How to get a browser on my Parallels Window side of my MBP, when internet explorer won't open and no other browser is on the Windows side

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How to get a browser on my Parallels Window side of my MBP, when internet explorer won't open and no other browser is on the Windows side

I have a MacBook Pro with Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome on the Apple side, but on the Parallels, Windows 7 Virtual Computer side only Internet Explorer, and it IMPLODED and won't even open. So now I'm stuck with no browser on that side, and wish I never had to run windows. But I have a couple of programs that require Windows... Unfortunately, I have to reload one of those Window programs from the internet on the Windows side to swap computers with my assistant. So, how do I get a browser on the Windows side of my Mac? Can someone please help me with an easy solution...

MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2010), Mac OS X (10.7.5), Windows 7 on the Virtual Computer

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 2:50 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 13, 2013 7:24 PM in response to CACarroll

The easy solution is to download a copy of the Windows installer for the browser of your choice (Safari, FierFox, Chrome, iE9, etc.) using your Mac browser. Just save the file to your disk on your Mac. Next, if you are running your Parallel OS in a windowed mode, you can start Windows and go all the way to your desktop screen. Then, just click on the download you saved on your Mac and drag it to the desktop on the virtual Windows computer. Once it finishes copying, run the installer from there. I often use this method for moving installers from my Mac to my virtual Wndows 7 machines. To be even more obscure, I was once running XP Mode on a WIndows 7 instance running in Parallels, and I dragged a file from my Mac desktop all the way to the XP Mode desktop...

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Answer 2

Nov 13, 2013 9:05 PM in response to CACarroll

Ask on the Parallels forums: http://forums.parallels.com

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Answer 3

Nov 14, 2013 6:54 AM in response to CACarroll

What on earth does "...and it IMPLODED..." mean? What did you do? IE does not "IMPLODE". Ask on a Windows forum how to fix or reinstall IE.

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Answer 4

Nov 15, 2013 8:03 PM in response to CACarroll

On your Mac, use any browser to visit:

http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/business/browser/admin/

Use the "Download Chrome MSI" to get a Chrome installer file for Windows.

While you are at it, visit the following and download the new IE 11 installer for your version of Windows 7:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/ie-11-worldwide-languages

Once you have downloaded both installers, get them over to your Parallels Windows VM using any method (e.g. drag-and-drop, a shared folder, or even a USB flash drive or burned CD-R). After that, it sounds like you have some Windows troubleshooting to do. You could just try running the IE 11 installer and hope that it resolves the issues you are having. If it doesn't at least you can also install Chrome and use it to download any tools that you may need to continue troubleshooting and repairing Windows.

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Answer 5

Nov 15, 2013 8:10 PM in response to FishingAddict

To provide a bit more information about the actual process of getting the installers over to Windows. Put them on a USB flash drive on the Mac, then -- if I remember correctly -- there is a menu in the Parallels menubar on your Mac that allows you to give Windows access to the USB flash drive. It depends on how old your version of Parallels is. On the new versions of Parallels, I believe that flash drives may even be available on both the Mac and Windows side at the same time.

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