# "No Disk" error on XP partition--GRRRRRR!!!!



## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

I'm having trouble getting some CD's to work on my XP partition via Parallels. Supposedly Parallels 3.0 (which I have) allowed some games to be played on it. My game is on the list, but it gives me the "no disk" error, and requests that I "cancel", "try again", or "continue".

My computer _knows_ I have a disk in there, because it autoruns it, so why does it stop halfway through loading and give me that error repeatedly until I force quit the application? I can't shut down the partition normally when it starts doing this. What can I do to get rid of this error, (presumably) reinstall this program, and play this game normally?

While I'm at it, I suppose I'll ask how to make the window bigger (it shrinks down to SUPER teeny when the game/program starts) without turning the screen black and being unable to exit the game without force quitting too.

Thanks for the help!


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## nvr.bck.from.mac (Aug 15, 2008)

it sounds like this problem might just be a bug with parallels. i'm not too familiar with parallels, but i believe there is some way you need to tell the program to connect to the cd that you put in. i know with VMware Fusion it's pretty simple.


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## musiclover (Aug 3, 2003)

Buy a PC if you want to play games with it in any meaningful way.. you can play some on MAC, but I would not attempt if over parallels.. performance issues due to multiple OS load would rule out any semi recent game that way...


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## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

I have a PC, but I still want to be able to play games when I'm away from home on my laptop. Couldn't afford to buy another 'puter if I wanted to.

Does anyone know how to actually fix my problem? I have the latest updates on everything, but that didn't help.


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## nvr.bck.from.mac (Aug 15, 2008)

if your mac has 10.5 on it you should buy an XP install disc. use bootcamp to partition your hard drive and install the full version of windows. you won't have any slowdowns or anything to hinder you with playing games, and you definitely won't have any parallels bugs. 

if you have more than just one or two games it'll be worth it to install the full version of windows.


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## patwardo (Aug 30, 2006)

2 possiblilities.

1st option
Start parallels but don't start the virtual machine (the green triangle).
Right there in the first window, you will see configuration and a list of hardware.
Click on CD/DVD ROM and on the right of the window, select Enable Device and Connect at Startup. In future your DVD ROM will be accessable to windows when you start parallels.

2nd Option is to use a bootcamp and parallels combined.
I use parallels when I need to use some windows programs (AutoCAD) but it's no good for games or any 3d stuff.
You can install windows on a bootcamp partition so that you can start up and run windows natively for your games.
After that, when your installing parallels, you can tell it to use the bootcamp partition.
This way, all the files, folder etc. will be the same whether you start windows natively or through parallels.
To do this you would need to do a fresh install of windows but it's a better set up.


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## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

I have an XP install disk, but I can't seem to find Bootcamp anymore. I tried to find it on the Apple website and couldn't, so where would I find it? And I wouldn't mind doing a fresh install of Windows, someone just needs to tell me how to take it off of here.

Also, how big should I make the partition this time (space has been a concern in the past)? I only have the 80GB harddrive.


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## patwardo (Aug 30, 2006)

If your running OS X 10.5, you'll find Boot Camp Assistant.app in your utilities folder.

If your running OS X 10.4, you can download bootcamp from here
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bootcampupdate21forwindowsxp.html

Partitioning a disk can lead to data loss so before you do anything, you MUST backup all of your data saved in OS X and Windows.

"How big should I make the partition this time?"
It's impossible to answer that, it depends on how much space the games need or how much space you need in OS X.

To get Parallels off, download an app called AppCleaner.
When you drag another app onto the AppCleaner icon, it will remove the application and associated files like preferences etc.

It's been a while since I did this so not I could be wrong here. After using AppCleaner you may still have to find and delete the Parallels that contains the Windows virtual disk image. I can't remember if AppCleaner does this for you.


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## patwardo (Aug 30, 2006)

Nearly forgot...
Before you do anything, are you sure you have the correct serial numbers for your Windows and Parallels disks?
If you don't, your stuck with your current set up.


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