I just got a new Macbook Pro. I used the Migration Assistant to migrate from my MSC Mini to the Pro. Whe I try to access XP under Parallels, I get an error, "Unable to connect Hard Disk 1. A file or device required for the operation of Hard Disk 1 does not exist or is used by another process or you have no permission to access it. Another error then Pops up "Unable to connect CD/DVD -Rom 1. When I look at the Virtual Machine, I see it shows tht it cannot boot from Master IDE Drive and there is no System Disk. Is there a way to fix this without re-installing XP? As I have not changed anything on the Mac Mini, is there a way to migrate XP and Parallels correctly? If I have to re-install, where are the XP files stored, so that I can delete them. Lastly, is there anything that I have to do on the Mini regarding Parallels so that it is licensed to the MacPro and not the Mini? Muy intent with the Mini is to re-install the OS and wipe out everythin currently on it. thank you
First, I would suggest the following article, which has all the general troubleshooting regarding this error: http://kb.parallels.com/en/5734
The solution proved to be very easy. I had to re-install Parallels Desktop for Mac. Parallels support sent me a link to the latest copy of V4. Otherwise, I could have used the Parallels .dmg from my initial install or from one of the updates we had downloaded. The install process overlays any existing code, so I did not have to worry about deleting the older code that had not completely copied over. The re-install went so quickly that I had a hard time believing it was complete. The next step was to create a clone of the existing XP guest machine. I did that and gave it a unique name. The file type is .pvm. Ah ha, the light bulb goes on. I could have just copied over my existing .pvm machine as the machine we were moving from was going to be re-purposed without Parallels. The copy took about 2 hours for a little over 14 GB as I had neglected to plug the sending machine into the hardwired ethernet and it did a wireless transfer. At that point I thought what the heck and sent over the original .pvm file as a backup in case we need it in the future. This time we plugged into the hardwired network and the file transfer took closer to 40 minutes. The last step was to execute the .pvm file and create the virtual machine. It was a snap. The key was understanding what the .pvm file was. Parallels support - Thank you. Please create an FAQ for the move process. A quick one pager with the links you sent me should satisfy anyone else who wants to move Parallels to a new computer.
Same problem Patrick: Could you send me that troubleshooting sheet. the situation is this: I had a VM already working on a MacBook Pro...I have the image saved in the Users\Shared Directory. I copied that imager to another system. Installed Parallels which was a 4.0 upgrade. Then I created the virtual machine. when I start it up I get the disk error. It used to be very easy to copy a VM and then set it up. Has something changed. thanks Glen Harvey
Glen, your profile does not have an email, so I do not know how to send you the document. Did you try the link that Parallels sent to me? That is the document.
Hard Disk Error I finally was able to get the problem solved. I had to remove parallels entirely. Then install the upgrade. Then I moved my hard drive image into the Users\Shared\Parallels Folder. Then I created a VM under custom and selected share with other users. Then I tried it and it worked. I logged in as another user but to my surprise when I tried the VM under Users\Shared\Parallels it would not work, it was missing several files. So created another VM and it works. The installation and configuration of parallels using multiple users is ridiculous. I should be able to store the hard drive image in the shared folder, give the read & write writes to who I want then create a VM under each user and bingo but that DOES not work....What a drag........Well I at least solved the problem after four hours of fooling around with the documents that supposedly make this work...Anyway thanks for your response. I have never been impressed with Parallels support but I am not sure about switching to VM Ware although it runs all the windows VMs here on Campus. I am going to ask for a Mac license and see if things are better documented and the support is better. Glen
