After a search, I read thru other Parallels threads and no one seems to have the same issue I'm having so I'm posting this thread (haven't tried calling Parallels tech support yet). [Skip to bottom in bold if you want a summary of this].
I installed Parallels 8 on my new iMac yesterday. At first, all was well. Then I inserted a CD into my external DVD drive and started playing it in iTunes. Then my virtual Windows 7 saw it and started playing it with Windows Media Player. So it started playing twice with a few seconds delay between them. System became unresponsive so I had to do a forced shutdown by hitting the power. I booted into Windows and adjusted the settings for Media Player so that it doesn't do anything when I insert a CD. So that problem was fixed.
Then when I booted into OSX and opened Parallels, the virtual Windows 7 would start to crash after a couple minutes. Then I started adjusting the CPU and RAM allocation in Parallels. It was set to only 256MB of VRAM I believe. And the regular RAM was pretty low too. I also changed it from 1 to 3 or 2 CPU's (I have the Quad Core i7 at 3.4 Ghz).
At some point I booted into Windows 7 and it showed a black screen with the option to scan files to repair (recommended) or boot as normal. I chose the recommended repair. After this, I booted in OSX and when I ran Parallels virtual Windows 7 it would no longer crash. But now it shows only a low resolution version. It was showing only a 800 x 600 res. It let me adjust this up to native 2560 x 1440 but it just shows a blown up version of a low resolution Windows 7. Plus it appears to only be working in Window mode and not Crystal like it was briefly before. And lastly, when I boot Windows 7 via Parallels it shows the Vista boot screen - though it still loads Windows 7 albeit in low res. When I boot directly to Windows 7 - I can see it in full resolution as normal but I still see the Vista boot screen. [BTW - I've tried using entering this "bcdboot %WinDir% /l en-US" in command prompt as described here: http://www.askvg.com/fix-windows-7-boot-screen-changed-to-vista-styled/
and it didn't change the Vista boot screen issue].
I've also noticed that in the Parallels virtual Windows 7, the Nvidia GTX 680MX graphics card is not recognized. It only sees something like VGA graphics or something.
One more thing. I've tried uninstalling Parallels 8 by dragging the file from Applications folder to the trash. Then I've tried reinstalling it several times. When I do this, Parallels 8 doesn't go thru the same procedures as the first time I installed it - where I selected to run it from an existing installation of Windows 7. And it doesn't ask for the product activation key either. So this tells me that I have not been able to fully uninstall it from OSX. Perhaps this may lie at the heart of the problems I'm having.
Summary:
My guess is the 3 issues I'm having - low res view of Win 7 in Parallels, the Vista boot screen issue (in both virtual and actual Windows 7) and the failure of the virtual Windows 7 to recognize my 680MX are tied together somehow. Sorry for such a long convoluted post but I figured I'd try here 1st on a Sunday before attempting to deal with Parallels tech support. Any advice on how to fix this?
I installed Parallels 8 on my new iMac yesterday. At first, all was well. Then I inserted a CD into my external DVD drive and started playing it in iTunes. Then my virtual Windows 7 saw it and started playing it with Windows Media Player. So it started playing twice with a few seconds delay between them. System became unresponsive so I had to do a forced shutdown by hitting the power. I booted into Windows and adjusted the settings for Media Player so that it doesn't do anything when I insert a CD. So that problem was fixed.
Then when I booted into OSX and opened Parallels, the virtual Windows 7 would start to crash after a couple minutes. Then I started adjusting the CPU and RAM allocation in Parallels. It was set to only 256MB of VRAM I believe. And the regular RAM was pretty low too. I also changed it from 1 to 3 or 2 CPU's (I have the Quad Core i7 at 3.4 Ghz).
At some point I booted into Windows 7 and it showed a black screen with the option to scan files to repair (recommended) or boot as normal. I chose the recommended repair. After this, I booted in OSX and when I ran Parallels virtual Windows 7 it would no longer crash. But now it shows only a low resolution version. It was showing only a 800 x 600 res. It let me adjust this up to native 2560 x 1440 but it just shows a blown up version of a low resolution Windows 7. Plus it appears to only be working in Window mode and not Crystal like it was briefly before. And lastly, when I boot Windows 7 via Parallels it shows the Vista boot screen - though it still loads Windows 7 albeit in low res. When I boot directly to Windows 7 - I can see it in full resolution as normal but I still see the Vista boot screen. [BTW - I've tried using entering this "bcdboot %WinDir% /l en-US" in command prompt as described here: http://www.askvg.com/fix-windows-7-boot-screen-changed-to-vista-styled/
and it didn't change the Vista boot screen issue].
I've also noticed that in the Parallels virtual Windows 7, the Nvidia GTX 680MX graphics card is not recognized. It only sees something like VGA graphics or something.
One more thing. I've tried uninstalling Parallels 8 by dragging the file from Applications folder to the trash. Then I've tried reinstalling it several times. When I do this, Parallels 8 doesn't go thru the same procedures as the first time I installed it - where I selected to run it from an existing installation of Windows 7. And it doesn't ask for the product activation key either. So this tells me that I have not been able to fully uninstall it from OSX. Perhaps this may lie at the heart of the problems I'm having.
Summary:
My guess is the 3 issues I'm having - low res view of Win 7 in Parallels, the Vista boot screen issue (in both virtual and actual Windows 7) and the failure of the virtual Windows 7 to recognize my 680MX are tied together somehow. Sorry for such a long convoluted post but I figured I'd try here 1st on a Sunday before attempting to deal with Parallels tech support. Any advice on how to fix this?
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