Parallels Desktop Build 3188: Problems starting up

We've received some reports indicating significant issues apparent after updating to Parallels Desktop Build 3188, including an inability to startup Windows.

In many cases, users are told they need to reinstall VM tools. During the reinstallation process, the system freezes and does not recover. Subsequent attempts to start the virtual machine fail.

Some case examples:

MacFixIt reader Phill writes:

"I launched Parallels today for the first time in a couple of weeks (I'm not a big XP user) and the automatic check for updates prompted me to download Parallels-Desktop-3188-Mac-en.dmg and install it. Previous updates have been relatively painless so I did the install.

"On the first boot of XP after each update, Parallels prompts you to reinstall the VM tools. I also noticed that XP was saying it had discovered new hardware in the form of the DVD drive in my MacBook. That was strange because the drive has been there all along.

"Anyway, I kicked off the VM tools process. The next thing I knew, XP crashed and rebooted, and I would up facing a black screen with nothing happening and the MacBook's fan beginning to scream. After waiting a few minutes to see if anything happened, I reset the VM and tried again. Same behavior: black screen, racing fan. I have since tried restoring the .hdd and .pvs files from a backup taken prior to the update. XP boots to the login screen but the mouse cursor freezes and no keyboard input is accepted. Not even the hot-keys will switch back to Mac OS X. The only way to regain control is to press F9, switch to Terminal, then find and kill the Parallels process."

MacFixIt reader Monty Lee adds:

"Build 3188 does not work, at least with Vista and a MacBook Pro 2.33 ghz machine. Everything was working fine with the previous build, but I installed 3188 this morning and it still isn't working. The Parallel Tools installation has supposedly been going on now for 12 hours. I've even tried canceling, but then windows hangs. You cannot launch any applications. I even tried booting in safe mode and then recovering, but that didn't work. I tried installing the tool in safe mode, but that didn't work. Nothing I do can cancel the installation or allow anything to work. No application will run. At best, it looks like it runs and then the windows screen turns translucent white and the spinning cursor. It is dead from this point on."

If you are experiencing similar issues, please let us know.

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