Windows 8 Developer Preview

Hi All,

I downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview from Microsoft this evening (dev.microsoft.com) and created a new VM for it in Parallels Desktop 7. I told Parallels it was Windows 7 and gave it 1.5GB of RAM and 2 processors. Everything worked okay at the beginning -- OS install went smoothly, etc, and the OS started up. However, none of the resolution switching, etc. was working initially (as I suppose should be expected).

So I tried installing the Parallels Tools. That was a mistake. The installer ran without complaint, but when it restarted the VM, now nothing works. I get the lock/login screen okay, but once I log in I just get a black screen. Apparently the Parallels Tools tried to turn Coherence on (which I wouldn't expect to work on Windows 8, until Parallels does a lot more work to integrate with the all-new UI!), and that led to some error messages up front... and the black screen forever after, apparently. I couldn't figure out how to uninstall anything when the display wasn't working.

So right now I'm trying out the new Windows 8 feature called "Reset your PC", which basically restores everything to factory conditions. (Used for when you want to give your PC to someone else and get rid of all your data & apps.) Hopefully it will work again once that completes.

But it brings me back to the question: does anybody know if there's a way to get some of the benefits of Parallels Tools (i.e. device drivers) without messing up the display by trying to turn on stuff that won't work with Windows 8?

 

same thing with p6

it look like display is working . since when I do ALT Tab to switch applications I can see the application switcher also when I do ctrl alt del I can see the screen. when I click any where on the black screen it launch the app from the tile metro that suppose to be in that area. I noticed it only happen when in metro start , on desk top view every thing works well.


[edit:] I did the restore on boot with f8 and now it is back displaying the metro start.

 

Same

I had the exact same results as you. Things were working fine (except for the tools additions like mouse/resolution changing) until I installed Parallels Tools. I hope they'll be able to get this working soon.

I'm doing the "reset your PC" thing as we speak.

 

same here

how do you do the f8 command to reset windows 8. I tried it and it didnt work. Also with the black screen I was able use ctrl + alt + delete. Then I could see but stuck there.

 

Same issue for me

Works fine in VMWare 4 so hopefully Parallels will give us a workaround/update at some point.

 

Well, glad to hear I wasn't the only one who ran into this (I guess). Reset Windows worked for me too, so things are back to working (but without Tools). This time I'll take a snapshot before trying Tools again. Hope someone can figure out how to get Tools installed in such a way as to avoid the blacked-out Start screen.

 

FIX the black screen

The solution below worked for windows server 2008 and works for windows8 too!

Add the following line in your Boot Flags (Configure VM > Hardware tab)
video.dx_profile=6

 

hmmm.. adding that didn't help me...

still get nothing but the black screen once I log in

 

Installing Windows 8 Developer Preview on Parallels Desktop 7 now.
Any advice if i should install Parallels Tools yet?

 

The screenshot you posted says virtual tools are NOT installed. Windows 8 seems to install fine for me and run half way decent. The problems begin after attempting to install the virtual tools, which seem to install okay, the screen is plack.

I can tell that resizing the window does in fact resize the vm resolution. I hear sound, so the tools do seem to install. If I hit ctrl+alt+del I can run the task manager and it is visible. So this says to me that the "black screen" is Metro. If I lock the screen, log out and all of the other fun stuff that takes precedence of screen order layering, (over Metro) than it seems all is well.

I spent some time last night attempting to kill Metro, but this appears to NOT be possible.

 

On the assumption that Windows 8 Developer Preview is supposed to install correctly on a new Parallels VN (Parallels tweeted this video showing a successful install: http://ow.ly/6u74s) .....

Can a Win 8 VM be installed only on Parallels 7 or is Parallels 6 supported as well?

 

yeah, don't install it if you want the OS to actually work

 

Just to save people the 8 minutes... the video shows the install of 8, but he *does not* install Parallels Tools

 

Same issue for me

Same issue for me.

if you install parallels tool -> black screen of parallels death

 

Black Screen Issues with Parallel's Tools!

I had the same issue. I have a 27" iMac and the resolution looks horrible until I install the Parallel's Tools. As soon as you do however, you get a black screen with a mouse. Its not frozen, you can hear things when you click on them, its just not rendering. Looks like we will need to wait until Parallel's decides to update Parallel's Tools for Windows 8? Question is, will they bother supporting a Developer Preview? Unlikely I'm afraid. :-/

 

You should be able to resize to a decent resolution - I can get to 1920x1200 on my MacBook Pro using the standard Microsoft Basic Display driver. The thing I really miss from not having Parallel Tools installed is shared folders.

 

Decent Resolution?

1920x1080 looks horrible on a 27" iMac. It is all fuzzy and distorted. The native resolution is 2560x1440, a resolution only available with the parallel's tools driver? Maybe it is possible to download drivers from ATI?

 

Sadly I think you'll be out of luck for that resolution until Parallels offer an update or workaround.

 

I tried it as well ...did not work - I notice you setup an admin account do you think that may have something to do with it?

 

I just installed the Developer Preview on Parallels 6/Snow Leopard. I used the settings in the video (OS=Other Windows, RAM=4GB, everything else at defaults) and it seems to be working. At first I got no response to the buttons, but after a few seconds they started to work. Maybe bootup wasn't complete?

There is no sound driver (probably due to lack of Parallels Tools).

The video looks great on my 27" iMac. I used the Windows 8 control panel to set video resolution to 1920x1200 (maximum setting). It doesn't fill the entire screen but who cares? I don't understand what the other iMac users are complaining about in this thread.