Parallels 7 Windows 7 installation issues

[ZaynS]

Hi,

I have a 2011 mac book pro (sandy bridge), 8gb ram, 1GB graphics.

I am having an issue with parallels 7 trying to install windows 7 professional 64.
I receive the "the unattended file answer contains an invalid product key....." issue.
Reading on the forum I have unchecked the floppy drive box, however when it starts installation I still get the error.
Only way I have been able to start installation is with using the "-" to remove the floppy drive as a device. Then installation starts manually but with the following message "Could not create floppy disk image required for unattended installation of windows - The installation will proceed in standard mode. Manual intervention will be required for certain steps".
Using this method I was able to install windows 7 successfully, however windows aero did not work because the graphics drivers didn't appear to be correct. I also had to manually install parallels tools, which froze at 76% every time.

Really struggling to install this which I though would be easy - appreciate your help

Cheers

 

[DWPete]

I am getting the same error when loading Windows 7 Prof 64 bit on MacBook Pro running OS X Lion. I also deleted the floppy drive from the config but the error remained. "the unattended file answer contains an invalid product key"

Would be great to know if anyone has a solid workaround for this. Thanks

 

[hawkdriver60]

I'm having the same issue on my Mac Mini. I remember this unattended answer file being an issue in Parallels 6 too, but at least it would work after unchecking the floppy drive. This should have been fixed, and it's definitely unacceptable that it's been made worse for such a common installation. I finally got Windows 7 Prof 64 bit to install from a .iso file by unchecking "express setup" at the beginning. You'll have to go through the whole process manually and install Parallels Tools on your own afterwards, but it seems to work.