If you have a Windows 7 or 8.1 machine that you want to migrate to Parallels and it's not working correctly, or you just want to know if you system is using UEFI or BIOS, getting the information is a little complicated. But don't worry, because we'll show you how to find out which boot environment your computer is using.

First, use Windows Explorer to navigate to C:\Windows\Panther\setupact.log. Open the file in Notepad and look for the following:

Callback_BootEnvironmentDetect: Detected boot environment:

After the colon you will see either BIOS or UEFI. Whichever one is listed is your boot environment. If your reason for finding out is because you're having issues with Parallels, version 9 and forward support UEFI, so you might need to pick up a new version if your system is running UEFI.

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If the setupact.log is missing, and you're running Windows 8, 8.1, or 10, open a Run box, then type msinfo32. Look for the entry labeled BIOS Mode. If it says "Legacy," then you're running BIOS. If it's anything else, it will be listed.

Why did you want to know which boot enviroment your computer is using? Let us know in the comments!

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