Quick tips on Parallels Desktop for OS X

Posted by Mark Drew on code on October 19, 2006

Tagged under apple

I know this is a bit off-topic for this blog, but I found, counter-intuitively enough, that if you are using Parallels Desktop to run Windows under OS X, and you set the memory above 412Mb it doesnt in-fact speed up, but actually slow down (the whole machine!)Also, if you have installed a copy of windows and each time you start it, you get a “Hardware not found” message with relation to your Video card, you can get round this by installing the VMTools that come with Parallels.

To do this you have to click on the CD icon of the Parallels Desktop window and browse to /Library/Parallels/Tools folder and select the vmtools.iso. Then in the quest OS, it will start installing the following applications:

Parallels Tools Center: something that runs in your taskbar to gain access to the other tools

Clipboard Synchronisation: Allows you to cut and paste from OS X to Windows and vice-versa

Time Synchronisation: keeps your clock up to date

Video Driver: the right video driver for Windows to display on your mac

Mouse synchronisation: something that annoyed me a lot, was that if I clicked into the Parallels Desktop the windows mouse cursor wasnt in the place that I clicked.

Network Driver: an optimised network driver for Parallels

Disk Compacting tool: does what it says on the tin

Shared Folders tool: which allows you to access folders you have shared in Parallels in OS X from the guest OS.

Very well worth the install!




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