Upgrading to Parallels Desktop 6

To upgrade Parallels Desktop 3, 4 or 5 to version 6, you will need to purchase an upgrade from the Parallels Online Store . The upgrade activation key will be sent immediately to the e-mail address you provided.

Note: Parallels Desktop 2 cannot be upgraded to Parallels Desktop 6.

You can upgrade Parallels Desktop 3, 4 or 5 to any language version of Parallels Desktop 6. This means, if you have an English version of Parallels Desktop 4 and want to upgrade it to a German version of Parallels Desktop 6, you can simply purchase the German upgrade, install it on your Mac, and activate it with the upgrade activation key.

Before the upgrade, you must shut down any virtual machines running on your Mac and quit Parallels Desktop.

The upgrade takes three steps: 1) installing Parallels Desktop 6, 2) activating it using the upgrade key, 3) and upgrading your virtual machines.

Installing Parallels Desktop 6

Generally, the upgrading procedure for Parallels Desktop is the same as for its installation. See Installing Parallels Desktop .

You don't have to remove the previous version of Parallels Desktop before installing the upgrade: it will be removed automatically during the installation.

Using an Upgrade Activation Key

When you open Parallels Desktop 6 for the first time, you will be prompted to activate your copy.

If your previous version was activated using a full key, not a trial one, you will need to provide the upgrade key only. Otherwise you may be prompted to confirm that you have a valid full key for the previous version:

• If you activated Parallels Desktop with a trial activation key, you will be prompted to enter two keys: the upgrade activation key for Parallels Desktop 6 and a full or upgrade key for the previous version.
• If you purchased the previous version of Parallels Desktop but haven't installed it on your Mac, you will need two keys to activate Parallels Desktop 6: the upgrade activation key for Parallels Desktop 6 and a full or upgrade key for the previous version.

Upgrading the Virtual Machine Configuration and Updating Parallels Tools

When you start a virtual machine created in the previous version, the upgrading procedure starts and runs automatically. During the upgrade, the virtual machine configuration and Parallels Tools are processed. The virtual machine can be used in Parallels Desktop 6 only after it is upgraded.

Note: In Linux virtual machines, X Server may fail to start after the upgrade, which means that you may need to upgrade Parallels Tools manually in text mode .

If you encounter any problems during the upgrade, visit the upgrade troubleshooting page or use the online Troubleshooting guide available through Help > Troubleshooting Guide .