Error: Unable to complete the operation. This operation cannot be completed because the virtual machine is in the stopping or suspended state

Symptoms

You get one of the following errors when trying to perform an action:

    Unable to complete the operation. This operation cannot be completed because the virtual machine \"%1\" is in the stopping state

OR

    Unable to complete the operation. This operation cannot be completed because the virtual machine \"%1\" is in the suspending state

Cause

The error message means that one of your virtual machines is not in the proper state (started/stopped/suspended), and thus the operation cannot be completed.

Resolution

1. Try changing the mentioned virtual machine's state. If it is started, stop it, and vice versa.

   Go to the Virtual Machine menu (in Parallels Desktop® 9 and earlier) or to the Parallels Desktop menu > Actions (in Parallels Desktop® 10) and choose the appropriate state according to the situation:

   

   

2. If your virtual machine is frozen or appears to have stopped, but the error message tells you it is running, please terminate it by following the steps in KB #6338