I have used (I think) every publically available beta and release since about July 1st 2006. Build 1940 is by far the worst yet. I crashes constantly, constant warnings from WinXP about low VM, and now I'm having networking problems - all things that have never occured in previous versions. I also get repeated warnings that Parallel tools is different version from parallels itself ... even though I have checked and the versions match, and I have tried complete uninstall/reinstall of tools. Very disappointing. I'm rolling back to Build 1884 in the hopes this will make things better.
At least for me, its the best build they've had. The previous best build was 1892 or 188x. But then even though I stress the VM out tremendously, besides USB issues I've never seen any problems with parallels in other builds.
Agree Here's my post on another thread in the forum. I keep getting these low virtual memory messages in XP even after setting everything to ideal as per posts and the manual. The performance of the 1940 build is absolutely pitiful. It takes minutes not seconds to launch XP and to open any app even just a browser takes close to a minutes. I feel like I'm back running Virtual PC on my old Mac.....! At the same time my fan is running at top speed. Is this due to Windows Indexing running or does anyone have another idea. I'm about to give up after having paid for a full version. The original free trial seems to have worked best. MacBook 2 GHz Core Duo, RAM 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 OS X 10.4.8 Parallels Build 1940 Memory Allocation 512 Mb - now increased to 756 Mb!
While I don't have the level of performance concerns you describe, I will add that this is the first build of which I have expereinced Low VM warning while doing work. This on a macbook with 2 gigs of ram (1 gig alloted for parallels). Hopefully things will contine to be ironed out. -euthymic
jebworks, Could you please check menu Parallels Desktop->Preferences->Memory? What is set for reserved memory limit?
I concur. I installed 1940 thinking that it'd be better than all the others, and I'm noticing an approximate 40% drop in performance, along with interesting lockups and networking troubles. The previous RC builds had been flawless, but after installing 1940 on an untouched disk image, the J2EE server that I'm launching takes 2:10 as opposed to 1:20 with teh RC builds. Also, I am noticing networking drops and intermitent lockups. Can you guys make the RC builds available for download again?
dpratt, All RC builds are still available by old links (RC2 - http://download.parallels.com/RC/Parallels-Desktop-1922-Mac.dmg). Could you provide us with downloadable program which works slower with 1940 than with 1922?
As indicated in my post it's set to 756Mb. I might be too stupid for using Parallels correctly as it's very confusing with these various memory settings a) in Parallels and then in XP with virtual allocations etc. What I do notice is dismal performance even after running Parallels Compressor twice. It might be due to all that background stuff running on launch of XP that also immediately sets off my fan to go into overdrive. Clicking on a desktop link to open the browser app should not take two and a half minutes to three minutes for it to open......
I'd love to, but you'll either have to spend a few hundred grand or I'll get fired. :> In any case - I'm going to do some direct apples-to-apples comparisons between the RCs and the released version, and I'll post the numbers here.
So 756M is set for guest OS. What is in menu Preferences->Memory->Reserved memory limit field and how much RAM do you have on board?
Please make sure that memory configuration are the same - I mean both guest OS RAM and menu Prefernces->Memory->Reserved memory limit (by the way - could you post here all 3 numbers of RAM - host, guest and reserved?).
I already got that wrong.... the 756Mb is the reserved memory limit Memory under Memory options is 512Mb out of a recommended max of 656 Mb and the my total RAM on the MacBook is 2Gb. That what you need?
Memory configuration is correct. I can suggest you to check following ideas: 1. Does reboot of Mac OS X fix the performance problems? 2. Try to play with options "Configuration Editor->Options->VM flags->Cache Policy. Does it help? 3. Check guest CPU load in task manager when XP is idle. Does it close to 1-2%?
The CPU in XP shows 1 - 3% in idle with 656 Mb PF Usage At the moment the performance has improved and the fan noise is normal. My guess is the slowdown is caused by Windows Desktop Indexing or some other background app I'm not aware of starting to run at launch. One of many reasons why I'm a Mac not Windows User, I guess....- There were also ten updates installed priro to the last shutdown, maybe that had an effect.
Sorry I've been absent from my own thread For me, I have MacBook (not Pro) with 1.25GB RAM. Under Parallels, I think it was 292mb. I have the VM hardset for min/max 300MB in Windows. I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for. I've tried setting no page file, or system-managed. fixed seem sto work best for me here, as it does on physical PC's that I work with. on build 1940 I suffered from these issues in XP, which is the only guest OS i've been using recently. I haven't used my CentOS or Ubuntu enough across different builds to give useful info. - many crashes - Parallels had almost literally never crashed for me before in any version -- mine were not 'poofs' because i would get a prompt to email a crash log and images which I was never able to complete. - errors for incorrect Parallels tools, even tho it was correct - Windows low-VM warnings VERY frequently - I did NOT notice any significant different in fan running, although I had a strong impression that the video screen refresh was slower in build 1940. I have rolled back to build 1884, which seem to work well for me, which it did previously. I see mention of another 18xx build that I'm not aware of apparently. I would be happy to work directly with someone from Parallels, say in a Webex meeting (I can host) to see/troubleshoot/analyze the issues. Please email me privately at my listed email. philc
