macbook pro video crashes when running parallels

my macbook pro is running macOS sierra 12.12.2. After originally upgrading to macOS my system started crashing whenever starting Parallels. I upgraded Parallels to version 12, and the same thing still happened. I replaced the hard drive in the mac and reinstalled macOS from scratch. Tested the machine for several days with no problems. Installed Parallels and when I try to start a guest machine my macbook crashes again. This "crash" consists of the video "splitting the screen" with the edge of the desktop running through the middle of the screen. The video will "hang" like that and eventually the macbook will reboot. Sometimes it will reboot successfully, sometimes it boots into a blank screen and has to be rebooted several times before the video starts working again. I have run all the macbook hardware diagnostics and they say there is not any hardware problem. Since this same behaviour occurred before AND after a total re-install of the OS, I must have a problem with my Parallels install. I can't find any error logs or anything to point me to a solution so far. Any ideas where to start?