Installing Windows 10 With Parallels

[Steverido1]

Hi Guys,

Not sure if this is a question that can be answered here but here goes.

I want to install Windows 10 in Parallels.

Because Windows 10 is an upgrade normally one would download the media creation tool. Whilst going through this creation to media Windows looks for your windows 8.1 serial or 7 if you have that.

If one is installing Windows 10 from an ISO file it can't have the connection to your old Windows and associate the serial with that.

How do I get around this? Do I install my Windows 8.1 serial?

 

[NoBoMac]

Sounds like you are trying to do a clean install? Only way to do that is to upgrade the existing Win7/8 to 10, then reinstall Win 10. Not sure if/how that works with virtual machines since the product key & system configuration info is stored on MS servers (ie. will the clean install still be seen as the same "machine"?). Win7/8 activation keys do not work with 10: need a 10 key.

A pseudo clean install can be had with the "keep nothing" option.

If trying to preserve your Win7/8, not sure if MS nullifies that key after an upgrade, but can try by making a copy of your VM, upgrade the copy to 10, then see what happens when you start the original Win7/8 VM.

 

[Steverido1]

Thanks. It is a tricky thing to accomplish within a virtual machine.