Parallels Desktop for Mac OS X

[sokaduka]

I lost my Windows XP machine to a website worm/virus that was so "gnarly", the Geek Squad at Best Buy called the folks out from the back to gaze and laugh in wonderment. Glad they got a kick out of it; but I was unable to recover anything. My solution was to buy the iMAC core duo 2, and per the Mac Store salesperson's suggestion: Parallels and Windows XP -- so I can run anything internet related on the Mac side and all the productivity software I already own on the Windows side.

I installed Parallels. Created a Typical Virtual Machine. I am unable to install the Guest Operating System. As instructed, I click the power on button ">" on the toolbar. A dark shade of gray comes down from the top to the bottom of the screen with an error in 4 languages (English, French, German, and Japanese): "You need to restart your computer. Hold down the power button for several seconds or press the Restart button." I restart and get the message: "The computer was restarted after Mac OSX quit unexpectedly." I am not able to get any further to install the Guest Operating System.

>>Mac Store Genius Bar: Said they could not help me because it is not an authorized Mac Software installation. Even though I bought both the iMAC Parallels at the same store 3 days before. They uninstalled and then removed all references to Parallels and watched over me as I tried to install it again. They confirm that I am not skipping any steps, but do not have authorization to give advice or help in any way.

>>Parallels: Neither the parallel's troubleshooting chapter in the manual nor the online tech support FAQs on parallels.com listed my problem. I send an email yesterday, which got me an automated reply, but as of right now has not been not answered. I bought their $29.99 M-F, 8AM-7PM Pacific time phone support option. I called on a Tuesday every 15 minutes from 5:30PM until 7PM Pacific Time and got the message: "This mailbox is full and cannot accept messages at this time."

Is there a special trick to getting this to work? I very savvy with PC's, but almost no Mac experience.

[fryke]

You probably need to download a newer version of Parallels for that specific machine. The software that came in the package probably was created before they made the changes to Parallels for the iMac Core 2 Duo. Build 1940 is the newest currently. Get it from parallels.com ...

[lithe951]

Also check the Parallels forum here

http://forum.parallels.com/index.php

A huge amount of information there, and honestly you'll get answers there more quickly than from Parallels support. Still a great product, I use it every day. Invaluable to a business user.

Mark

[fryke]

They've just released a new version today. Build 1970, 2006 Nov. 1st. Dunno about the changes, but it's certainly worth trying with the newest version.