Windows Vista Forums

VPC mini-freezes/hangs
  1. #1


    Bart L Guest

    VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    We're suffering small performance issues when running VMs on 2 of our 4
    developer machines with Win7 RC Ultimate x64 installed (the other 2 machines
    experience no problems at all).
    Mouse actions and keyboard actions (cursor movement or typing) have regular
    mini-freezes which result in a "laggy" experience. CPU usage also seems to
    jump around between low and high values without any reason, with the
    taskmanager also freezing up in intervals of half a second or more and using
    up to 50% of the CPU at certain moments.



    We've already experienced this problem with Windows XP and Windows Server
    2003 virtual machines. Using remote desktop doesn't fix the problem.
    I found a small tweak with booting a 2nd virtual machine (let's say a Win7
    VM with 512mb ram) that almost removed the 'laggy' experience, but you can
    understand this isn't a nice way to work.

    Installing/Enabling/Disabling Integration Features doesn't make a real
    difference (on first impression).

    All 4 machines (so 2 with problems and 2 without) are running clean Win7 RC1
    x64 installation on an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM. All
    other hardware/software (even BIOS version) is the same between these
    machines.

    I wonder if this is a known issue and if there is any solution to it.

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2


    Bart L Guest

    RE: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    PS. To be completely clear: this is with Windows Virtual PC (not Virtual PC
    2007)

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    nak Guest

    Re: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    Hi Bart,

    I too have had exactly the same problems, unfortunately it appears to be
    bugs with the beta of Virtual PC. Virtual PC 2007 runs absolutely fine for
    me, but I can't even install Windows on a fresh VM without having to wait
    hours for the cursor to move around the screen. It's actually as if the
    Host isn't allocating enough CPU time to the VM, one reason I say this is
    that if you run a scan of the hard disk (I used Live OneCare) all the time
    the scan is working the speed of the VM increases to usable speeds.

    Crazy I know lol!

    Nick.

    "Bart L" <Bart L@xxxxxx> wrote in message
    news:32F48DDC-1B04-4B67-AC7C-E3ECCBC0826A@xxxxxx

    > We're suffering small performance issues when running VMs on 2 of our 4
    > developer machines with Win7 RC Ultimate x64 installed (the other 2
    > machines
    > experience no problems at all).
    > Mouse actions and keyboard actions (cursor movement or typing) have
    > regular
    > mini-freezes which result in a "laggy" experience. CPU usage also seems to
    > jump around between low and high values without any reason, with the
    > taskmanager also freezing up in intervals of half a second or more and
    > using
    > up to 50% of the CPU at certain moments.
    >
    > We've already experienced this problem with Windows XP and Windows Server
    > 2003 virtual machines. Using remote desktop doesn't fix the problem.
    > I found a small tweak with booting a 2nd virtual machine (let's say a Win7
    > VM with 512mb ram) that almost removed the 'laggy' experience, but you can
    > understand this isn't a nice way to work.
    >
    > Installing/Enabling/Disabling Integration Features doesn't make a real
    > difference (on first impression).
    >
    > All 4 machines (so 2 with problems and 2 without) are running clean Win7
    > RC1
    > x64 installation on an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM.
    > All
    > other hardware/software (even BIOS version) is the same between these
    > machines.
    >
    > I wonder if this is a known issue and if there is any solution to it.
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4


    taoeugon2007 Guest

    Re: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    On 5月26日, 下午6时52分, "nak" <a....@xxxxxx> wrote:

    > Hi Bart,
    >
    > * * I too have had exactly the same problems, unfortunately it appears to be
    > bugs with the beta of Virtual PC. *Virtual PC 2007 runs absolutely fine for
    > me, but I can't even install Windows on a fresh VM without having to wait
    > hours for the cursor to move around the screen. *It's actually as ifthe
    > Host isn't allocating enough CPU time to the VM, one reason I say this is
    > that if you run a scan of the hard disk (I used Live OneCare) all the time
    > the scan is working the speed of the VM increases to usable speeds.
    >
    > * * Crazy I know lol!
    >
    > Nick.
    >
    > "Bart L" <Bart L...@xxxxxx> wrote in messagenews:32F48DDC-1B04-4B67-AC7C-E3ECCBC0826A@xxxxxx
    >
    >
    >

