Press Ctrl+Alt to release keyboard and mouse

[Greg Coats]

Regarding "Press Ctrl+Alt to release keyboard and mouse"
I am using an Apple keyboard on an Apple Intel Core Duo Mac Mini, so I have no Alt key.

I tried depressing the Control key plus the key closest to the space bar, the one with the Apple icon it, but I think just holding down those two keys does not send anything to the computer. Nothing happens. As a result, I am unable to every get the Guest OS (Windows XP) to ever release control back to Mac OS X, without completely shutting down the Windows XP virtual machine.

I downloaded and tried the version of Parallels for Mac OS X that you released yesterday. Two of us here downloaded, printed, and read your manual, but we are unable to return control of the keyboard and mouse without first completely shutting down the Windows XP virtual machine.

What does "Press Ctrl+Alt" really mean? Do you have to hold down the + key?
How do I return control of the keyboard and mouse without shutting down the Guest OS?
Greg

 

[oxonian]

Hmmm I thought all Apple keyboards have an Alt key.

Well Ctrl+Alt just means press Ctrl and Alt at the same time (don't press +).

Normally Alt is next to Ctrl, but not the 'Apple key'. On my MacBook the keys to the left of Space are [Apple][alt]crtl] going left to right.

Anyway, if you *really* have no alt key, try booting XP but never letting the mouse get 'trapped' - then select "Install Parallels Tools..." from the "VM" menu of the Parellels sotware itself (i.e. the mac menu at the top). This should start the process of installing the special Parallels mouse driver into your XP installation. If/when it succeeds, you'll not need to "Release" the mouse ever again, because this special mouse driver allows you to move from XP to OSX without pressing anything.

 

[Neuron]

What does "Press Ctrl+Alt" really mean? Do you have to hold down the + key?
How do I return control of the keyboard and mouse without shutting down the Guest OS?

Ctrl + Option should release your keyboard/mouse.