Parallels question

adsl3g

adsl3g

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I have installed the trial version and am running Win XP in Parallels under Mac OSX. No major performance issues - I may just buy the package since there are one or 2 proggies that need to run under Win XP.

My question.. is it necessary to load an antivirus in WinXP when running under Parallels?
Also, does parallels dynamically allocate space to XP - if it does I am definately getting it since in Bootcamp you have to allocate a predefined space which may be wasted.
 
adsl3g said:
I have installed the trial version and am running Win XP in Parallels under Mac OSX. No major performance issues - I may just buy the package since there are one or 2 proggies that need to run under Win XP.

My question.. is it necessary to load an antivirus in WinXP when running under Parallels?
Also, does parallels dynamically allocate space to XP - if it does I am definately getting it since in Bootcamp you have to allocate a predefined space which may be wasted.
Click to expand...
When parallels is loaded you're pretty much exposed to the same things as you would be when you use any windows os so its up to you. :)

And yes - afaik it adjusts the disk image size dynamically.
 
bwana said:
When parallels is loaded you're pretty much exposed to the same things as you would be when you use any windows os so its up to you. :)

And yes - afaik it adjusts the disk image size dynamically.
Click to expand...

Yep, antivirus is a definite must. Like bwana said, it gets exposed to the same things as a normal XP machine (If you can get on the internet, the internet can get on your machine :D)

About the disk image - there is a yes and no component to it, depending on your setup. If you choose an expanding image, the image file will grow up to your preset image file size (don't make it too small though, as it is a b!tch to extend it further, once you've reached that preset value - I am running both my XP and Win2003 on 20Gb images)

If you choose static, it will create the eg 20Gb file, and allocate the full 20Gb from your HDD.
 
..another question, is it possible to use the Mac's bluetooth for a Win XP installation running under Parallels? or should I load some native Win bluetooth drivers (Belkin eg) in the Win XP installation to make use of the Mac BTooth? I can set up a serial port using Btooth in the config settings of the Win OS but there are no settings under Win XP to detect the BTooth device.
 
Which release of Parallels did you install?

The latest official release (Build 1970 iirc) doesn't support USB2 or Bluetooth. The beta release does support USB2, but I haven't tried Bluetooth. Check out forum.parallels.com ... You will most likely get an idea there
 
Thanks, it seems I have version 1970. Still in trial though - testing before I buy the package.
 
Favourite applications

In the new ||s, there is an option for 'favourite applications' - (open ||s tools under WinXP). This allows a Win application to reside on the Mac OS desktop which you mearly click to open under Mac OSX. Anyone know how this operates as I cannot find where to specify the 'favourite' Win app to show in OSX. I have looked through the documentation but cannot find anything.
Have you guys tried this?
 
adsl3g said:
In the new ||s, there is an option for 'favourite applications' - (open ||s tools under WinXP). This allows a Win application to reside on the Mac OS desktop which you mearly click to open under Mac OSX. Anyone know how this operates as I cannot find where to specify the 'favourite' Win app to show in OSX. I have looked through the documentation but cannot find anything.
Have you guys tried this?
Click to expand...
Coherence mode? You need to be running the beta afaik.
 
adsl3g said:
In the new ||s, there is an option for 'favourite applications' - (open ||s tools under WinXP). This allows a Win application to reside on the Mac OS desktop which you mearly click to open under Mac OSX. Anyone know how this operates as I cannot find where to specify the 'favourite' Win app to show in OSX. I have looked through the documentation but cannot find anything.
Have you guys tried this?
Click to expand...

Running the latest beta, if you open a windows app - say IE - its shows in your OS X dock, just right click it and say keep in dock?
 
Finally found a use for parallels - using dvd decrypter for ripping those pesky disney flicks that mactheripper balks at.

Now I just need a to find some more otherwise I'll have to admit I wasted $80.
 
bwana said:
Coherence mode? You need to be running the beta afaik.
Click to expand...

Yup, I got the latest RC2 and paid for the package to boot. Will be loading Clone DVD to see how this performs under OSX/Win.

I am majorly impressed with ||s. There are no or very little performance issues on my Macbook running both OS's.

I see that OSX has active directory. Can I just stick it on my work's network and sign in - have you guys tried this? don't know if it will work. Will wait till lunch time to try it out.
 
WRT the favourite programs, yep, its coherence mode you are looking for. Actually works quite nicely, and very clever imho. Makes it much easier to quickly open up Internet Explorer for instance, or impress the guys in the office by opening up Visio on MAC OS X. I still can't get the bloody thing to auto login though, so it still requires login before starting :(
 
LandyMan said:
WRT the favourite programs, yep, its coherence mode you are looking for. Actually works quite nicely, and very clever imho. Makes it much easier to quickly open up Internet Explorer for instance, or impress the guys in the office by opening up Visio on MAC OS X. I still can't get the bloody thing to auto login though, so it still requires login before starting :(
Click to expand...
Have you tried using Tweak UI for that? http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
 
bwana, yeah, I had tweak UI running for a while ... but it screwed up the passwords somewhere along the lines, to the effect that I couldn't login to the system at all (says wrong pwd, but kills the actual error message before I could do/see anything). I had to put it to sleep, wake it up and hope it would ask me for my password again.

I was hoping that with quick user switching in XP (click on name to start instead of using a password) coherence would open and login automatically, but it still gets stuck on the 'login' page

That being said, I will probably move to Vista sometime this week ... maybe it will work a bit better there (but I am not betting any money on it)
 
LandyMan said:
That being said, I will probably move to Vista sometime this week ... maybe it will work a bit better there (but I am not betting any money on it)
Click to expand...
I cant remember where but I read parallels was dog slow with vista - be interesting to see what you think of it.
 
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I've also heard a couple of nasties around Vista and Parallels. Our office environment is moving to Vista, so I might as well install it in Parallels so long to see if I am going to have any issues. The nice thing is that I will still have my "Windows XP machine" backup on a disk somewhere. Gotta love virtual machines!
 
bwana said:
I cant remember where but I read parallels was dog slow with vista - be interesting to see what you think of it.
Click to expand...

Would'nt gooi-ing it with more RAM sort it out? Parallels RC2 state it is Vista compatible...
 
adsl3g said:
Would'nt gooi-ing it with more RAM sort it out? Parallels RC2 state it is Vista compatible...
Click to expand...
I dont know - and I also dont have any intention of finding out. Seeing as I have an xbox360 (so gaming is taken care of) I dont see any reason to ever get vista.
 
adsl3g said:
Would'nt gooi-ing it with more RAM sort it out? Parallels RC2 state it is Vista compatible...
Click to expand...

After realising I am going to do alot of work via WinXP virtual machine on the MS suite of products, I decided to add another 1Gb of Memory. I can now *VERY* comfortably run WinXP, Windows Server 2003 and any MAC OS software simultaneously without a problem :D
 
LandyMan said:
After realising I am going to do alot of work via WinXP virtual machine on the MS suite of products, I decided to add another 1Gb of Memory. I can now *VERY* comfortably run WinXP, Windows Server 2003 and any MAC OS software simultaneously without a problem :D
Click to expand...
What do you have now then? 3gb? I'd love to upgrade mine but it would mean having 2x 1gb left over.
 
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