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Parallels 4.0 and Windows 7 64-bit

L

littlegreenyoda

macrumors member
Original poster
Hi guys,

i received parallels 4.0 as a gift 2 months ago and did not install the software.

but now, as win7 is out, im really interested to get it installed, but is it recommended to run win 7 (64-bit) on Parallels 4.0 and not the latest version of Parallels?

Sadly, i could not get it exchanged for parallels 5.0 in my local stores.

Will it crash or lag my macbook pro?

My system is 2.66GHz and 320GB, bought in oct 2009 mbp.

Many thanks.
 
Hi, I run Windows 7 pro 64 on my Mac Pro using Parallels 4 with no problem at all. If you're going to run it on a MBP then you will need at least 4gb or RAM.

It really all depends on what you want to use Windows for. I'm certainly in no hurry to upgrade from 4 to 5.
If you really feel that you want the latest, then upgrading from 4 to 5 is pretty cheap.
 
Nordichund said:
Hi, I run Windows 7 pro 64 on my Mac Pro using Parallels 4 with no problem at all. If you're going to run it on a MBP then you will need at least 4gb or RAM.

It really all depends on what you want to use Windows for. I'm certainly in no hurry to upgrade from 4 to 5.
If you really feel that you want the latest, then upgrading from 4 to 5 is pretty cheap.
Click to expand...

Hi, yep. my mbp is 4gb ram.

But will the win 7 64-bit max out my mbp ram and cause it to lag?

or should i just stick to 32-bit?

don't think will pay extra $$ to upgrade to version 5.0 as long as 4.0 works.
 
Again it depends what you are going to use Windows in Parallels for. I would install Windows 7 64 because then you can run it at full speed in Boot Camp. If you are just going to be running less demanding apps using Parallels in OS X, then you shouldn't have any problems. Only you can really answer the question.
 
Nordichund said:
Again it depends what you are going to use Windows in Parallels for. I would install Windows 7 64 because then you can run it at full speed in Boot Camp. If you are just going to be running less demanding apps using Parallels in OS X, then you shouldn't have any problems. Only you can really answer the question.
Click to expand...

hmm.. actually i just wanted to install windows to explore the new features of win 7.

Please pardon me, but what is the differences between Boot Camp and Parallels 4.0?

Will be installing parallels 4.0 since i've already got the disc and its collecting dust somewhere.

Programs i will be running on Win 7
Streaming Video Program (Funshion), Games (perhaps like Red Alert, etc) and thats about it actually.. can't think of anything else i need to run on windows. 😱

If these are what i'm running on Windows, still recommended to install 64-bit? or should i get 32-bit on Parallels 4.0?

Many thanks again!
 
Boot Camp is the Apple program in Snow Leopard and you can install it without installing Parallels. If you just install Boot Camp then every time you want to change from Mac OS X to Windows then you have to restart your computer.

If you have Parallels installed then you can open Windows in OS X just like any other application.
Parallels offers various alternatives of whether you want to install it virtually or run it through the Boot Camp installation.

Personally, I prefer running the larger applications such as games, Visual Studio etc. through Boot Camp. I use Parallels when I need to access some smaller apps that I have which are unavailable on Mac.

Personally, I wouldn't even bother playing resource demanding games through Parallels. If you really want to see what Windows 7 can do on your MBP, then I believe you will experience it using Boot Camp. However, there will be probably some others who disagree.
 
Thanks again!

I think i will do a bootcamp instead since im planning to play Modern Warfare 2.

But may i ask, if i were to do dual boot, does it means that every time i restart my macbook, it will prompt and ask which to boot to?

so this will be kind of irritating right?
 
littlegreenyoda said:
Thanks again!

I think i will do a bootcamp instead since im planning to play Modern Warfare 2.

But may i ask, if i were to do dual boot, does it means that every time i restart my macbook, it will prompt and ask which to boot to?

so this will be kind of irritating right?
Click to expand...

No, you have to hold down option to select it during boot.
 
ayeying said:
No, you have to hold down option to select it during boot.
Click to expand...

Oh. Thanks alot!!!!

How much memory should i partition for BootCamp?

Im wondering if 20GB is enough? Just like to install Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and red alert to play.

Is windows 7 64-bit supported by Bootcamp?
 
littlegreenyoda said:
Oh. Thanks alot!!!!

How much memory should i partition for BootCamp?

Im wondering if 20GB is enough? Just like to install Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and red alert to play.

Is windows 7 64-bit supported by Bootcamp?
Click to expand...

Modern Warfare 2 is about 12GB after install. Then for Windows 7 it's another 20 GB... then for Red Alert, I'm guessing at least 5GB to be safe. I'd say, 40GB partition should be fine, probably more?

Windows 7 64-bit is only officially supported under the newer MacBook Pro's and some iMac's and Mac Pro's. Otherwise, it's fine to install it but you have to do workarounds for the drivers to install.
 
i do not have parallels 5.0, only have the 4.0 brand new in box, still not sure if i should sell or just install it.

my mbp was bought in aug 2009. is this considered new or old?

i just hope it can support win 7 64-bit!
 
^ You MBP supports Win 7 64 regardless. My Mac Pro 1.1 doesn't officially support Win 7 64bit, but has no trouble running it at all.

If you have a new copy of parallels then you are probably entitled to the 'free' upgrade to Parallels 5.
 
MacRumorUser said:
^ You MBP supports Win 7 64 regardless. My Mac Pro 1.1 doesn't officially support Win 7 64bit, but has no trouble running it at all.

If you have a new copy of parallels then you are probably entitled to the 'free' upgrade to Parallels 5.
Click to expand...

Thanks

Im not located in canada or usa, am from singapore.
Doubt i can get the free upgrade. purchased it in aug 2009 together with my mbp. 🙁
 
Sorry to resume this post....

I am trying to install w7 64 bit on parallels 4 and can't even pass the selection of the partition.....I get a message that says that a required cd/dvd device driver is missing, and cannot even see the disk partition; while if i use the same but in 32 bit version, everything works fine.

My machine is a mac pro (not macbook) 1.1 with 7 gb of ram and ati radeon card (HD something...).

I tried only w7 64 bit, but i guess that even vista 64 and xp 64 will not load....at this point my suspect is that parallels 4 does not support the 64 bit version of the os (on their KB there is an article that says that they will add support to 64 bits in the future)

whoever installed w7 64 on parallels 4 had to do a special procedure or install special drivers? I cannot see any way out to get w7 64...just the 32 bit version 🙁

Thanks in advance!
 
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