    > > We're suffering small performance issues when running VMs on 2 of our 4
    > > developer machines with Win7 RC Ultimate x64 installed (the other 2
    > > machines
    > > experience no problems at all).
    > > Mouse actions and keyboard actions (cursor movement or typing) have
    > > regular
    > > mini-freezes which result in a "laggy" experience. CPU usage also seemsto
    > > jump around between low and high values without any reason, with the
    > > taskmanager also freezing up in intervals of half a second or more and
    > > using
    > > up to 50% of the CPU at certain moments.
    >

    > > We've already experienced this problem with Windows XP and Windows Server
    > > 2003 virtual machines. Using remote desktop doesn't fix the problem.
    > > I found a small tweak with booting a 2nd virtual machine (let's say a Win7
    > > VM with 512mb ram) that almost removed the 'laggy' experience, but you can
    > > understand this isn't a nice way to work.
    >

    > > Installing/Enabling/Disabling Integration Features doesn't make a real
    > > difference (on first impression).
    >

    > > All 4 machines (so 2 with problems and 2 without) are running clean Win7
    > > RC1
    > > x64 installation on an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM.
    > > All
    > > other hardware/software (even BIOS version) is the same between these
    > > machines.
    >

    > > I wonder if this is a known issue and if there is any solution to it.- 隐藏被引用文* -
    >
    > - 显示引用的文* -
    Hi, there is a "Windows Virtual PC beta" in Microsoft download center:
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...6-27f6ef5dceb9
    It is said for Windows 7 beta, you can have a try.

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5


    Bart L Guest

    RE: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    I have temporarily 'fixed' the issue with running my webradio in Windows
    Media Player on my host machine. This gives a constant CPU-usage (of 2-3%)
    which seems to be the key to remove the laggy experience in your VPC.

    Still looking forward for a real fix though.

    Greetings
    Bart

    "Bart L" wrote:

    > We're suffering small performance issues when running VMs on 2 of our 4
    > developer machines with Win7 RC Ultimate x64 installed (the other 2 machines
    > experience no problems at all).
    > Mouse actions and keyboard actions (cursor movement or typing) have regular
    > mini-freezes which result in a "laggy" experience. CPU usage also seems to
    > jump around between low and high values without any reason, with the
    > taskmanager also freezing up in intervals of half a second or more and using
    > up to 50% of the CPU at certain moments.
    >
    > We've already experienced this problem with Windows XP and Windows Server
    > 2003 virtual machines. Using remote desktop doesn't fix the problem.
    > I found a small tweak with booting a 2nd virtual machine (let's say a Win7
    > VM with 512mb ram) that almost removed the 'laggy' experience, but you can
    > understand this isn't a nice way to work.
    >
    > Installing/Enabling/Disabling Integration Features doesn't make a real
    > difference (on first impression).
    >
    > All 4 machines (so 2 with problems and 2 without) are running clean Win7 RC1
    > x64 installation on an Intel Core2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz, with 4GB of RAM. All
    > other hardware/software (even BIOS version) is the same between these
    > machines.
    >
    > I wonder if this is a known issue and if there is any solution to it.

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6


    nak Guest

    Re: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    Hi Bart,

    > I have temporarily 'fixed' the issue with running my webradio in Windows
    > Media Player on my host machine. This gives a constant CPU-usage (of 2-3%)
    > which seems to be the key to remove the laggy experience in your VPC.
    >
    > Still looking forward for a real fix though.
    haha! That's better than my fix, at least you get something else out of
    it.

    A "Real Fix" would be to uninstall it and stick Virtual PC 2007 back on
    your machine. I can't see it getting any better until the next release
    (whenever that is).

    Nick.


      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  7. #7


    Steve Jain [MVP] Guest

    Re: VPC mini-freezes/hangs

    On Wed, 27 May 2009 14:48:01 -0700, Bart L
    <BartL@xxxxxx> wrote:

    >I have temporarily 'fixed' the issue with running my webradio in Windows
    >Media Player on my host machine. This gives a constant CPU-usage (of 2-3%)
    >which seems to be the key to remove the laggy experience in your VPC.
    >
    >Still looking forward for a real fix though.
    >
    >Greetings
    >Bart
    Have you posted this to the VPC7 beta forums, or even better logged it
    as a bug?

    This definitely sounds like a power management issue...its been around
    forever, other versions of VPC too. It realy comes down to how the
    hardware does power management and throttles back the CPU.

    --
    Cheers,
    Steve Jain, Virtual Machine MVP
    http://vpc.essjae.com/

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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