Compacting Virtual Disk Image Not Working

A

akg

Bit poster
hi,

I am having a problem compacting the virtual disk image. Here's my environment - Macbook Pro OS X 10.5.4 with Parallels Build 5608 running XP Pro w/SP3.

The Virtual Disk Size is listed at 32GB in the Configuration Editor. However, the actual size of disk image file is 83GB. When I click "Compact" on the Advanced tab in the Configuration Editor Configuration Editor for Hard Disk 1, I get the following error - "The virtual hard disk /Users/akg/Documents/Parallels/Microsoft Windows XP/winxp.hdd cannot be compacted. To compact the disk make sure that the virtual machine has the Undo disks option disabled and the disk is not connected to a virtual machine with snapshots. Plain disks cannot be compacted."

My virtual machine has the Undo disks disabled and I do not have any snapshots. And I don't seem to have a plain disk.

Do you how I can compact my virtual disk?

thank you,
akg
 
Probably you had snapshots, but incorrectly deleted them.
Backup Virtual Machine folder and perform the following operation

Remove Snapshots folder from Virtual Machine folder and also remove
Snapshots.xml file

in hdd file (ctrl+click) - select show content and edit DiskDescriptor.xml as following
delete section Snapshots from opening tag to closing
 
John,

I have the same problem. I tried following your instructions here, but I must be doing something wrong when editing the XML file. What is the proper way to edit it?

I have tried several different ways of editing the xml file and deleting the snapshots section, but when I save, exit, and then try to start the VM, it behaves as though it has forgotten that I have an XP machine, and starts the wizard to create a new one.

If I replace the xml file with a copy of the original, all is fine again. So I'm doing something wrong in editing the xml file. Please help.

Thanks,
Tim
 
Thanks DaTa. That solution worked to complete the Compressor process. But it created another problem that I am hoping you can help me solve (please tell me if I should be emailing this question directly to you - I thought it might do somebody else some good later on):

1) When I start up the newly compressed virtual XP machine, it complains that its memory is critically low, and doesn't completely load at least one of my stratup programs (SecureClient VPN software). I even edited the virtual machine to give it over 1GB of memory, but that didn't solve the problem. What do I do now?

2) Perhaps on a related note - and in case this is part of the problem: I first attempted to Merge Snapshots on the Mac's internal HDD, but it got halfway through and ran out of disk space, so I used the backup vm I had created on an large external drive so it would have plenty of space to work. That allowed me to finish the solution you proposed at the above link. I then copied/replaced the entire WinXP folder back onto my internal HDD. The virtual machine seems to run ok, except for the "Windows - Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low" message and the fact that my VPN software appears to be denied resources it needs to fully load. Is this perhaps related?

Thanks so much,
Tim
 
Also ran into another problem: My vm has no network connection after running Compressor!

Under Control Panel, Network Connections, the Parallels Network Adapter says it is "Connected", but gives the following message when I run 'ipconfig' under the cmd window: "An internal error occurred: The request is not supported... Additonal information: Unable to query host name." I have no ip address in the vm, and therefore no internet access (but everything is fine on the mac side).

What next? Why did Compressor mess up all this stuff?

Thanks,
Tim
 
Could you post the output of ipconfig from command prompt? What mode do you use on VM: shared bridged? It can not be that VM does not have any IP at all, it must at least have the IP starting from 169 , if you do not have any IP at all it just means that windows can not detect any network adapter.
 
Here's the complete output of 'ipconfig' from cmd prompt:
Windows IP Configuration
An internal error occurred: The request is not supported.
Please contact Microsoft Product Support Services for future help.
Additional information: Unable to query host name.

I'm using Shared Networking. Mac side Network Status says:
Parallels Host-Guest is currently active and has the IP address 10.37.129.2
Parallels NAT is currently active and has the IP address 10.211.55.2

But Windows vm Control Panel:Network Connections: Local Area Connection Status: Support does not list an IP address. Clicking on Repair outputs "Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Failed to query TCP/IP settings of the connection. Cannot proceed."

Networking was fine right before I ran Compressor.

