Misc Newbie Questions re Parallels & VMware - Help?

[meagain]

I unfortunately bought Parallels yesterday. A rare knee-jerk buy.
I'm unable to get my account activated to post on their forums or ask a support question since yesterday. If someone could help me, I'd appreciate it.

1. I have a 1gb ram, 2.16 ghz c2d 24" imac..... Parallels is making my Mac super slow. I know I can change the memory, etc. allocation but there are a few places to do this in Parallels and I'm not sure which one to attack. There's the one under 'Preferences' then there's the configuration under 'view'. I'd love suggestions as to what to do here & which one to adjust cuz my Mac is at a snails pace.

2. I was using Bootcamp prior with XP loaded. I (perhaps foolishly) loaded XP again in Parallels. This latter version worked ok last night but this morning wants to run checkdisc which times out. So now I'm starting it up in bootcamp. Is one method better than the other? I need to pick one and run with it. Want the fastest method.

3. When starting Parallels via bootcamp, I get a 'parallels tools' message saying not to touch anything while this loads/configures. Is there any way to stop this? It takes a long time and is annoying. I have no idea what it does.

4. In Coherence mode, does anyone know how to get rid of the annoying windows start toolbar at the bottom?

VMware questions....

1. I'm trying to test VMware. It gives me the option of using XP from Bootcamp but when I select it, it says it's damaged and can't be used. Anyone know why Parallels thinks it's fine but VMware says it's broken? And how can I fix this?

2. Would VMware be less of a hog on my system vs. Parallels?

All I need XP to do is use Excel and my UPS Worldship. Later, a music program called Brainspawn Forte. Thanks!

Lisa

 

[meagain]

I got VMware Fusion to work. Seems everything is faster than Parallels 3.0. Support seems to be better as well. At least I can post at their forums. Still waiting for approval to post at Parallels or get help.

 

[aristobrat]

Last night I paid to upgrade my Parallels to 3.0, as well as installed Beta 4 of Fusion.

All in all, I'm liking Fusion better, especially "Unity". I like how they handle the Windows Start Bar by basically turning it off and incorporating most of its features in Fusion's normal OS X menu bar.

 

[meagain]

I agree. I never make such uninformed, knee-jerk purchases, but I sure did this with Parallels. I'm REALLY ticked about the inability to log into the forums (waiting for activation/approval still) and the lack of support.
I want to return it.

Tho' for VMware in Unity, I would prefer the windows start bar somewhere. Perhaps I don't have it set up right.

 

[aristobrat]

That's weird. Their forums is just a regular VB forum like here (last time I checked) -- the "welcome to the forum" email is sent automatically when you register.

Is there any chance your email is blocking them or tagging it as spam?

 

[aristobrat]

I just created a new account on their forums and got the validation email back within seconds:

Dear aBrat,

Thank you for registering at the Parallels Support Forum. Before we can activate your account one last step must be taken to complete your registration.

Please note - you must complete this last step to become a registered member. You will only need to visit this url once to activate your account.

To complete your registration, please visit this url:

 

[meagain]

This is what I get. I suppose I could re-register with another email address. I can't post. Very annoying.

You do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

 

[Westside guy]

My experience with Parallels has been this: if you need an actual person to respond, you're out of luck. For example - I've filed two bug reports in 2007. I did receive an automated reply in both instances, stating "a support person will be in touch with you within 3 business days". Those were filed in January and in March, respectively; and I'm still waiting for that support person to contact me.

Even a quick note stating "we're really swamped, we haven't had time to look at this - sorry" would have been acceptable.

Parallels support is not abysmal; it's non-existent. I bought parallels last November, but will not be throwing any more of my money down into that pit.