mine didn't), then choose - Devices, USB from the Parallels Desktop Menu, and check Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad. 10- you will now have two cursor arrows. One in the Windows screen controlled by the trackpad, and one for OS controlled by your external mouse. Use the trackpad to continue the tools installation and ultimately restart (when it tells you to). 11- you are done. fyi - if you don't have an external mouse, then you may not have to go through the mouse problems that I outline above. NOW - MY RANT - I HAVE REQUESTED EMAIL SUPPORT THROUGH THE SUPPORT LINK ON PARALLELS' WEBSITE - 3 or 4 TIMES OVER THE PAST TEN DAYS - AND GOT NONE! NO RESPONSE! NOT EVEN A CONFIRM! THIS THREAD GAVE ME THE TIPS NECESSARY TO AT LEAST TRY A FIX, AND WHILE IT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME "OUT OF THE BOX" - IT AT LEAST GOT ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. SHAME ON YOU, PARALLELS SUPPORT, FOR NOT GIVING ANY. I HOPE WITH VMWARE COMING ON THE SCENE, THAT YOU ARE DRIVEN TO IMPROVE YOUR SUPPORT. THE PRODUCT IS GOOD, BUT IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT YOUR CUSTOMERS, EXPECT A MASS EXODUS AS VIABLE COMPETITORS APPEAR.
Just a thought here. Have you found that in general, companies provide support for beta releases? That hasn't been my experience. Even Apple, with their world class support, doesn't support betas. Support for a released product is another thing, and that seems a bit thin, but an expectation of beta support seems to me like a setup for disappointment.
When a company releases a beta, they are asking for input from users. Because of that, I find it appropriate that when a user reports a problem, the company should at least respond, even if only to say - "We don't support beta releases, and don't have a solution for your problem, but thanks for reporting it. We'll get to work on a solution."
It took me awhile to figure out, but I had to hit F8 repeatedly while XP was starting up to get the right menu to show up. If I just held the F8 key down, it would start and immediately go to a black screen.
The courtesy of a response, even if beta software isn't formally supported, would represent high quality service. Parallels support team has noted, several times on this forum, that a lack of support is not acceptable. They have suggested PM'ing and re-emailing to beta@parallels.com. I had support issues as well. I didn't have to try further to resolve them because the next release of Parallels "fixed" my issues. My original thread is here. You'll find the Support staff's post. I'm too lazy to look for it at the moment... Good luck with your issues. Often, users can be most helpful.
