Defacto Instructions for moving VM to Bootcamp?

H

hywel

Bit poster
Are there any such instructions out there? I've seen various posts, but nothing that seems supported or completely viable. I love Parallels, but there are times when I need to have Windows native so I can give my apps > 1.5GB of RAM (and get more power) so I guess my only alternative is to make a bootcamp partition. Trouble is, I've got a lot of stuff in my VM now, so recreating will be slow and painful.

Any pointers much appreciated.

Cheers,

- hywel
 
I don't know if it works with Boot Camp/Mac, but Acronis TrueImage has an add-on called Universal Restore that worked for me doing a V2P migration on a Windows server (the server version costs over 1K but I think the personal versions are < $100). Check out www.acronis.com

The process can be time consuming and error prone (especially on Windoze servers with RAID/SATA cards) but patience will sometimes reward you.
 
One more thing, you might want to learn how to create a BartPE disk (google it). It will go a long way in saving you pain and suffering. Acronis supports BartPE.
 
Hi,
actually, there's no official way to transfer the Parallels VM to Boot Camp.
However, you can simply use an external storage device to transfer personal data between BootCamp and the VM Windows (plural). I guess the main drawback of creating a new boot camp partition is that you need to purchase a separate copy of Windows license in order to use both.
Here's yet another option. You can backup all the personal data from your current virtual machine, then delete it. After that, use the Windows installation CD to install Windows in new boot camp partition. After that, just transport the Boot Camp Windows to Parallels. And after that you'll be able to use your copy of Windows both in Parallels and in Boot Camp. Charming, isn't it?)))
 
I still think Acronis TrueImage with Universal Restore can do a virtual to physical migration.

How it works:

TrueImage creates a disk image of the Parallels vm
Universal Restore embeds the hardware drivers you need (via your Boot Camp disk) into the disk image

I've seen this work on migrating VMWare to a physical box, I don't see why it's not worth a shot on Parallels. The key is that you have all the required drivers required for the physical box at the time of imaging.
 
slantyyz said:
I still think Acronis TrueImage with Universal Restore can do a virtual to physical migration.

How it works:

TrueImage creates a disk image of the Parallels vm
Universal Restore embeds the hardware drivers you need (via your Boot Camp disk) into the disk image

I've seen this work on migrating VMWare to a physical box, I don't see why it's not worth a shot on Parallels. The key is that you have all the required drivers required for the physical box at the time of imaging.
Click to expand...

Be aware that while TrueImage works fine in the VM environment IT DOES NOT WORK UNDER BOOTCAMP.

And I have a feeling it would need to work under Bootcamp to finish the install.

This is confirmed by Acronis, they say that the way Apple has Bootcamp working their low level drivers simply don't work!

Just FYI.

Robin
 
Thanks very much for all the suggestions! Now I know what I'm going to do on the weekend!

Cheers

- hywel
 
I have heard of some people who have had 'near' success using BartPE (BartPE discs can boot under Boot Camp) combined with Acronis TI. The ultimate stumbling block appears to be repairing the MBR/GUID. I didn't see whether anyone tried to subsequently use a Boot Camp enabled Windows boot disc to perform a 'repair'.

I have also heard of another user did manage to pull out the HD out of his Mac and then run TrueImage to restore an XP partition and it continued to work when he popped it back into his Mac. This is probably not feasible unless you don't mind cracking open a consumer Mac or have a Mac Pro and a spare PC lying around.

It is also possible to successfully use Acronis with non-Apple Macs (ahem), but that would not be a "supported configuration".
 
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