The installer on Parallels Desktop fails on most AMD machines with version 3+. I figured out how to manually install it, and figured I'd post here. I know this write-up is kind of 2nd grade for some people here, but hopefully someone finds it useful. With Parallels, you can run most other OS's as Virtual Machines inside of OS-X, and get all the benefits of OS-X's Firewall and security. It's a similar product to VMWare - and I prefer it over VMWare.

The installer basically checks your CPU manufacturer code for GenuineIntel before installing. If it doesn't find that, it bombs out and says you can't use it. There's two ways to get around this - automatic and manual. The automatic method works on build 5584 and 5160. But it may not work on newer releases, so if you have trouble, try the manual method. I do not have a way to bypass the activation, and I do not condone stealing this product - please pay for it if you intend to use it.

Automatic Method (Fresh Install or Upgrade)
Use this method to modify the installer package so it doesn't check your CPUID
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* Open the DMG you downloaded from Parallels.com

* Drag the "Install Parallels" icon onto your desktop

* Open the Terminal application (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) and enter the following lines one at a time.
$ cd ~/Desktop
$ nano Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Info.plist

* Remove the following lines:

<key>IFRequirementDicts</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Level</key>
<string>requires</string>
<key>SpecArgument</key>
<string>machdep.cpu.vendor</string>
<key>SpecType</key>
<string>sysctl</string>
<key>TestObject</key>
<string>GenuineIntel</string>
<key>TestOperator</key>
<string>eq</string>
</dict>
</array>

* Save and exit

* Close the Terminal and Double-click the "Install Parallels Desktop" icon on your desktop.



Manual Method (Fresh Install Only)
Use this only if you've never installed Parallels on your machine before.
=============================================

* Open the DMG you downloaded from Parallels.com

* Open the Terminal application (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) and enter the following lines one at a time.

$ cd ~/Desktop
$ mkdir ParallelsTemp
$ sudo -s
# cd ParallelsTemp
# ditto -x /Volumes/Parallels\ Desktop/Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Archive.pax.gz .
# chown -R root:wheel System Library
# chmod -R 755 System Library
# mv Applications/* /Applications/
# mv System/Library/Extensions/* /System/Library/Extensions/
# mv Library/Parallels /Library/
# mv Library/StartupItems/* /Library/StartupItems/
# /Volumes/Parallels\ Desktop/Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Resources/postflight
# cd ..
# rm -Rf ParallelsTemp

Now you should be able to run Parallels desktop.



Manual Method (For Upgrade or Reinstall)
Parallels releases new versions all the time. To upgrade your existing, follow this guide instead.
============================================================

* Open the DMG you downloaded from Parallels.com

* Make sure Parallels is closed, and that you don't have any VMs suspended.

* Open the Terminal application (Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal) and enter the following lines one at a time.

$ cd ~/Desktop
$ mkdir ParallelsTemp
$ sudo -s
# cd ParallelsTemp
# ditto -x /Volumes/Parallels\ Desktop/Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Archive.pax.gz .
# chown -R root:wheel System Library
# chmod -R 755 System Library
# /Volumes/Parallels\ Desktop/Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Resources/preflight
# mv Applications/* /Applications/
# mv System/Library/Extensions/* /System/Library/Extensions/
# mv Library/Parallels /Library/
# mv Library/StartupItems/* /Library/StartupItems/
# /Volumes/Parallels\ Desktop/Install\ Parallels\ Desktop.pkg/Contents/Resources/postflight
# cd ..
# rm -Rf ParallelsTemp


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Once you have it installed, make sure when it asks, that you do not turn on Intel VT-X. VT-X does not work on AMD chips, and your machine will crash if you enable it. Unfortunately, I can't help with much except the installation, so if you have trouble after you get it installed, you're on your own. Thanks for reading.