2011 Mac Mini, Parallels on second SSD

[G-Money]

I searched the forum and couldn't find the answer to this - hopefully someone with more experience with Mac Minis and Parallels can help.

I use a Windows machine at work (it runs XP) but we're upgrading our machines, and I opted for a 2011 Mini. It's just the baseline model, but I'm planning to take the 256GB Intel SSD out of the Windows machine and put it into the Mini as a second drive. I plan to run XP through Parallels.

Does anyone know if that is even possible? I remember that Parallels was able to find a Windows installation before on an old MacBook Pro that I had, but it was on the startup SSD (along with OS X), not on a separate drive.

TL;DR: can I pop a Windows XP SSD into a Mini (along with the HDD it comes with) and access the Windows drive through Parallels?

Thanks for any answers you might have.

 

[philipma1957]

I searched the forum and couldn't find the answer to this - hopefully someone with more experience with Mac Minis and Parallels can help.

I use a Windows machine at work (it runs XP) but we're upgrading our machines, and I opted for a 2011 Mini. It's just the baseline model, but I'm planning to take the 256GB Intel SSD out of the Windows machine and put it into the Mini as a second drive. I plan to run XP through Parallels.

Does anyone know if that is even possible? I remember that Parallels was able to find a Windows installation before on an old MacBook Pro that I had, but it was on the startup SSD (along with OS X), not on a separate drive.

TL;DR: can I pop a Windows XP SSD into a Mini (along with the HDD it comes with) and access the Windows drive through Parallels?

Thanks for any answers you might have.

vm fusion can do it. I never tried it with parallels.

 

[G-Money]

vm fusion can do it. I never tried it with parallels.

Can I run Windows programs side-by-side with OS X programs through VMware Fusion? That was the main reason I was interested in Parallels - the ability to run the two systems simultaneously, rather than just using one window that has a Windows partition in it.

 

[shortcut3d]

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If I understand correctly you want to transplant your existing Intel SSD with Windows into the Mac mini. This should work in theory because VMware would replace many of the necessary drivers using VMware Tools. I assume Parallels has the same packaged installer. You may also want to hold down the option key and try to boot directly into windows to install the boot camp drivers.

The proper way to do this would be to use a utility like VMware migration assistant.

I currently use a boot camp partition on the second SSD with OSX on the first. I used VMware briefly, but it's not necessary since I have an iMac at the same desk. Therefore, I direct connected the Mac mini and iMac over gigabit, then RDP to the Mac mini. It's a very fast and responsive RDP session which is good enough subsitute for a VM with much more power.