Paralleles Desktop, Boot Camp and Windows XP

Hi everybody, I am a new mac user and I need windows because there is a program I really need that is not compatible yet with mac.

I installed Windows XP in another partition with Boot Camp and now I would like also to set a virtual machine with Parallels Desktop in order to do not install twice windows and be able to use all my programs with more flexibility.

I installed parallels, created a new VM, but when I click on it to get started it starts to install components and cofigure everything but every time it gets stuck and does not finish the proces. I left the computer running all night with no progress. every time I tried I had to force the computer to quit the installatio or turn off the computer to stop it.

any advice? what can I do?

Thnaks a lot for your help.

When you installed Parallels and selected to create a new VM, you should have seen the option to use your current installation of Windows XP. Did you select that? Unless you want a completely new VM separate from your Boot Camp installation, use that option.

Regards.