Parallels 8 to Parallels 16 with XP VM

Hello forum users,

there is a virtual machine on an older Macbook running 10.9.5 and Windows XP SP3 in Parallels 8.

I would not like to lose that machine and so I am preparing to upgrade this Macbook to Catalina, wich is still possible on this 2012 machine, and also to upgrade to Parallels 16.

Does anybody have any experience with situations like this? I am asking myself if upgrading from Parallels 8 to 16 would be possible, because it is a huge step. And if Parallels 16 would still accept my elderly XP VM, which after all is a file that has been used only in Parallels 8.

Would Windows XP ask for a new activation key, by the way? I think the last time it did not, but I am not sure...

Regards, Reinhard.

 

Hi,
you can update your Parallels Desktop copy to the latest version. (and purchase upgrade/not a full version. You can use your Parallels Desktop 8 key as a confirmation one).
Before any upgrade we recommend to male a backup copy of your VM (Please shit down your VM completely before making backup)
Parallels Desktop 16 supported Windows XP. Please check the System requirements and Guest OS supported OS here.
Please let us know if you have any additional questions. We will be glad to help!

 

Hello Maria,

thank you for your response. I have already checked system requirements, also that XP is still supported by Parallels Desktop. The legal and commercial part of the process should be no problem. Also, I make frequent backups of my VM, so that has also already been taken care of.

Instead, I was wondering if my old VM file with Windows XP Pro SP3 could still be opened with the new version of Parallels. You know, I thought maybe the file was already too old and in some way outdated, but then there could be update routines to make that file work in Parallels Desktop 16 again. Do I have to worry about that at all? I know, that XP itself is still supported, but I was wondering about the Parallels file shell which holds it. And about licensing XP again, which would maybe again be necessary after updating to the new version of Parallels Desktop. Which out of my experience should not be the case, but you never know.

For how long will XP be supported by Parallels, by the way - are there any predictions?

Regards, Reinhard

 

You will be able to start your old VM at the newest Parallels Desktop version.
Just for check Is your VM file format .pvm?

 

Yes, it is a file in pvm format. Thank you for the confirmation.

I just thought I should check, as it was last updated with an outdated version of Parallels desktop.

So now I think I will just take the risk and update everything in the upcoming days. After that, I will let you know if everything went alright...

 

You can take the backup of the virtual machine file on an external drive before doing the upgrades. Make sure you have properly shut down before taking up the backup.

 

So as I promised that I would let you know how everything went:

Updates are finished, there was no problem with licensing XP, I just had to activate it again during the installation process, which worked without a problem.

Also, upgrading to Mac OS Catalina on this mid 2012 Macbook went fine. After that, I installed Parallels Desktop 16 and was then able to open my old pvm file with Windows XP. Parallels Tools were installed, and as always some drivers could not be found. That was the case with my old installation as well, only I could not notice any negative effects.

But his time unfortunately, almost everything I need is there now: Game controllers are working, graphics are fine, as is mouse support. Only one thing, and this is unfortunately pretty huge - the keyboard just won´t work. It is fine in Mac OS, but it seems it won´t connect to the VM.

I have already deleted the device in the XP device management, next time XP starts the problem is there again. It issues Code 32 in device management, that some driver service has been deactivated. I just could not find the source of the problem. Do you have any idea?

 

Hello, I just wanted to let you know that everything is alright now.

The problems occured from not installing the Parallels Tools in Windows XP correctly.
During the installation I was asked for XP system files, which I could not locate at first.
But then I found them:

i8042prt.sys is located on the XP CD-ROM (folder i386)
mouclass.sys is located in c:\windows\system32\drivers
mouhid.sys is located in c:\windows\system32\drivers

After reinstalling Parallels Tools and passing those files correctly everything worked fine.
Now graphics are ok, mouse is fine, keyboard is there and my XP VM is fully working again

Thank you for your support. I just hope that all the effort during the course of several years will be rewarded by Parallels and those vintage systems like Windows XP will stay supported for a very long time...