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Ask Ben Anything - Using the number pad, moving from Parallels to Boot Camp, Backing up a VM

Are you using Parallels virtualization products?  Got a question burning in your head that you just can't seem to find the answer to?  Need help with your Parallels product?  Then there is no better place to get your answers than the Parallels official Blog site, operated by Parallels own Ben Rudolph.  Ben's "ask Ben anything" has been a great help to users, and I've been reposting his Q&A sessions here for the VMBlog Parallels readers.  If you find this useful, please let Ben know.  And if you have a question, be sure to click the link at the bottom of the post and ask Ben directly.

1) With all the new features in Parallels and the updates to Boot Camp, I would now like to use a Boot Camp partition and run the Boot Camp drive in a VM when I am dual-tasking in OS X. I currently have a VM with my only version of XP Pro installed. Can I transfer my current XP installation to Boot Camp? Or, in other words, how can I use a Boot Camp install and not have to start over and reinstall my applications, updates, and settings?

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you,
Michael M.

Sorry Michael, this isn't possible right now. We support using a Boot Camp partition in Parallels, but you can't move a pre-existing Parallels installation to Boot Camp. Don't rule it out in the future, but for now, its Boot Camp to Parallels only.


2) How the hell do I use my numeric keypad in Parallels?

- Eric B.


If you're on an iMac or Mini and are using a PC keyboard, its as easy as hitting the "NumLock" key, just like you would on a real PC. If you're on an Apple keyboard there is no NumLock key, so you'll need to hit the key that sits in it's place...the "clear" key. That'll get your keypad working.


3) I tried to backup my Parallels folder with my Win XP Home virtual machine to my external hard disk. It copies ok until almost the end and then it an error. How do I backup my virtual machine to my external hard disk? I really need to do this because its becoming really tedious to setup my winxp vm everytime I reformat my mac.

- Anonymous

That's very odd, since backing up a Parallels virtual machine file is just like backing up any other Mac file. I'd do some diagnostics on your Mac HD and external HD to make sure that that's in working order.

When you back up a VM, you can do it 2 ways. First, you can simply right click the VM folder and click "duplicate". This will make an identical copy of the folder and its contents. You can also go into "file" in the Parallels menu bar and click "clone". This will do the same thing, but you won't have to leave the Parallels interface. Your VM will need to be off to clone it.

If your VM is pretty big, I'd recommend running Compressor first. Log into Windows, then click "actions" and run Compressor from there. Compressor will run a system cleanup, fix allocation errors, defragment your hard drive, and then compress the actual hard drive file on your Mac - sometimes by 50% or more. Its a great way to save hard drive space and keep everything neat and tidy.

Click here to read the original post, and to ask your own questions.

Published Monday, March 12, 2007 6:52 AM by David Marshall
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