Can you burn CDs or DVDs from within a Parallels virtual machine?

K

Kaveri and ArkoC

Bit poster
Hi,

I am running Windows Vista in Parallels Desktop 5 (for Mac), and I was just wondering if there is any way of burning discs from within the virtual machine. I tried to use Vista's built-in burning function from Windows Explorer, but it didn't recognise the blank disc I put in. The main reason I would want to burn discs from within Windows rather than from the Mac side is to use some freeware Windows programs that can burn FLAC audio files to audio CDs, for which I don't think there are any Mac OS X equivalents. If you can't burn discs from within Parallels, I guess I'll just have to use Boot Camp (but just wanted to use Parallels because of the convenience). Any help with this would be appreciated! Thanks,

Arko Chakrabarty
 
I think the CD/DVD device is read only (the documentation says CD/DVD ROM, not CD/DVD RAM or RW or whatever).

Maybe you code attach a USB CD/DVD burner to Parallels? I haven't tried it.
 
Hi, thanks for the reply... you're right about the documentation saying that the CD/DVD drive is "CD/DVD-ROM" only... I guess that's a bit of a problem... I guess I just thought Parallels could burn discs within the VM because in the Wikipedia entry on Parallels Desktop, under the "version 2.5" section it says: "Full featured CD/DVD drives arrived in this version, which allowed the user to burn disks directly in the virtual environment, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD as one would in OS X."

I don't suppose you would have any idea on how one could do this (it's just that I don't have access to an external CD/DVD burner, that's all)? Many thanks,

Arko Chakrabarty
 
You're right. The feature does exist but it seems to have problems with many burning utilities. I searched the Parallels knowledge base and forums for "burn" and found some info. Most of the info recommends using Nero.

I tried using PowerISO and it is able to detect a CD-R but it gives an error while or after attempting to burn.

I installed Nero Burning ROM 10 and was able to burn to a CD-R. The .iso I burned was created with PowerISO from a folder containing 4 files. I was able to see the directory (very slowly) in Mac OS X Finder but I got I/O errors in Mac OS X if I tried to read any of the files (Windows wouldn't show the directory). Anyway, I didn't want to waste any more CD-Rs with more tests. I am using Parallels 6.
 
Hi joevt, thanks for all your research and testing. I have since de-installed Parallels Desktop for other reasons, but I will keep in mind what you and the subsequent poster Statman had said about burning discs if/when I ever reinstall Parallels. Best,

Arko Chakrabarty
 
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