Why does my Vista/VMware run so slow?

[md63]

I installed Vista Ultimate/VMware on my 2.2GB Mid 2007 MBP with 4GB. The system ran well and therefore I decided to install the image file on my 1.83Ghz C2D Mini on which I was doing a hardware upgrade. The mini now has 4GB of memory (+3 GB addressable) which came from my MPB, and a 7200 rpm hard drive. With this configuration, Vista runs like a dog on the mini. Extremely slow to start up and basically unusable even after it starts. I checked the VMware settings and I have maxed out the memory and have both cores running in windows.

When I did the above upgrade to my mini, I put the original 2 gig of memory back in my MBP. I figured Vista would still run but it was basically unusably slow. I couldn't believe that the incremental 2 gig of memory would make such a difference. After purchasing new 4 gig memory for my MBP, the system is running fine again. I was under the impression that 2GB of memory would be ok for Vista in a virtual machine, however, my experience has not proved that out. I had hoped to run Vista on my Mini but its so slow with the maximum memory that it can accept. The only change I can make is upgrade the CPU and I would prefer to avoid that. Am I missing something in the settings? Thanks for your advice.

MBP - 2.2Ghz C2D, 4 GB - Vista OK
MBP - 2.2Ghz C2D, 2 GB - Vista extremely slow
Mini - 1.83Ghz C2D, 4GB - Vista extremely slow

 

[plinden]

How much RAM have you assigned to the VM?

Remember, RAM you assign to the VM in not available to OS X, so assigning too much can slow everything down on the host. The VMWare app itself is running in OS X, so that'll slow down too.

You need to find a compromise ... I find (purely subjectively, I haven't benchmarked anything) that my VMs begin to slow down noticeably if I assign more than 1/3 of my Mac's RAM to them.

 

[kaltsasa]

Because Vista runs slow as snot in VMware fusion.

All my Vista VMs run terrible for whatever reason (though it doesn't seem to run much better on real hardware either) regardless of resource allocation. XP runs fast in Fusion. Additionally the Windows 7 beta runs fast in Fusion as well.

I run a Mac Pro with quad 500 Gig Hard drives and 4GB of Ram.

This is all subjective but I can attest that XP and Windows 7 scream in Fusion, Vista is slow.

 

[md63]

How much RAM have you assigned to the VM?

Remember, RAM you assign to the VM in not available to OS X, so assigning too much can slow everything down on the host. The VMWare app itself is running in OS X, so that'll slow down too.

You need to find a compromise ... I find (purely subjectively, I haven't benchmarked anything) that my VMs begin to slow down noticeably if I assign more than 1/3 of my Mac's RAM to them.

Thanks for your response. I'll check the settings tonight. Its possible I maxed out the ram allocation to Fusion.

 

[Bill&Rose]

Thanks for your response. I'll check the settings tonight. Its possible I maxed out the ram allocation to Fusion.

I just installed Parallels on my iMAC 2.66 with 4 gig of ram and have Vista Home Premium running fine. It is pretty snappy. I have the memory set at 2 gigs for parallels and switch back and forth with no problems or performance worries

Maybe Parallels would help you with Vista.