Pause SmartGuard

Feature Request: Pause SmartGuard
1. The general need for pausing SmartGuard
When I run long, unattended operations inside a VM (such as cumulative Windows updates), I want a way to temporarily pause SmartGuard snapshot creation for the current VM, so that Parallels does not initiate a SmartGuard snapshot during critical guest‑OS activity.

SmartGuard is valuable for protection and rollback, but its automatic snapshot timing can coincide with sensitive operations inside the guest OS. Today, beyond using the Skip button on the 60‑second alert to avoid a single snapshot, there is no way to pause SmartGuard for a defined period; the alternative is to disable SmartGuard entirely, which is broader than necessary and affects existing snapshot behavior.

Pausing SmartGuard effectively puts up a temporary guardrail that prevents SmartGuard from taking a snapshot during the selected time window. If the next scheduled SmartGuard snapshot falls within that window, it is delayed until the pause ends (or until SmartGuard is resumed). If the next scheduled snapshot is outside the pause window (for example, many hours later), the pause has no effect on its timing. Pausing does not cancel snapshots; it only prevents them from occurring within the pause window. If a delayed snapshot becomes due when the pause ends, SmartGuard should present its standard 60‑second pre‑snapshot alert, giving the user the opportunity to skip or pause again.

2. Pause SmartGuard... (Actions menu)
To support pausing at any time, Parallels could add a "Pause SmartGuard..." command to the Actions menu, placed alongside the existing snapshot‑related items.

Selecting it would open a submenu of duration options such as:

• 5 minutes
• 15 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 1 hour
• 2 hours
• 4 hours
• 8 hours
• 16 hours
• 24 hours

After choosing a duration, the menu item would change to "Resume SmartGuard", consistent with Apple's Human Interface Guidelines for state‑dependent menu items.

This would allow users to temporarily suspend SmartGuard snapshot creation without disabling SmartGuard entirely and without altering existing snapshots.

3. "Pause..." button on the SmartGuard 60‑second alert
Currently, SmartGuard displays a 60‑second pre‑snapshot alert before an automatic snapshot. This alert includes a Skip button, which prevents the current snapshot from being taken. After skipping, SmartGuard will simply attempt the next scheduled snapshot at its normal interval.

I want an additional "Pause..." button on this alert, so that I can defer SmartGuard activity for a chosen period without turning SmartGuard off or changing its configuration. The Pause... button would open the same duration selector used by the Actions‑menu version (i.e.: 5 / 15 / 30 minutes, 1 / 2 / 4 / 8 / 16 / 24 hours). This gives users a context‑sensitive way to temporarily suspend SmartGuard snapshot creation, while keeping SmartGuard enabled overall.

Thanks.