Massive 3.0 Problems- Please help!

Lockup/Crash with Windows Update

My parents just got a new 20" iMac Core 2 Duo running 10.4.10. I put a new copy (not an upgrade) of Parallels 3.0 on it. I installed Windows XP Home (I'm not sure exactly what version-- it's not SP2, and it doesn't have Windows Firewall). Installation and setup went fine, and I had no problems installing the only two pieces of software they want to use: Norton Internet Security 2007 and Quicken Premier 2007.

Once I started using Quicken, however, I started getting frequent blue screen reboots and lockups. Can't really figure out a pattern for when they happen. I even got some while playing the copy of Pinball that comes with Windows. Most of these just give the error message of "STOP", followed by a string of letters and numbers along the lines of 0000000x8e. I believe it's the blue screen in this post: http://forums.parallels.com/thread6263.html. Occasionally I get a "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". If someone will tell me where to find the Windows crash logs, I'll be happy to paste more exact information.

I've tried running Windows Update, thinking that a fully updated operating system might fix these problems. However, both Automatic Update and web-based Windows Update just state that they're installing the updates without actually doing so, and then lock up when I try to cancel them.

How can I install these updates, and then get Parallels running smoothly enough that my dad can use Quicken on it? I'm moving out of town in a week, so I need to accomplish this during that time.

Thanks in advance!

PS- I have an uninstalled copy of Parallels 2.5 as well; if it's much more stable than 3.0, ought I to try installing it instead? I don't want to ultimately have to use Boot Camp.

 

Right now 2.5 does not work well with 10.4.10 but hopefully will be fixed in a couple of days. 3.0 should work with 10.4.10, especially since you don't appear to need heavy graphics or USB support.

Windows update should work. I recommend completely turning off your Norton firewall and trying it again.

I currently have Quicken 2006 working perfectly, but I have not upgraded to 2007.

Can you give us more details on your configuration? How much memory have you allocated to the virtual machine? How much real memory is on your iMac?

Is your Quicken data file installed on the virtual hard drive? Quicken will not run if the data file is on a shared drive. In other words, your Quicken data should be on your C: drive, not in the shared folders.

My gut feel says that Norton is the issue, but maybe not.

 

If you don't have SP 2, you really need to have it. Right click on my computer and choose "properties" You shold then see your version of SP. If it does not say "SP2", you may have problems installing it via Windows Update. Try the offline freestanding installer:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

BTW, Norton 2007 uses immense system resources so I would suggest at least 512 MB Ram devoted to Windows. That means your Mac should have min. 1 GB Ram. Trend Micro is a much better security suite and uses far less resources than Norton.

 

Parallels comes with Kaspersky, which doesn't mess up the computer like Norton always does. Trend Micro anti spyware works well for me, too, so their internet security should be good as well. Norton really is a bad program (makes computer too slow, and you can't even exit the program!), and your parents probably were just convinced by marketing and sales people that they MUST have norton; that is wrong. If something (which is likely) ever goes wrong with Norton, you can pretty much say goodbye to the computer, because it really does bad things to the internal workings and system allowances of the computer. And get this: norton's anti spyware and spam do almost nothing. Virus protection is not really amazing (other FREE programs are fine), and the firewall is just fine with Kaspersky.

 

Going better

Thanks for all the responses, everyone.

I did a couple things after trawling the message boards here, and things seem to be running better at the moment. I decreased VM memory to 512 MB (from 768 MB) and lowered VM video memory to the recommended level (4, I believe). The iMac has 2 GB RAM. I also changed the video acceleration setting from high to normal, and started using Windows in full screen mode rather than OS window mode.

With these settings, I've managed to avoid any more blue screen crashes. Windows Update still locked up (without crashing the OS), but it turns out that it was only doing so after installing each update. I could get around this by rebooting after each download had been running for awhile. When Windows came back online, Add/Remove Programs showed that the update was installed, and Windows Update no longer asked me to download it.

After doing this for about 15-20 updates, I downloaded and installed SP2 uneventfully (only reboot required was the normal one at the end). Right now, Windows Update is installing 78 new security fixes, and seems to be doing fine. Again, no more lockups or required reboots.

Once it finishes, I'll give Quicken a shot and see how things go. Parallels seems much more stable now-- I even played a bunch of games of 3D Pinball while downloading the updates. If I continue having problems, I'll try getting rid of Norton for starters.

Thanks again!

 

Would it not be SIMPLER and MORE EFFECTIVE to shell out a few bucks for the Mac version of Quicken?

After all you are dealing with a Mac even though some xPC user may hate to bite that final bullet!
ajm

 

The Mac version of Quicken is only an option if your parents have never used Quicken before. If you have never had the full functionality of Windows Quicken, you might not miss it.

If your parents have several years of data on the Windows version of Quicken, the conversion to Mac Quicken will lose about a third of their data and you will have to manually reenter it. This is especially bad if your parents keep information about their investments on Quicken. For example, about 1/3 to 1/2 of transaction types in this investments section do not have an equivalent in Mac Quicken. One example is the Reinvest Dividends transaction. In windows, you can do this with a single transaction. When you convert to the Mac Quicken, you will have to manually reenter all these transactions as two separate transactions (Receive Dividends and Buy Shares). You will also have to shorten the names of your accounts to fit in Mac Quicken.

Parallels is truly the way to go for Quicken.

 

Haha- have you ever used Mac Quicken? It's at about the level of Quicken 98 for Windows. Check out the Amazon.com reviews of it. Now, if Intuit would put out a comparable version...

Anyway, Parallels and Quicken are working fine now, thanks again to all.