by Adam Pash

1. Running Parallels On Mac
2. Parallels For Mac Help
3. Parallels For Mac Support
4. Parallels For Mac Errors Detected

When I bought my first Mac last month - a 15' MacBook Pro - I wasn't thrilled about the $2000+ price tag (even though I did save a few hundred upgrading the RAM myself). But I wasn't just buying one computer, I was getting two. Not only was I: 1) getting a Mac, a platform I'd long wanted to dive into, but 2) I was also purchasing a computer that could run a familiar old friend - Windows.

Advertisement

Running Parallels On Mac

I am running Quicken on Parallels on my Mac. Quicken has frozen and the whole Windows XP is frozen. I can restart Parallels to no avail but not Windows. How can I close Quicken and/or Windows. Once Disk Utility is complete and there are no errors in red in the completion summary (if there are errors listed in red, re-run DU to see if those. If you want to use the Windows version of Excel from Mac through Parallels, you need to drive things from a Windows based Python installation, too (e.g. From the Windows Command Prompt instead of Mac Terminal). Parallels Desktop for Mac – Installation and Setup. This tutorial explains how to install Parallels Desktop for Mac and setup of a Windows XP virtual machine.

Techyv is one of the leading solution providers covering different aspects of Computers and Information Technology. We have a hardworking team of professionals in different areas that can provide you with guaranteed solutions to a blend of your problems. Parallels Desktop for Mac allows you to seamlessly run both Windows and Mac OS X applications side-by-side with speed, control and confidence. Parallels Desktop for Mac is simply the world’s bestselling, top-rated, and most trusted solution for running Windows applications on your Mac.

Hack Attack: How to install RAM in your Mac (and save big $$$)

by Adam Pash

Read more Read

Using the previously-mentionedvirtual machine software, Parallels Desktop for Mac ($79.99), you can run Mac OS X and Windows (XP, Vista, you name it) side-by-side. Here's how I've set up my Parallels installation to make working in multiple OSes easy and fun.

Advertisement

Run Mac OS X and Windows simultaneously

Mac only: The New York Times' David Pogue reviews Parallels Workstation for Mac OS X ,…

Read more Read

A quick taste of Parallels

Since I'm nuts about my Parallels setup, and since half the fun is seeing Windows and Mac running side-by-side in action, check out this short video demonstration of my Parallels setup. (Music courtesy of Bubblegum Best)

Interested? Below I've detailed how I've set up XP in Parallels, along with a few tweaks for getting that oh-so-cool fullscreen OS-switching across the cube.

Advertisement

Install XP as a virtual machine

This is the easiest part of the process. The people who make Parallels are very good at what they do so installing a virtual machine in Parallels is a breeze.

Advertisement

To create a new virtual machine in which to run XP, open Parallels and go to File -> New VM. The wizard will walk you through setting up the virtual machine, starting with the option for creating a typical VM, which you will most likely want to do.

Advertisement

Next, tell Parallels the OS-type you want to install as a virtual machine (in my case, it was Windows XP). Finish the wizard, and now you can open the virtual machine and tweak any settings you like by going to File -> Open and selecting the VM you just created.

Advertisement

Click Edit at the bottom of the new window and change any of the default settings, like hard disk size, RAM allocation and so on. (I've allocated 256MB for XP, and amazingly enough, it's still very fast for everything I use it for.) Don't worry too much about these settings, since you can change the RAM allocation at any time. Although you do set limits, Parallels will only take up the hard drive space you need, dynamically resizing whenever it needs more space. (That means if you allocate 8GB but you only have 2GB of data on your Windows VM, it will only take 2GB of your Mac's hard drive.)

Advertisement

When you're ready to install XP, insert your XP installation CD and click the green play button on the side of the Parallels window. If you've ever installed XP, everything from here on out should be old hat to you. If it's not, you could follow Gina's guide to installing Windows from step 4 on.

