Parallels set-up

[richardcanham]

Hi.
Im new to mac's and need to install parallels to run adobe audition on my mac for my work.
I purchased parallels and now I have a windows cd (its a re-install cd that came with my dell pc that had xp pre-installed) and I want to set it up. I selected "new VM" in parallels and ran through what type of system etc and then a MS DOS style window opened and said no boot device found. Where do I go from here?

Thanks, Richard

 

[ToddW]

The CD has to be in the CD/DVD drive to be able to boot from it to install windows xp. make sure you have a legit copy of xp though. i'm sure you do. i'm not the type of person to lecture though.

 

[richardcanham]

ok thanks, I thought as much but didn't want to put a cd in until I knew for certain it was correct to do so.

Before I do, on parallels do I need to back up all my files from my mac first?

thanks, richard

 

[sotl]

No, backing up isn't necessary since you'll be running windows from a .hdd file sitting inside the Parallels folder. It's a virtual hard drive and isolated from OS X so even if something went wrong, you could delete that file and start fresh.

The only problem I see is that your re-install cd might not boot because its not running on a Dell. My Gateway recovery disk was the same way. It wouldn't load unless it was running on a gateway computer. My mom's HP disk also needed a HP computer. It'd be great if it did however.

 

[richardcanham]

thankfully it worked