I've been using a windows 7 64-bit for the past couple of years, but now I am prompted to insert a CD to start the VM. This issue popped up after my Mac Pro froze while the VM was running, and I wasn't able to force quit or tab out. I force restarted the computer, and when the message popped up i plugged in an ISO and now it seems as though Parallels Desktop wants to wipe out my original VM data and start a new VM. I can still locate the Windows 7 HDD, but for some reason I cannot boot up with it. I need immediate help on this. Thanks in advance
I'm afraid your virtual machine system may be corrupted after force restart. You may try to repair Windows installation - follow that link for more information. You can retrieve data from the VM file - locate the 'Windows7.pvm' file (name is just example) on the /User/Documents/Parallels/, right click it, open with Parallels Mounter. It will mount your C drive to Finder.
Original VM file missing ever since my VM corrupted I can't locate its original 200GB .pvm file, because it was then replaced with a 3GB .pvm. When I try to load THAT VM it says "Parallels Mounter is unable to open the virtual hard disk." Also, I have my Windows 7 x64 professional in an ISO, which will boot up the VM in repair mode, but the VM cannot locate the ISO when I get to the screen where I select an ISO to repair with.
I'm afraid your VM file was not replaced with 3GB file but it means your data has been lost. You can try to restore those 3GB but there is not guaranty that it is not just some random system files which had left after the crash. The only way to recover is to use a backup - in case if you have one
