Parallels Desktop 11 and OS X El Capitan: Problem ID: 352

I love being able to run Windows on my Mac thanks to Parallels. It really simplifies my computer use as I am not "locked in" on either system.

I recently had to restart the Mac by holding the on/off button after the Photos app had frozen. Annoying! But the real problem appeared after the "hard" restart...

When the Mac was running again Parallels wouldn´t start. "Unable to load the Parallels driver." "Problem ID: 352" See http://kb.parallels.com/en/123307 for more info.

Parallels driver error - iMac screenshot

I tried: resetting permissions, deleting the Info.plist, running as root user, deleting and reinstalling Parallels (several times) - all to no help. I was in contact with Apples support who kindly made an exception for me offering free advice over the phone and email despite my support period being expired. Very good Apple, thank you! They were in doubt as to the Info.plist was at fault, but gave me tips on how to delete it.

Parallels support and article was convinced the Info.plist was corrupt for some reason. Honestly, I have no idea.

What fixed the problem was reinstalling El Capitain. And ironically that took much less time than all the other messing around did.

So if you get the same problem and don´t feel like spending half a day messing around - just remove Parallels, reinstall OS X El Capitan, and then reinstall Parallels. Even if reinstalling the OS X somehow reminds you of using windows...