General Preferences

In the General pane of Parallels Desktop Preferences, you can:

• change the default location for storing the folders with the virtual machine files
• enable verbose logging
• restore hidden messages

Note: The settings available in this pane can be configured individually for each user of the physical computer.

Changing the Default Folder for Virtual Machines

The Default folder for virtual machines field displays the default location where Parallels Desktop stores the files and folders of all virtual machines you create on your Mac. You can change the default location by typing the path to another folder in this field or clicking the Choose button and navigating to the necessary folder. After changing the default location, all newly created virtual machines will be saved in the folder specified in the Default folder for virtual machines field. However, this does not affect the files of virtual machines that already exist: their files will remain in the original default folder.

Enabling Verbose Logging

While functioning, Parallels Desktop automatically creates a log file that can be used by the Parallels support team for solving problems and improving the product. If you select the Use detailed log messages option, Parallels Desktop starts creating a more detailed log file. It can be helpful for the Parallels support team, but use more hard disk space and may slightly lower the system performance.

Resetting Hidden Messages

A number of Parallels Desktop dialogs and assistant windows are provided with the Do not show this message again option. If you select this option, the corresponding dialog will not appear next time you perform the same operation. Using the Reset Hidden Messages button, you can reset all dialogs and assistant windows with this option selected so that they would be displayed again each time you initiate the corresponding operation.

Locking Parallels Desktop Preferences

If you want to prevent Parallels Desktop Preferences from further unauthorized changes, click the Lock icon at the bottom of the window. The next time anybody wants to change the settings in any pane of Parallels Desktop Preferences, an administrator's password will be required.