Activating Parallels Desktop

To fully run Parallels Desktop, you should activate it with an activation key. If you purchased a boxed version of the program, you can find the activation key printed on the installation CD sleeve. If you purchased the program online, the activation key was sent to you by email. If you downloaded a copy of Parallels Desktop to evaluate it before buying, you can get a trial activation key valid for a certain period of time.

After you activate your copy of Parallels Desktop, you can run virtual machines, install operating systems and various applications in them.

If you upgraded Parallels Desktop to version 6 from the previous version, you need an upgrade activation key to activate Parallels Desktop 6. For detailed information, see the Upgrading to Parallels Desktop 6 section of Parallels Desktop User's Guide.

Activating Your Copy of Parallels Desktop

To activate Parallels Desktop:

Choose Activate Product from the Parallels Desktop menu.
In the activation dialog, type your product activation key into the Activation Key field and click Activate to activate your copy.

Now that your copy of Parallels Desktop is active, you need to register it .