13 April 2007
How to use the built in Mac bluetooth in Windows under Parallels
Posted by Matthieu under: Mac; Tutorial
It took me a little while to figure out how to use the built-in bluetooth from my MacBookPro in Windows XP that runs via Parallels, but I found a way to do that. Hopefully these few notes will help other who would be in the same case.
Getting the driver for windows :
- First you need to get the Windows driver for the Mac built-in bluetooth. One is provided by Apple Boot Camp, in order to get it just download the latest version on Boot Camp here.
- Then install the Boot Camp Assistant application and run it.
- You just need to go through the first step of Boot Camp install, the one that will burn a CD with all Windows drivers to be use by Boot Camp. After you got the CD burnt just cancel the install (and you can even delete Boot Camp Assistant).
- Now that you got the CD with all the drivers just install the one for bluetooth, it’s called “AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe”.
(Here is a version of the bluetooth Boot Camp drivers downloaded from Apple on 13 Apr 2007 (from Boot Camp version 1.2 beta), check the Boot Camp website if you want to be sure to get the latest version.)
Install the driver and connect the bluetooth to Parallels
- Install the driver… that should be easy just double click the “AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe” file
- Now you just need to connect the bluetooth in Parallels. Go to the “Devices” menu, then “USB” and pick “Apple – Wireless” (don’t know why they didn’t call that Apple – Bluetooth…)
- After that Windows should detect a new hardware and install the driver we just installed for it, and you should be all set to pair and connect your favorite bluetooth devices in Windows.
I hope these notes helped you, add a comment if you have any question and I’ll try to answer.
67 Comments so far...
Greg Wallach Says:
16 April 2007 at 23:47.
Great job and terrific instructions. I was going nuts trying to get the pearl to work through USB. Kept crashing. Even though bluetooth is a bit more of a hassle, it works. As one becomes more comforatable with the sync process I’m sure it will go smoother and get faster. Hopefully though parallels will fix this.
But regardless, your post was great and helped me avoid a reinstall to bootcamp.
Thanks!
Gregory Wallach
http://www.lucysolutions.com
Parallels and bluetooth with MBP - MacNN Forums Says:
29 April 2007 at 22:07.
[...] Chez Mattiouz > Blog Archive > How to use the built in Mac bluetooth in Windows under Parallels This is perfect. I am now able to Sync my Samsung SGH-T519 to my Windows XP with Parallels using bluetooth. [...]
Using Bluetooth with Parallels - MacNN Forums Says:
29 April 2007 at 22:11.
[...] Hey all, I’ve noticed a ton of people trying to find out why their bluetooth doesn’t work on Parallels using Windows XP. Here’a a fix and it’s easy. I’m now able to Sync my Samsung SGH-T519 (mac doesnt support that phone or something). Chez Mattiouz > Blog Archive > How to use the built in Mac bluetooth in Windows under Parallels [...]
Stu Says:
2 May 2007 at 06:26.
Great piece of work, thanks for posting that, really helpful. Still having a few teething problems getting activesynch to recognise my Windows Mobile PDA but I suspect the first connection probably has to be via the USB cable.
Cheers
Stu
When Worlds Collide* « 3 Sheep Musings Says:
2 May 2007 at 06:44.
[...] device, mobile web, connectivity, mobile — 3sheep @ 12:46 pm This is a really useful link for anyone trying to get Activesync and Bluetooth working on Parallels (using Windows XP) on an [...]
Taura VanMullem Says:
8 May 2007 at 22:32.
I did not have to do this in the latest version of Parelles. All I needed to do was click on the bluetooth symbol. Clicked on Set up Bluetooth Device. It searched for the mouse and all I had to do was click continue and it worked.
Tim Says:
9 May 2007 at 23:07.
Thanks a lot mate, this helped my sync my work email in outlook on parallels with my nokia 6233 phone. Awesome work : )
Maurice Says:
10 May 2007 at 13:26.
Sorry, but I still get an error, in the last step: An error occurred during the installation of the device. The required section was not found in the INF.