Thanks,
Tim
 
Any news, Forgiven? Anything to check/try?

It sure is tough not having internet access on my vm. Like I said, everything worked fine before I ran Compressor - I had no HDD space, but at least I could use my vm. Now I have plenty of HDD space, but my vm is useless at the moment.

Please help!

Thanks,
Tim
 
Have you typed ipconfig only in command prompt? have you tried "ipconfig /all" ? Screenshots will be very appreciated.
In configuration editor try to remove Network adapter and then add it back also
try this approach to enable Host-Only Networking with Connection Sharing, do the following:

1.
Open Configuration Editor for your VM by clicking the "Edit" button in Parallels window when you have VM selected but not running.
2.
Select "Network Adapter" from the list on the left side.
3.
Set your VM to "Host-Only" networking (mind that "Enabled" and "Connect cable at startup" settings should be checked too).
4.
Go to Mac OS X System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet.
5.
Set "Share your connection from" to your Internet connection interface.
6.
Enable "Parallels Host-Guest Adapter" (also may be called "EthernetAdaptor (en2)") in "To computers using" list.
7.
Click the "Start" button. If you have Mac Firewall running, you need to check "Personal Web Sharing" in the list of allowed services (or just disable the Firewall).
8.
Check your VM's Internet connection. You may need to reboot your Macintosh
 
Still no go... Try something else?

Victor,

I tired to remove and reinstall Network Adapter. No go...

I tried Host-Only Networking per instructions. No go...

I'm still getting the same error message. Picture of ipconfig /all below. (I'm not sure how to upload the picture - don't know if this worked:)

Thanks,
Tim
 

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Please, somebody help! My Parallels VM is useless without a working network controller. How can I fix this thing? Come on Parallels team.

Tim
 
Looks like viruses inside Virtual machine
check for viruses, then (only when you are sure that there are no viruses)
1. Open command console in Windows as follows:
click Start - click Run- type in cmd
2. In command console type in following:
netsh winsock reset
3. Restart VM as suggested
 
John, still no go.

There are definately no viruses inside the vm. I tried the instructions above, but no difference. Remember, this problem started IMMEDIATELY after using Compressor - it has done something to the network drivers, just like it did to the Memory Critically Low situation (which I solved using a solution on another post).

I have discovered something additional, though, that may help solve this problem: In the vm (XP) under Device Manager, View, Show Hidden Devices, there are three Non-Plug and Play Drivers that are not working anymore:
1) IP Network Address Translator
2) Serial
3) TCP/IP Protocol Driver

Each gives an error when I try to Start the service.

Does that give you anything to go on?

Thanks,
Tim
 
Tried that...

John,

I tried that. I have attached the resetlog.txt for you to look at.

Other things:
I have already tried http://kb.parallels.com/en/4885, but it did not work.

Also, I have attached a TIFF that may help you figure out how to fix this problem. I discovered that these drivers were not functioning correctly when I hooked up my pocket PC and got 'network' errors.

I do not believe the error is on the Mac side, but within the XP vm. The problem occurred immediately following the use of Compressor. BTW: Compressor also corrupted the virtual memory cache, which I corrected using the solution given here: virtual memory minimum too low ( http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=22136).

I hope this helps you figure out a solution to this problem. Looking forward to your reply...

Thanks,
Tim
 

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Good news, John I fixed it!

Very simple solution, in the end: I simply replaced the file tcpip.sys from a working XP machine to the directory C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers, and rebooted the vm. Everything worked perfectly from that point on.

Can you believe it was that simple?!

I came across this solution by doing a Google search with the phrase unable to query host name ipconfig. The third result was this page: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1112734108

You should make this solution part of the knowledge base with Compressor. I cant believe it took me that many days to figure out such a simple fix! Urgh... :-)
 
John,

There were definately no viruses. I checked the vm for viruses, and of course found none. And the vm has performed flawlessly since Novemeber.

Simply put, Compressor screwed up both the tcpip.sys file, and the Windows Virtual Memory cache. Repairing those two things got me back to a healthy vm.
 
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