Parallels: Does it run all the time ?

[lugesm]

Bought an iMac 24" 2.4Ghz, 3GB RAM about 3 weeks ago, and I love the new machine.

BUT . . . I have just a few Windows programs that I absolutely must continue to run on occasion, not frequently.

I have a copy of Parallels, but have not yet loaded it.

Question: If I load Parallels and Windows, does Parallels run all the time in the background . . . or only when it is deliberately launched by the user? I really don't want to load a program that must be running in the background at all time.

I have read everything I can find about Parallels, and it appears to be the best solution for me, but I REALLY need this question answered.

Very much appreciate any help you can provide.

 

[swiftaw]

Only runs when you run it

 

[lugesm]

So, after Parallels and Windows are installed, unless Parallels is deliberately launched by the user, no resources (other than disk space) or processor cycles are used by Parallels or Windows.

Did I miss anything?

Thanks.

 

[jhkingsr]

So, after Parallels and Windows are installed, unless Parallels is deliberately launched by the user, no resources (other than disk space) or processor cycles are used by Parallels or Windows.

You are correct, sir!

 

[lugesm]

jhkingsr & swiftaw - - -

Dear Sirs:

Thank you for your confirmations. This was a really important question for me, and I am grateful for your taking the time to reply to my inquiry.

Best Regards,
L

 

[skinnylegs]

I think you will really like Parallels. It will run smooth as silk (as will the Windows apps.) on that new rig of yours. Just remember that you need to allocate sufficient RAM to Parallels which will affect the performance of your other apps. when it is running.

 

[lugesm]

I think you will really like Parallels. It will run smooth as silk (as will the Windows apps.) on that new rig of yours. Just remember that you need to allocate sufficient RAM to Parallels which will affect the performance of your other apps. when it is running.

skinnylegs -

Thank you for your comment. I will be using the 24" 2.4GHz, 3GB machine and allocating up to 1GB of RAM and 60GB of disk space to Parallels and Windows 2000. I will be running only a few small, but critical, Windows programs.

I have considered trying this on my limited-resources Mini-Mac (1.66GHz with 1/2GB of RAM) as a first test, but I am afraid the small machine probably cannot manage.

Regards,
L

 

[brkirch]

I will be using the 24" 2.4GHz, 3GB machine and allocating up to 1GB of RAM and 60GB of disk space to Parallels and Windows 2000. I will be running only a few small, but critical, Windows programs.

Those sound like good numbers, it should work well. I use 512MB of RAM for Windows in Parallels on my MacBook Pro 1st gen with 2GB of RAM and Windows runs very smoothly.

I have considered trying this on my limited-resources Mini-Mac (1.66GHz with 1/2GB of RAM) as a first test, but I am afraid the small machine probably cannot manage.

You're right, there's no way the Mac Mini would be able to handle running Windows in OS X with only 512MB of RAM in the computer without the computer slowing down significantly.

 

[lugesm]

brkirch -

Thank you for the information. I plan to use Windows 2000, because I currently have it running on an old Compaq notebook that has only 128MB of memory and a 266MHz processor.

To my amazement, Win-2K runs pretty well on the 266MHz Pentium with 128K RAM . . . . and only a 10GB hard drive. It seems to be a much more efficient program than Win-XP, and it is able to run all of my Windows-critical applications without any problems.

L