It seems no one else has this problem?!
Chris Says:
22 May 2007 at 00:30.
Taura VanMullem, where is this bluetooth symbol of which you speak? I am running build 3188 of parallels.
Dominik Says:
31 May 2007 at 13:05.
You made my day! Thanks very much for this GREAT hint! I was finally able to backup my mobile phone!
Hannah Says:
2 June 2007 at 05:38.
I went through all the bootcamp install which never asked for a CD only to find that the ‘apple wireless’ option had been in Parallels all along – I had just assumed when I saw that it meant the airport wireless! Maybe you should put at the top of your instructions ‘check you can’t already choose apple wireless from your usb menu’ as that is all I needed to be told…!! How was I supposed to know wireless didn’t mean internet?!
Thanks for your help tho!
Hannah
riccardo Says:
2 June 2007 at 12:55.
HI,
Thanks for the tip..I have connected my Bluetooth headset Jabra BT200 but there is no way of using it in XP as a mic? Someone knows how to do it?
Thanks
Riccardo
Clemens Says:
10 June 2007 at 06:31.
Hi Mattiouz,
thanx for this facilitating instructions! It works great. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Clemens
Andy Says:
13 June 2007 at 14:42.
I followed the instructions and all went well. The devices paired and everything looked fine. However, if I try to initiate an ActiveSync from Parallels, it shows the port open but never really connects. If I try to initiate the synch from the handheld, I get “Cannot start communications…The communications port is not available. Another program may be using the port.” I’ve reset my handheld and stopped running windows apps. Any ideas? (Oh, the device is also paired with OS X as a modem as well.)
Thanks for any help!
Andy
Mavis Says:
25 June 2007 at 22:03.
I can’t get this to work at all. I downloaded the current applebluetoothinstall, I reinstalled the parallel tools. When I try to sync my bluetooth device, it says, port is already in use by another application, then it chokes. First the mouse chokes and the Apple wireless device option disappears, then the keyboard chokes and I can’t even shut down the machine. I need another list of things to try, Thanks.
Sla Says:
27 June 2007 at 23:06.
Hi, it a nice thing , I think , I installed it and it seems to be working , but I cn’t check it , I have bluetooth keyboard and when I turn on the bletooth on parallels it disconets my keyboard totally . What an I do?
Brett Says:
28 June 2007 at 23:04.
I tried doing this to connect my bluettoth barcode scanner with no luck!
I downloaded the .exe file and it didn’t appear to do anything when run in Windows.
The Devices->USB->Apple Wireless is there, but when I click on it it says the USB device is currently being used. This is independant of Bluetooth being on or off and with it not being used by any device or program.
Do I need to run the BootCamp thing for my Mac then?
Primoz Says:
5 July 2007 at 04:29.
I have the same problem as one before.
–
Sorry, but I still get an error, in the last step: An error occurred during the installation of the device. The required section was not found in the INF.
–
Does anyone have a solution for this?
Primoz
Judy Says:
5 July 2007 at 18:20.
Thank you for doing this. I was frantic. Why can’t Apple or Parallels post this? Also, why can’t we just download a phone driver somewhere so that Parallels doens’t have to supply them all. We could look on their website for whatever we need.
Thanks again. You were a lifesaver. I had crached my system 3 times and had to authorize my Windows XP three times by phone. I could just see the
Windows police coming after me!!!!
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
William Says:
6 July 2007 at 20:32.
Hey man – thanks so much for this. It worked like a charm and instantly connected with my blackberry.
Thanks for posting this fantastic tip.
Cheers,
sbanboy Says:
21 July 2007 at 01:24.
Hey great tip and I tried it out …. now the bluetooth works !!!! thanks keep it coming
okadots Says:
25 July 2007 at 14:12.
amazing!!! now i can actually use my blackberry with parallels!
