Upgrade 1970 -> 3186 triggered Windows reactivation prompt

[Maciej]

I have been using build 1970, two standard VMs with Win XP Pro (no Bootcamp). One VM was cloned from the other after system install/activation and then they were used independently on two user accounts.

I have upgraded to build 3186, opened VM1, reinstalled Parallels Tools, and closed VM1. Everything was ok. Then I opened VM2 and WinXP told me I have 3 days to activate it. I reinstalled Parallels Tools, but I still get the activation prompt.

My question is: should I have uninstalled the old Parallels tools before the upgrade? Or is activation forced because the new release reports different hardware to the guest OS (e.g. a lower screen resolution in one of the accounts now results in a change of reported graphics card specs)? If so, then this is a serious caveat that should be described in some release notes, as it may force reactivation by design.

I made copies of my VM folders under Library/Parallels before the upgrade. Can I safely uninstall Parallels or will that delete my machines?

Thanks for any help,

Maciej.

 

[pan]

Similar problem

I have a number of VM for different functions. One I use for testing new versions only which I updated with 3186. I was able to update only after overcoming the Black Screen issue previously reported.

The next VM I tried (a copy since I am cautious) started up with no black screen but this time I got the following dialog box as window started up:

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Windows Product Activation

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Since Windows was first activated on this computer, the hardware on the computer has changed significantly. Due to these changes, Windows must be reactivated within 3 days.

Do you want to reactivate Windows now?

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Until a solution becomes apparent it makes sense to me and wait a while to update to 3186. i just don't want to update my collection of VMs or worse with four activations required to rebuild them to pass the Microsoft activation hurdle.

 

[Maciej]

I have a number of VM for different functions. One I use for testing new versions only which I updated with 3186.

So you can have two versions of Parallels on the samoe computer and use different versions with different machines? That would partly solve my problem.

A question to Parallels support people (if they are reading this at all):
Could you confirm or deny that the new version of Parallels may be reporting a different hardware configuration than the previous release?

Maciej.