Removing old VPC additions?

[nsayer]

I've successfully migrated my old VPC Windows XP disk to Parallels. There's only one remaining issue: In add/remove programs, there's an entry for "Virtual Machine Additions." I guess I didn't remove those before getting rid of my Powermac.

Attempting to deinstall them gives me an alert that it can only be done from within a virtual machine. Oops.

Anyone know how to get rid of them?

 

[mmischke]

I've successfully migrated my old VPC Windows XP disk to Parallels. There's only one remaining issue: In add/remove programs, there's an entry for "Virtual Machine Additions." I guess I didn't remove those before getting rid of my Powermac.

Attempting to deinstall them gives me an alert that it can only be done from within a virtual machine. Oops.

Anyone know how to get rid of them?

Which version of Virtual PC? I recently Transported a VPC 2007 image to Parallels and also forgot to remove the Additions ahead of time. I had no mouse support until I removed them, but that was about it.

I don't know if this will be helpful, but sometimes uninstallers require an installation CD to proceed. VPC provides the Additions on an .ISO image located somewhere in the VPC folder structure.

 

[nsayer]

Which version of Virtual PC?

VPC 7.0.2 for Mac.

I had no mouse support until I removed them, but that was about it.

I don't actually have any problems with the extra VPC additions being there. They seem to not be getting in the way. I'd just like to get rid of them since I will no longer have a use for them.

I don't know if this will be helpful, but sometimes uninstallers require an installation CD to proceed. VPC provides the Additions on an .ISO image located somewhere in the VPC folder structure.

In this case, it appears that they simply insist on them being uninstalled from within VPC, which seems silly.

 

[mmischke]

Yeah, I hear you about wanting the old VPC Additions gone, even if they're not causing trouble. I like my machines (virtual or otherwise) pretty clean as well. ;-)

I have a rather convoluted solution which might work:

1) Make a copy of your original Mac VPC image.
2) Install Virtual PC 2007 for Windows (it's free) in the Parellels VM you now have working.
3) Try to start your copied Mac VPC image in VPC 2007 for Windows under Parallels.
4) See if you can remove the VPC additions now.
5) Use Transporter again on the Additions-free image to create a new Parallels VM.

I have no idea if this will work, but there's nothing obvious to suggest it won't.

 

[Dan-1941]

Removing Virtual Machine Additions 13.229

When trying to remove Virtual PC 7 additions after migration to Parallels you receive the error message "this installer may only be run inside of a virtual machine"

You can remove the Virtual Machine additions by editing the .msi file located at %windir%\Installer\. Mine was labeled "bb07a"

- Windows Explorer: Tools | Options -> uncheck hide protected operation system files.
- navigate to %windir%\Installs and performed a search for *.msi files with the word Virtual in the file. It came back with one result.
- Downloaded InstEd (http://www.instedit.com/) MSI editor.
- Make a backup copy of the MSI file in case you make a mistake. Right-Click on the .msi file and choose InstEd It!
- Do a find for virtual and delete all entries that say CA_IsRunningInsideVirtualMachine and CA_CheckIfWeCanInstall. There should be 6 total. See below:

In the Table ControlEvent delete the following rows:
InstallWelcome InstallNow DoAction CA_IsRunningInsideVirtualMachine
InstallWelcome InstallNow DoAction CA_CheckIfWeCanInstall
ReadyToInstall InstallNow DoAction CA_IsRunningInsideVirtualMachine
ReadyToInstall InstallNow DoAction CA_CheckIfWeCanInstall

In the Table CustomAction delete the following row:
CA_IsRunningInsideVirtualMachine 1 ISScriptBridge.dll f24

In the Table CustomAction delete the following row:
CA_IsRunningInsideVirtualMachine

- Save this MSI
- Uninstall the Additions

After I did this I had to uninstall and reinstall my Parallels Tools, so it may be a good idea to remove it first.

I saved a copy of the edited MSI but I cannot upload it here due to it's zipped size of 3.3 MB.