Parallels compressor trashes a Win2k image

E

eblot

Junior Member
I'm using the latests Parallels beta VM for Mac [build 1862 beta], w/ a Win2k SP4 (+ the all the latest "security updates").

If I run the Parallels Compressor from the guest Win2k (automatic or manual mode), as soon as the guest OS reboots, it simply crashes: kernel error blue screen - that's it.

I trashed my brand new Win2k installation yesterday evening w/ manual mode. I've reinstalled a new Win2k installation this morning (AND backed up the virtual drive image this time....), and it has been trashed again.

It seems there is no way to recover (all the boot options of Win2k are ineffective, even 'safe mode' and 'last known good settings') once Compresso trashed the disk image. Be very careful w/ this tool.

Anyway:
1. There is a fatal issue here
2. The compressor should always provide an option to back up the disk image first
3. The BSOD (blue screen) is hardly readable: the VM returns to the startup screen nearly immediately after the crash, whichever the user setting about what to do when the guest OS stops. This seems to be another bug, and it took me about 6 crash-at-boot sessions to be able to snapshot the screen (I'll attach a copy of it later)

Is there any known flaw w/ the compressor ?
 

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The trouble does not show up with WinXP SP2.
It seems that the Compressor tools that run from the guest OS cannot be used with Win2k.
 
BTW, isn't it really stupid to allow large JPEG files in the forums while limiting PNG files to nearly unusable sizes for snapshots? A 25kB PNG snapshot ends up encoded to a 100kB JPEG file, while decreasing the image quality. Time to configure the attachment limitations...
 
The VM Compresor does trash the a windows 2000 image - it worked fine before I upgraded to the latest beta version.
 
Fyi

The VM is recoverable. In order to do this :-

  • Boot the VM as normal
  • When prompted to press F8 - hit the space bar
  • Highlight the last known good profile - in my case it was 'Profile 1'
  • Press 'L'

I did revert back to build 1848 to see if I could recover the VM that way, but to no avail. So I had to reinstall the parallel tools again and all was well. I then was able to compact the VM successfully.

A side note: if the MS DTC service fails to start with an error code 3221229584 you will need to recreate the log directory. To do this:-

  • Start -> Run -> cmd
  • cd \WINNT\system32
  • rename dtclog dtclog.old
  • msdtc -resetlog
  • Start the service MSDTC or reboot

Hope this helps anyone caught out by this.
 
Using 1862, compressor trashes Win2k image confirmed

With a fresh install of OSX, updated from the Apple site, and fresh install of 1862, my Win2k VM runs just fine. I ran Compressor in automatic mode, and came back to a Parallels console screen. Starting the VM I saw the black startup screen, the starting Windows screen, then at the point where Windows would switch to graphics mode, a BSOD saying:

STOP: c000021a (Fatal System Error)
The unhandled exception in session manager system process terminated unexpectedly
with a status of 0xc0000005 (0x000000 0x000000)
The system has been shut down
(etc.)

The BSOD screen was displayed for about one second (just time enough for a quick screen capture that succeeded on the fourth try), then back to Parallels console.

Starting in safe mode produces the same BSOD.

Restoring a backup copy of the VM .hdd restores normal operation.

Parallels team: If you need to look at the .hdd, contact me about a way to get it to you. It's too big for one DVD, but would fit on two if split.
 
I do not want to try to reproduce it w/ the latest RC, but did it fix the return-to-console-view issue when a BSOD is displayed? This should be easy to fix and would make bug report easier.
 
Just tried the latest build (1884) and compressing my win2k vm image worked perfectly this time.

Thanks Chaps!
 
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