Jason Tee Says:
30 July 2007 at 10:45.
This was a great how-to. I am running Parallels build 4560 and did not need to install the driver. Must have been an update.
Thanks.
Gilbert Says:
2 August 2007 at 05:43.
Thank you for the how to – worked great with bluetooth hardware access!
Wondering if you can also post the Bootcamp Wireless driver ? http://www.mattiouz.com/download/AppleWirelessInstaller.exe ? Would love to have raw access to the wireless hardware from within parallels!
Many Thanks!
Matthieu Says:
2 August 2007 at 06:52.
Hi Gilbert,
I guess you meant the bootcamp WiFi driver, right? You can get it from bootcamp, but last time I checked you had to download the whole thing… It would be nice if they could give access to drivers download directly.
Thomas Says:
17 August 2007 at 05:29.
Hi,
this is great! I was desparate to find the solution to sync Outlook with my Nokia via BT. Now I can really use Parallels. Thx again.
Thomas
Karl-Heinz Says:
24 August 2007 at 08:20.
Similar to Mavis and other I get a message “device allready in use”
With the new version of 1.4 there came two files:
AppleBluetoothEnablerInstaller.exe and AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe
is it necessary to install both ? which sequence ? I tried both, but nothing happend.
Any idea ?
Karl-Heinz
dave baker Says:
31 August 2007 at 09:38.
autoroute gps now working with parallels / bluetooth macbook pro – thanks for the advice
wordlwide Says:
2 September 2007 at 23:53.
This is great, now i use also my MB with flightplanning !!! And it works !!
Terrific !!!
Kevinw Says:
11 September 2007 at 09:11.
This is a great suggestion and I need to snyc using Bluetooth in Windows but when I installed the Windows Bluetooth Driver it lost the connections to the Apple BT Mouse and Keyboard. Is there a work around for that?
Ronald Chung Says:
16 September 2007 at 06:42.
Hi,
Thanks very much for the instructions. Followed it and was able to connect Nokia 6280 onto the PC Suite on Windows – no hassles.
Cheers,
Ron
LaurentD Says:
2 October 2007 at 05:16.
Hi !
Thanks for the way to proceed and I must say that it was long before I find this relevant answer !
I had already used the Boot Camps drivers to install iSight (when I wanted to install the IrDA !) and found useful to install Bluetooth with the AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe.
But it didn’t do anything until I installed also AppleBluetoothEnablerInstaller.exe. Then, there has been a detection by Windows XP and all was working well ! The Bluetooth sign appeared at the bottom right of the screen.
I can now connect my PDA and my phone !
Thanks !
GreenLeaf Mafia Says:
4 October 2007 at 00:03.
Great Fu#*in job really good job
Paul Says:
16 November 2007 at 22:29.
Any idea of how to get the “Wireless” to connect on startup to Parallels ? I have to manually get it running each time to enable B/Tooth, it works fine apart from that !
Scott Chandler Says:
7 December 2007 at 16:27.
I can not thank you enough! I have been going nuts for months on end trying to get this to work. I finally stumbled upon this post and it was a snap. Luckily you had the link to the Bluetooth Drivers since on Leopard Boot Camp does not have the DiskImage.dmg file when you show package contents so I was never able to get this working. Again, thank you so much!!!!
Tarobap Says:
11 December 2007 at 22:22.
Palm Treo 700P now syncs perfectly! Thanks a lot!
Patrik Says:
12 December 2007 at 19:24.
Hi there, I’ve been very happy to find the instructions on how to use bluetooth on Parallels but unfortunately it doesn’t work for me! Don’t know if I did something wrong, but as soon as I installed the driver downloaded from your link (AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe) the bluetooth icon on the menu bar of the OSX went covered by a bar and it indicates that the Bluetooth is NOT available… and in the Parallels options, Devices, USB, the voice Apple wireless disappears.
What shall I do?!?!?