Geek to Live: How to format your hard drive and install Windows XP from scratch

Hey, Windows XP users: The blue screen of death got you down? Missing dll errors making you frown?…

Read more Read

Advertisement

Install Parallels Tools

Advertisement

Once you've completed your installation, the first thing you should do is install a program called Parallels Tools by selecting VM -> Install Parallels Tools while Windows is running. I was an idiot and missed the section in the quick start guide on Parallels Tools for the first week I was playing with the program, so don't make the same mistake. Parallels Tools is what makes working in Parallels so great. It improves mouse movement, video, and pretty much everything else necessary to a modern OS.

Now that you've got Windows installed, there are still those always-important tweaks you want to make on a new Windows install. Gina's top Windows tweaks is a good place to start.

Advertisement

Geek to Live: Top Windows tweaks

by Gina Trapani

Read more Read

Install VirtueDesktops

To give XP it's own little side-of-the-cube like you saw in the video, you'll need to install previously-mentioned VirtueDesktops, a life-saving desktop management software.

Advertisement

Download of the Day: VirtueDesktops (Mac)

Mac OS X only: Open source program VirtueDesktops is a brilliant virtual desktop application for…

Read more Read

Advertisement

I like to arrange the virtual desktops in a straight row that flips across a cube (like in the screencast). To do this, open the VirtueDesktops preferences and select Cube from the Transitions options. Then select the Layouts and Pagers pane, and make your columns and rows into a nx1 configuration (I do 3x1, but you can do whatever fits your needs).

Using VirtueDesktops with Parallels

I had a bit of trouble at first getting Parallels to work with VirtueDesktops in that snazzy way you saw in the screencast, so here are a few tips so that you don't have the same problems.

Advertisement

Alt-Enter will put Parallels into fullscreen, but fullscreen mode might not work with desktop switching in VirtueDesktops as-is. If it doesn't, go to the Parallels preferences and select User Interface -> Advanced and make sure that 'Exit fullscreen on focus lost' is unchecked. That may work for you, but it didn't for me, and every time I tried switching desktops, Parallels would still drop out of fullscreen mode, which was a major pain.

Advertisement

Lucky for me, with the help of the Parallels crew and the VirtueDesktop developer (thanks, guys!), I learned that something about the Universal Access pane of my Mac's System Preferences was to blame, so in order to use Parallels in fullscreen with the handy desktop switching of VirtueDesktops, you need to uncheck the checkbox labeled 'Enable access for assistive devices.'

This led to sort of a bummer for me because Universal Access is required in order to use TextExpander. I wrote an Applescript that I use to launch Parallels while automatically turning off Textpander and Universal Access, and another that turns them back on. This makes the process a bit easier for me, though I do hope some day I can keep TextExpander enabled while running Parallels in fullscreen.

Advertisement

Download of the Day: Typng usg abrvns with Textpander

Textpander, a great new Mac OS X utility, allows you to type your most commonly used phrases by…

Read more Read

I've made my Applescripts available below, but be forewarned: I'm an Applescript novice, so I'm sure these could be improved. Right now you have to enter your administrator password each time you run it.

Advertisement

Download Launch Parallels.scpt
Download Quit Parallels.scpt

Friendly transitions

Once you've got the fullscreen business working, it's just a matter of using the VirtueDesktop desktop switching hotkey (which I've left at the default Ctrl-Shift-Left/Right) to switch back and forth between your desktops.

Advertisement

Finally, you may find (as I did) that when you're working on a Mac, switching back and forth between Windows and OS X, it can get a little sticky keeping your keyboard shortcuts straight. I've found it helpful to remap some of my Windows keys to match more closely with my Mac shortcuts using previously-mentioned freeware program KeyTweak.

Download of the Day: KeyTweak

Parallels For Mac Help

Windows only: Freeware application KeyTweak lets you remap any key on your computer's keyboard.

Read more Read

Advertisement

If you've used Parallels in your workflow, I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for getting more from Parallels. If you've got any questions about the whole Parallels experience, I'd be happy to answer them, so let's hear 'em in the comments.

Parallels For Mac Support

Adam Pash is an associate editor for Lifehacker who's too greedy to stick to just one operating system. His special feature Hack Attack appears every Tuesday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Hack Attack RSS feed to get new installments in your newsreader.

Parallels For Mac Errors Detected

Advertisement