Unable to install Parallels Desktop 9: "An older version of Parallels Desktop is running"

Symptoms

Unable to install Parallels Desktop 9 due to error message "An older version of Parallels Desktop is running. Please quit the older version of Parallels Desktop and try again."

Cause

Previous version of Parallels Desktop is still running in the background

Resolution

1. Remove the previous versions of Parallels Desktop completely:

   • Parallels Desktop 3
   • Parallels Desktop 4
   • Parallels Desktop 5
   • Parallels Desktop 6
   • Parallels Desktop 7

   Check the issue. If it still persists:

2. Reset ACL permissions for your User account

3. Boot into Safe mode

4. Give the permissions (sudo chmod -R 755) to "/var/folders/rx/4h0_n76x6ps8xcdy865h3b2c0000gn/T"

5. Change the name of Existing VM.pvm file

6. Restart the Mac computer

7. Proceed with the installation