Parallels 5 - installing win7 on VM when already using XP via bootcamp?

Discussion in 'Mac Apps and Mac App Store' started by chuckflip53, Aug 6, 2010.

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  1. chuckflip53, Aug 6, 2010

    chuckflip53 macrumors regular

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    #1
    Before I installed Parallels 5, I had a 2.4ghz 13" MBP w/ 4GB RAM that was dual-booting Windows XP. I then installed Parallels, and instead of installing an OS from a CD (I have Win7 fresh install CD), I decided to instead install Windows XP onto my VM from Bootcamp since my specs aren't as fast and I heard Win7 may lag a bit more than XP.

    My question is, in the future if I want to install Win7, what would happen in these 2 scenarios:

    1. I install Win7 onto my bootcamp partition (would my parallels copy of windows become corrupt/unusable?)
    2. I install Win7 onto VM via Parallels
     
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  2. wrldwzrd89, Aug 7, 2010

    wrldwzrd89 macrumors G5

    wrldwzrd89

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    #2
    Windows 7 installed in Parallels will not affect the Boot Camp partition at all. If you install Windows 7 in Boot Camp, XP will of course go away. It won't affect any Parallels virtual machines you set up (prior or after).
     
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  3. chuckflip53, Aug 8, 2010

    chuckflip53 thread starter macrumors regular

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    #3
    If i install Win7 in Bootcamp, would this cause any errors because windows XP was installed ON bootcamp and THEN installed onto Parallels VM VIA bootcamp

    so if I install Win7 onto bootcamp, of course winxp would disappear but then what happens to parallels since winxp was installed onto parallels VIA bootcamp?
     
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  4. wrldwzrd89, Aug 9, 2010

    wrldwzrd89 macrumors G5

    wrldwzrd89

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    #4
    Do you mean you're making a virtual machine from your Boot Camp partition in Parallels? If so, then that will work just fine - but you'll have to activate Windows twice (once in the virtual environment and again in Boot Camp) before it'll be happy.

    If you upgrade your Boot Camp installation to Windows 7, then try to run Parallels with the old WinXP virtual machine, this too should work - though Parallels may get confused until it realizes that the operating system has changed.
     
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  5. chuckflip53, Aug 10, 2010

    chuckflip53 thread starter macrumors regular

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    #5
    yes, sorry for the lack of terminology: I made a virtual machine FROM my bootcamp partition (I installed Windows XP onto a separate partition and THEN bought Parallels 5). What I want to do now is install windows 7 onto the partition (effectively getting rid of windows xp) but am not sure how Parallels 5 will react to this?

    You said tat it should work fine - have you tried this yourself? Thanks for the responses, I really appreciate them
     
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  6. wrldwzrd89, Aug 10, 2010

    wrldwzrd89 macrumors G5

    wrldwzrd89

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    #6
    I have not tried this myself, as I have never needed to do such a thing.
     
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  7. Darth.Titan, Aug 10, 2010

    Darth.Titan macrumors 68030

    Darth.Titan

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    #7
    When you install Win 7 onto your Boot Camp Partition, Parallels will just have to set the partition up to be used as a VM again. You will also have to reinstall the Parallels tools. Not a big deal.
     
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  8. chuckflip53, Aug 11, 2010

    chuckflip53 thread starter macrumors regular

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    #8
    oh alright, I'll give it a shot
     
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