App speed under Parallels

I installed Parallels on my Mac Mini (High Sierra, i7, 16GB RAM, 256GB ssd) to allow me to run some Windows photo editors. The apps all seem to work properly, but they run very slowly. My Mac Mini is not a powerhouse, but I think things ought to run more quickly than they do. Is there any way to configure Parallels so as to allow the apps to run more quickly? I assume there are some configuration options that define how much memory can be used, or how many cores can be used and other speed related options, but I have not been able to find them.

 

Hello @MikeFromMesa , please refer http://kb.parallels.com/112091 to improve virtual machine performance on your Mac.
Thanks

 

Thank you. One additional question. I currently have the Windows file on an external usb3 ssd and the recommendation is that it should be on the main ssd. How can I move it from the external ssd to the system ssd?

 

Hello @MikeFromMesa , please let us know if you are trying to install Windows and if not please let us know what you are trying to do so that we can check and assist you.
Thanks

 

I did an install of Parallels using Windows 8, but placed the .pvm file on an external drive in order to save the space on my main system. I read through the information on how to speed up the VM, and followed the instructions regarding graphics and working memory, and that seems to have helped, but the article you referenced also said that I should place the .pvm file on my main system.

I do not want to have to go through the entire install just to put the file on my main system. How can I modify my Parallels installation so that I can move the .pvm file to my main ssd and still have it work? I assume if I just copy the file to my main system it will not work as it is set, and that I have to change some configuration parameters to point to the new location of the .pvm file. What I want to know is how to do that.

 

Hello @MikeFromMesa , yes you can simply copy the .pvm file from your external drive and past it on your Mac SSD or you can also refer http://kb.parallels.com/114118 .
Thanks

 

Thank you. I did a copy and updated the alias location.

Just in case anyone else is interested in doing this, I found that, although the configuration changes (extra memory for Parallels) made a big difference, copying the .pvm file from my external usb 3 ssd to my main system did not. I timed the start of the Parallel Desktop and of Windows itself, using both the external ssd mounted .pvm file and a duplicate on my main system, and there was no real difference. Oh, perhaps 0.5 second difference in starting, but that was all.

Of course I have a very fast external ssd in an enclosure optimized for solid state drives, so perhaps that is the reason. I have returned to using the external drive for the .pvm file but it is much faster after the configuration changes, so thank you for the configuration link.

 

Thanks for updating us. Please get back to us for any further queries. Thanks!