Thanks so much if you could help me.
Best regards,
Patrik Bock.
Travis Says:
27 December 2007 at 12:49.
Thank you so much! You are awesome. I was trying to get this to work for a couple of hours and your writeup was simple and easy!
Malcolm Ferguson Says:
12 January 2008 at 05:51.
Thanks Matthieu!
I’ve upgraded to Leopard, installed the applebluetoothinstaller you linked to, and all worked fine! You said something about checking for later versions, but after searching around, discovered that one can no longer access the bt installer independantly. Nevertheless, after some trial & error, discovered the following solution:
1. System Preferences > Sharing > Enable Bluetooth sharing (you must do this before starting Parallels – the option is hidden once Parallels connects to Bluetooth)
2. Run Parallels & select Devices > USB > Apple – Wireless (as in your screenshot above).
3. Insert your Leopard Install Disk – Boot Camp installation dialog will pop up in Windows (if you have your CD/DVD drive connected to Parallels), just accept the prompts, and all the windows drivers for your Apple hardware (including bluetooth) will be installed.
Matthieu, thanks again for pointing us in the right direction!
Malcolm
and encountered Patrik’s problem
Malcolm Ferguson Says:
12 January 2008 at 05:52.
Oops – ignore the “and encountered Patrik’s problem” in my previous comment – this happens if you haven’t enabled Bluetooth sharing in System Preferences.
Matthieu Says:
12 January 2008 at 08:28.
Thanks for the Leopard instruction Malcom! I knew the bootcamp drivers were now shipped with Leopard, but I didn’t take the time to figure out where.
Matthieu
Dominik Hahn Says:
16 January 2008 at 09:24.
I must be doing something wrong because I can’t get it to work.
I installed the software from the Leopard DVD but when I enable Bluetooth I get an error that the driver file is missing an entry (XP thinks it’s an Win 95 driver). I also downloaded AppleBluetoothEnablerInstaller.exe and AppleBluetoothInstaller.exe but both file don’t do anything, I can’t even launch them. 
Mentalacrobatics Says:
28 January 2008 at 10:09.
Brilliant, it worked exactly as you said. Thanks for this.
JohnB Says:
15 April 2008 at 13:34.
Thanks for this tip. Worked flawlessly — connecting now from Parallels to T-Mobile SDA and Nokia n810 (Internet Tablet). Sweeeet!
Bigdog Says:
11 May 2008 at 00:47.
Has any one had been able to connect their Bluetooth on the MacBook Air? Even after following all the steps, the “apple-wireless” choice does not show up. i’m puzzled as i have been able to get this working on a imac desktop, but not on the the MacBook Air. Is there a special driver for the MBA?
Matthieu Says:
11 May 2008 at 06:22.
It might be a different component on the MacBook Air. Did you try using the latest version of the Boot Camp drivers? You might need a USB optical drive thought to access Leopard install CD (where Boot Camp is).
ludovic Says:
14 May 2008 at 07:20.
Bravo good help
Sahand Says:
9 June 2008 at 10:12.
Excellent post Matthieu! Saved me from a lot of trouble.
Kenny at Hong Kong Says:
28 June 2008 at 06:23.
Thank you for your great help! I find it very useful.
Rodrigo Murta Says:
3 July 2008 at 18:45.
Very nice…
Thanks
hvdk Says:
11 August 2008 at 07:50.
synchronizing with Lotus Notes 6.5 without any problem now. Thanks a lot man.
Henri
theguruuu Says:
2 November 2008 at 16:34.
Hi, im running winxp-pro servp3 on the macbook-pro core2 withuot bootcamp or parallell.
