Shutting down BOOT CAMP from VM (help please)

[jonathan_david]

Hi All.

I am not a technical computer guy per se but the great team at Parallels were kind enough to get me set up so that I access my existing Win XP Boot Camp install from within Parallels on my Mac.

Would anyone mind breaking down the steps and the reasons behind how I shut down my computer when in Mac? I get a number of prompts asking me whether I really want to do this to the Boot Camp install and I find this process (and the number of different Shut Down Icons) really confusing.

Thanks.

 

[mH2]

Ok, I started up My Boot Camp VM (the name Parallels gave it
waited for it to boot... ... ...
Then I Quit Parallels (cmd-Q or menu->Quit), then the pop up dialog boxes.

First: (Stop) or (Suspend)

I did (Suspend), as I suspect you may have done, this is risky for a Bootcamp parallels VM...hence the next dialog box.

Are you sure?(No) (Yes) If you boot directly to your Bootcamp <blah><blah>

I selected (Yes).

Ok, next the explaination...

 

[mH2]

a small explaination

The My Boot Camp VM is actually running out of the NTFS partition that MSWindows is installed in. It is not a copy of your Bootcamp, it is the Bootcamp.
The main difference may be that the video calls are being interpreted and captured in the VM window. (Mouse and keyboard shared/captured too.)

This way, you can edit a file, or play a game and save the save game, from the Mac/VM and then later boot directly to Bootcamp partition and continue that same save game at full speed.

You can see what damage you might cause if you were to Suspend the Mac/VM and then boot to Bootcamp directly and edit that same file -- what state should that file be in? Absolutely Unknown.
So, that second dialog box is warning you that booting directly to Bootcamp will cause a Cold Boot and coming back to the Mac/VM will also Cold Boot; but then, I get lots of those from Microsoft...

Anyway, if you (Stop) then you may force the VM to Crash or Cold Boot, so that is not a nice idea either.

What I do, is set the VM to Pause if inactive and then Sleep the Mac. This way all the memory is still live and accounted for; and, quicker restart.
If I am going to boot to Bootcamp, then I ShutDown the MSWindows (I have VM set to automatically Close Window once VM shuts down).

Then I Restart and hold the Option button on boot until the mouse shows.