VPC's act a bit sluggish & "freeze" with new laptop...

I just got a new laptop (Dell D820) with the Intel Centrino Duo 2Ghz & 945
chipset (2GB RAM, 7200 RPM SATA HDD), and some VM's that I was using on another
machine are acting up a bit. They boot and run just fine, but at times, they
will go unresponsive (can move the mouse around, but clicks do nothing).

I run my VM's though Invirtus' VM Optimizer and installed SpeedSwitchXP and
made sure my CPU was set to run at max performance... both the VM guest drive
& my host drive are defraggged... ideas?

I'm running Virtual PC 2004 SP1 (v5.3.582.27) and I've installed the hibernation
hotfix (KB#909095). I tried running the fix for the Centrino 915 chipset
(KB#899525), but after rebooting, my situation was even worse.

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.co

 

Having just been through this with my new Dell Inspiron, here are a couple
things to check.

First, there were a TON of drivers that were preinstalled and my performace
sucked until I did a clean install of WinXP.

I also found that VPC has issues with my bluetooth adapter that came
preinstalled in my new box, so if you have this, DO NOT install the driver
when you reinstall XP and make sure you disable it in the bios before you
rebuild XP.

Hope this helps!

Dev

 

Do you know what version of the Virtual Machine Additions you are
using in your guest OS's? I'm using 13.705 (though on a ThinkPad
R52).

 

Hi

I have just taken delivery of a brand new Toshiba A6 which is a dual core
laptop and I am getting the same problems. I am running Windows XP SP2 and
version 13.306 of Virtual machine additions. There is no bluetooth on this
laptop.

Anybody any ideas ?
--
Regards

Nigel

 

On my ThinkPad R52, I'm also running the hotfix #899525, though I'm
not running the hotfix #889677, since I'm assuming that build .34
includes build .32 stuff.

Just some info I've gathered...

The free Virtual PC 2004 with SP1 is here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/downloads/sp1.mspx

Running SETUP.EXE will install VPC 5.3.582.27, which is VPC 2004 SP1.

Included in the ZIP download is the "Laptop Hotfix" folder, which
includes the hotfix for:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;889677.

Executing the .MSP patch included in that folder brings VPC to
v5.3.582.32.

This patch is *not* included:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;899525.

That hotfix brings VPC to v5.3.582.34.

 

Hello Devon,

It's not a clean install (Dell Latitude D820) because the OS came much cleaner
than I ever expected (only had the security & wifi software installed). I
have wifi + bluetooth disabled when I try to run it and I still have the
issue.

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

Hello Matthew,

For one (machine built & installed additions from VPC), I'm running 13.306.

For another (machine built & installed additions from Virtual Server... but
I'm running it in PC), I'm running 13.552.

Where did you find 13.705?

Both machines are having the problem.

I found the download for 13.552 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...3c-193b-41ac-af6e-ab7ab2db8541&DisplayLang=en),
but how can you tell which version of Virtual Server you're running? I'm
runnin 2005 R2, but not sure about enterprise/standard.

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

Hello Matthew,

I've installed one of the hotfixes you m ention #889677 (the hibernate fix),
but not #899525 because that's for a Centrino 915 chipset, where I have the
945 chipset (Dell Latitude D820) and when I installed the 915 fix on my 945,
when I restored a virtual machine, it crashed the VM.

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

I'm running the following Virtual Server on my laptop:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Server\vssrvc.exe
Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Service
v. 1.01.0512.0000

I'm pretty sure the 13.705 stuff came with VS 2004 R2, maybe sp1?

Regardless, here's where you can find the latest VMA that I know of:

"Virtual Machine Additions 13.709 now available for Vista Beta 2 July
Refresh "
http://blogs.virtualserver.tv/blogs..._July_Refresh_Virtual_Machine_Additions_.aspx

 

Are you using the Synaptics pointing device in your laptop?

I found that the advanced features Like scrolling and the hot spot regions
features of this device caused me some issues as well. After disabling this,
I am still up and running after doing all the OTHER tweaks....
--
Devon Cochenour
MCSD, MCT MSF Master Trainer

 

Not sure what you're referring to. The only thing I have is a standard wireless
USB2 mouse. I have a colleague who recently worked with PSS to improve his
VPC performance. Their fix: unplug any USB2 mice! arg

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

My new Dell came with a touch pad that was a Synaptic Pointing Device that
had a BUNCH of advanced features. When I disabled all of the advanced
features (Edge scrolling, and hot spots), all seems to be well again. But
alas, yes, VPC does not support USB.....
--
Devon Cochenour
MCSD, MCT MSF Master Trainer

 

I use a usb mouse and keyboard with no issues. They are seen by virtual
machines as PS/2 devices.

 

Ah... the D820 doesn't come with one... just a standard and simple Alps Touchpad
(no edge scrollers or special features). I prefer it that way

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

Since I'm working on a D820 at the moment with edge scrolling enabled,
I can assure you that it does have these features.

--
Paul Adare - MVP Virtual Machines
It all began with Adam. He was the first man to tell a joke--or a lie.
How lucky Adam was. He knew when he said a good thing, nobody had said
it before. Adam was not alone in the Garden of Eden, however, and does
not deserve all the credit; much is due to Eve, the first woman, and
Satan, the first consultant." - Mark Twain

 

OK, let me make sure I know what I'm talking about then. Edge scrolling is
when the touchpad has the ability on the right & bottom to act as the wheel
on a mouse... correct?

My D820 can't do that (I got the fingerprint reader too, so I wonder if that
affected it) as it doesn't have the lines on the right/bottom of the touchpad.

Regardless... how do VPC's on your D820 run? Any issues?

-AC [MVP MCMS]
www.andrewconnell.com

 

Hello everybody,

I would like to add a new aspect to the discussion: we are experiencing a
problem on two new notebooks (DELL M65) which has the same behaviour as you
describe here. We have contacted DELL support and they proposed to switch off
speedstep and multicore support in BIOS - or to choose another VM software
(they assume that Virtual PC does not support multicore).

I would like to ask the experts here for your opinion. Looking forward to
any feedback.

Kind Regards,
Peter

 

No, I am running it WITH the speed step on, with the dual core and the VPC is
fast. With my dell the things I had to do to get it to run were....

rebuilt the box to get rid of the 270 drivers that came preinstalled.
Install the speed switch software.
I disabled the Bluetooth capabilities since the drivers were not signed by MS
I disabled the advanced features of my touch pad. On my box these are called
Gestures, Tap Zones, EdgeMotion, and Scrolling (this was the one that I think
was causing the issue). Scrolling is where the right side and bottom of the
touch pad allow you to scroll like a wheel on a mouse. After I disabled that,
no more issues.

--
Devon Cochenour
MCSD, MCT MSF Master Trainer

 

I disabled my ThinkPad R52's touchpad due to the Synaptics drivers
constantly using CPU/IO cycles (as reported by sysinternals.com's
Process Explorer).

I successfully use a USB mouse with my ThinkPad, but not the touchpad
(just the ThinkPad pointer.)

 

I run VS and VPC on dual-core systems without issues. Perhaps your issue is
not related to that.