Convert VMWare Fusion 5 Virtual Machine to Parallels 8

2

I'm currently a VMware Fusion 5 user (running XP and Win 8 Virtual Machines), but our shop is standardizing to Parallels 8. Is there a way to convert a VM from Fusion to Parallels? I'm looking to avoid a complete windows install from scratch.

iTrout

Posted 2013-02-15T18:52:37.570

Reputation: 121

First results on Google http://blogs.parallels.com/consumertech/2011/10/17/migrating-fusion-to-parallels-desktop-7-guest-blog.html http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=114254

– ta.speot.is – 2013-02-16T04:03:28.990

Thanks for the reply - I did find this link in my research but it is 16 months old, well before Fusion 5, Parallels 8, and Windows 8 existed. I was specifically wondering about the Fusion 5 to Parallels 8 migration...a Google search on this is much more spotty. – iTrout – 2013-02-16T19:42:54.160

Answers

3

Check out the following youTube video: Migrating from VMware Fusion 5 to Parallels Desktop 8.

But here it is in short along with some extras:

  1. Login into your virtual machine in VMware Fusion 5.
  2. Delete all snapshots of your virtual machine.
  3. Uninstall VMware Tools, and then shutdown. Do not restart. Your virtual machine window resolution may be very low after this uninstall.
  4. Disable split disks. In VMware Fusion, go to Virtual Machines->Settings->Hard Disk->Advanced Options. Uncheck Split into 2 GB files. See screenshot below.
  5. Shutdown VMware Fusion 5.
  6. Start Parallels 8, and convert the existing VM to Parallels. See further instructions below.

Uncheck Split into 2GB files. You may want to back up your VM to an external hard drive before doing this. After applying this, the VM will be rebuilt.

Uncheck Split into 2 GB files

When you fire up Parallels, you should be greeted with a wizard with some options. Simply choose to Add Existing Virtual Machine, as seen in the screenshot below.

Add Existing Virtual Machine

From there, you just navigate to where VMware Fusion has placed it's virtual machine file. By default, it should be in ~/Documents/Virtual Machines/. It will then try to convert it to one for Parallels. The default folder for Parallels virtual machine files is ~/Documents/Parallels/.

Just be sure that you have enough space on your hard drive, as it does make a separate file. It should leave your current VMware Fusion VM untouched-- as in it only tries to ready and copy it, not alter it.

This should hopefully convert it.

Possible Errors:

In case you get errors during the upgrade like I did, there's one more thing you should do. See screenshots below.

enter image description here

Automatic Repair failed

If you get such errors during the upgrade, do the following:

  1. During the conversion screen, where there is a progress bar, press: Ctrl+Command+Alt+R on your keyboard to do a manual upgrade. If this keyboard shorcut is too difficult, you can also click on far right of the progress bar where there will appear a little "eye"-like icon that will also bring up manual mode.
  2. From there, go to Advanced Options and click through until you see an option to boot the VM in a low-resolution mode.

Screenshot of the conversion screen:

Conversion screen

From there, you should be able to continue the conversion and boot into Windows with a GUI where you can then log in, and then install Parallels Tools to fix the low resolution.

spong

Posted 2013-02-15T18:52:37.570

Reputation: 1 929

Asked: 2013-02-15T18:52:37.570

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Active: 2013-03-26T15:10:48.557