I connot find any driver for the builtin-isight cam for the winxp-pro.
please help.
thnx,
Marzio D'Emilio Says:
16 December 2008 at 12:05.
Hi, the instructions are clear, but I have a problem. I have a Macbook and 10.5.5 installed and a mobile phone Treo pro with win mob 6.1. Happens that when I pair they do not pair and the bluetooth in Windows xp no more works. Do anyone knows what’s the problem. I have Parallels4 with last upg. I installed everything as Malcom said. I see the icon in system tray but no pairing. Thanks. Marzio
Usare il bluetooth in Parallels Desktop « Apple’s world tips Says:
27 December 2008 at 18:20.
[...] risolvere questo problema ho seguito i suggerimenti trovati su questa pagina. Chez Mattiouz suggerisce un procedimento abbastanza semplice: installate in Windows il driver del [...]
Vijayinder Says:
13 February 2009 at 21:05.
Thanx mate i was looking for driver from few dayz….. thanx for uploading driver
Greg Says:
15 April 2009 at 12:01.
Wow…after two years this still remains the only source on the web for figuring out how to do this correctly! Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together, posting the driver (which is really hard to find now), and keeping the page live for so long – we’re all very appreciative!
Rick Says:
26 May 2009 at 06:54.
(10.5.6 Macbook Pro / WindowsXP Pro / Parallels 4.0 – Build 4.0.3844)
After installing the driver, and booting Parallels, Windows begins the FOUND NEW HARDWARE wizard after booting the OS. Unfortunately, the wizard cannot find the new “USB Bluetooth Host Controller” hardware… and then finishes without the ability to use Bluetooth.
Any ideas? Has anyone else had this problem? or… Where is the driver located? … so that I can manually POINT to the driver in the Wizard.
Rick Says:
26 May 2009 at 07:05.
… also… How do you know if the bluetooth has installed correctly? Will there be a BT icon in the WinXP Control Panel? or ???
Thanks.
Luis Says:
28 May 2009 at 21:42.
+1 on the Kudos! I Spent hours looking on what to do and as soon as I stumbled on this site it took me about 5 mins to get it done! Thanks alot man!
Giorgio Says:
27 June 2009 at 17:08.
thanks SO much!
I was able to link my Samsung SHG-E250 to my iMac!!!
there are no applications for Mac OS X compatible with this old mobile model.
thank you again…and again…and again!!!
RAJ Says:
1 July 2009 at 03:10.
Can someone kindly post the bluetooth driver alone on some share server and share the link so that the entire steps be avoided.
The new version of Boot Camp doesn’t allow to do it as you first have to do the partition of the Hard Disk to install Boot Camp.
Ruchan Says:
8 July 2009 at 16:29.
I installed the Bootcamp drivers and they worked fine in Parallels. However when I quit PArallels I lost the ability use the bluetooth from MacOS X. “Turn Bluetooth On” option was disabled. Now I dont have the bluetooth on MAcOS X. How can I fix this? Any ideas?
Shaft Says:
21 July 2009 at 00:12.
@Ruchan : I think the best way out is to do a clean exit i.e. disconect Apple Wireless and then kill Parallels.. works for me that way
@Matthieu : Thanks a ton mate… really simple way of putting it.
AMK Says:
30 December 2009 at 21:52.
I had used the Boot Camp files with no luck. I double-clicked them many times. The mouse flickered like it does when it executes a program, however nothing ever happend. It was very frustrating to be so close to getting this working. The AppleBlueToothInstaller.exe just wouldn’t run.
Searched everywhere for a zipped copy of these and found it. Since your instructions was the best I thought I would post the zipped file here. So someone else can use them, and (just in case) I need it again.
Thanks to all for your comments. I was able to get it working real nice!
Arlene
dmitri Says:
9 January 2010 at 09:50.
works just fine, AMK when you double click .exe nothing suppose to happend. You just need to connect the bluetooth in Parallels. Go to the “Devices” menu, then “USB” and pick “Apple – Wireless” (don’t know why they didn’t call that Apple – Bluetooth…), then it installs all the drivers and activates. so easy peasy
thanks to Matthieu
P.S. forgot to mention that I run Parallels 3.0
