Windows takes 10 minutes to start. Any solution?

Version 3. After behaving well initially, Windows XP now takes 10 minutes to start, then another 5-10 minutes until programs can be opened. Has any one else experienced this and (better yet) solved it? Is an uninstall-reinstall of XP the way to go? Can this be done without having to reinstall Windows programs? Please tell me yes.

 

I have the same problem here with parallels 4.0.

 

Not only does WinXP take incredibly longer to boot up under Parallels 4, the operation of the simplest programs (Outlook and MS Word) are really slow. I'm back in the pre-V3 days after this upgrade. I have tried everything: Fixed memory, variable memory. I have an Intel MAC with 2Gigs of RAM and I've got no native Mac apps running: just Outlok, Word and Acrobat. I feel like I'm running an old PC. What's going on??

 

Set the number of cores/cpus to one if you have a Core 2 Duo.

 

Speciman - It's set to 1 and greyed out. I'll run compressor to see if that helps.
Should I have HyperVisor turned "On" or "Off" ?

Thanks for any help you can lend.

 

Hypervisor should be on, I don't see any reason not to be.

 

I had this problem. I uninstalled Parallels Tools through Windows Applications in the Control Panel, then rebooted the Mac and started the VM and reinstalled the Tools. I have had no problem after that. This may or may not help you.

 

Thanks Biglar. I found the instruction in the V4 manual as to how to uninstall/re-install tools. I'll give it a try. If I see a speed increase, I will let you know. I think I had to do the same in the V1/V2 upgrade process.

 

Biglar - a big improvement. Thank you!

 

BTW, I uninstalled V4 and re-installed, and am seeing a speed improvement.

 

I did this also and it made a big difference. Thanks

 

Success--Is it temporary or permanent?

I uninstalled Tools, etc. I can't give that credit since several subsequent starts were problematic, but with one more try, XP started promptly this morning. The problem now is that I get ongoing mouse problems/"Press Ctrl+Alt to release" messages. Ah well, maybe I'll keep XP open in perpetuity in this semi-useful form.

 

Follow-up

Reinstalling Tools seems to have solved the mouse/keyboard problem. It's hard for me to type with my fingers crossed, however.

 

I'm still not loving V4. The WinXP performance is sluggish; response time for typing and moving windows is maddening. I am finding that setting fixed memory as opposed to variable give better performance, I am setting it to 1000MB and leaving HyperVisor selected on. Anyone else seeing a difference since upgrading? I'm considering building a new VM to see if that fixes the problem. I have been running the same VM for three years with no dramatic speed problems. Anyone else experiencing this?

 

I noticed a big slowdown (general all around Windows slowness) as well after upgrading to 4.0. Un-installing Parallels Tools and re-installing didn't have an effect.

Don't know if it's related, but I did run into a problem with the VM upgrade wizard running Parallels for the first time - it said there was a problem with the upgrade, but then it ran again and completed OK.

I didn't have a lot in my VM, so I just made a new one, re-installed Windows, and the slowness is gone.

 

mschool, jones948--When you make a new VM, are Windows programs on the old VM available to the new one?

 

For me, it was a new VM from scratch, so nothing came over from the old VM. I'm not sure that there's a way to make them available either, other than to attach your old VM as a second hard drive to the new one. And even then, the apps may not run properly since they weren't re-installed.

 

I haven't decided if I want to build a new VM from scratch. I'm going to give it a few more days. But if I do, I will let you know my experience.

 

update was published , which is right now available at http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=31764
The most of problem were fixed.
Please navigate to that link, and download build 3540
In post there are various instructions, how to fix problems.

 

John,
I found one reason for the sluggish machine on rebuild.
On the first start, the stupid Kapersky suite decides on its own to do a scan of the computer, taking all resources with it.
Why doesn't it ask first? Once this is endured, the machine seems to runs smooth.
You still have to tell us whether to turn on the Hypervisor or not.
I'm scared to do it now, because I sense that when I make a change in the settings, my parallels tools suddenly is unrecognized, and I have to uninstall it and reinstall it again.