Jerky Video and Audio Playback in Winxp VM

Hi All,

Okay, long story short. I recently switched to MAC after being a long time Windows User, starting with Windows 3.1
I have only one program that I need Win XP for and (don't laugh) that is the Star Trek Encyclopedia CD-ROM. I originally bought this program to run under Win95, but it has also run under Win98/WinME and WinXP without modification. It's stated requirements are:-
OS: Win 95/98 (also runs on Win ME, Win 2000, Windows XP
Processor: Pentium 90 or Higher
RAM: 16 MB Free or Higher
Hard Disk Space: 35MB
Graphics: 16 bit Color
CD-Rom Drive: 2x Required, 4x recommended

So, when I got my MacBook I purchased a legit Retail WinXP SP2 and with the deal I got Parallels Desktop For MAC 3.0
So, first using BootCamp I created a 25GB Partition and installed WinXP SP2 and the BootCamp drivers. I then installed all the Windows Updates and the Star Trek Encyclopedia (the install places some programs on the hard drive which then accesses the Video and Audio from the content CD, which has to be in the drive). This runs without issue when WinXP is booted natively.
Now, I installed PDM 3.0 and have upgraded it to build 5608. I have allowed it to use the BootCamp XP as the WinXP VM source but when I try to run the Star Trek CD Rom the video playback lags somewhat and the audio playback at times stutters (like someone talking into a broken microphone). I have 1GB Ram allocated to the VM and the maximum amount of video memory allocated to the VM video. My MacBook has the following specs:-
MacBook 3.1
Intel Core 2 Duo processor 2.2 GHz
2GB DDR2 SDRAM 667 Mhz
Intel GMA X3100 Integrated Graphics 144MB VRam (shared with Main Memory)

I've tried every setting I can think of in the VM to try and improve the Video and Audio playback to no avail and same thing happens if I setup XP in a pure VM. I've been on to Avanquest, which supports PDM in the UK, but they could not offer a solution.
Can some kind soul shed some light on this or am I doomed to booting into Winxp natively to run this program. I'd rather not be as I would prefer to use Parallels.

Cheers,
Andy.

 

Did you tried to reinstall as described inhttp://kb.parallels.com/en/4790
Just make sure that old cd (with Parallels) or old build dmg are not mounted when you are installing new build

 

Hi John,

Thanks a million for the reply. Did all that when upgrading to build 5608 and it has not helped. This has happened with all versions of Parallels Desktop For MAC 3.0
It appears to me to be more the case the even with 2GB Ram in the MacBook... that there is not enough memory for the VM even with 1GB allocated to it. The encyclopedia, though written to work in the paltry spec of Win95, is DVD and Video access intensive as the audio and video is played from the DVD drive, all handled within Quicktime (which by the way, the latest version of is installed in the bootcamp XP). Perhaps I should look into upgrading my RAM to 4GB and allocating 2GB to the VM while increasing the Video Memory to its highest level and switching the setting to give priority performance to the VM rather than the MAC, as OSX does be fairly idle when I using the encyclopedia via the VM.

If anyone has any other ideas before I take the RAM Upgrade root... I'd be greatful.

Andy.

 

Sorry for dumb question,
Did you install Parallels Tools?

 

Hi John,

Yes... parallels tools were installed. I get this jerky video and audio anyway.

 

Try this solution on Windows side in Display properties
1. Minimize hardware acceleration level in display properties.

Right click on Desktop -> Personalize -> Display Settings -> Advanced
Settings -> Trobleshoot tab. Put hardware acceleration level to zero.

2. Set Color in Display Settings to 24 bit making hardware acceleration
set to maximum.

 

Hi John,
Cheers for the suggestion but I had tried this already. Not to put a downer on things but I've worked for 15 years in IT and anything that can be tried I've already done it. In fact, when using the Encyclopedia, it is recommended that the display be set to 16 Bit and resolution to 800 x 600.
Cheers,
Andy.

 

Is there any trial version I can check this software?

 

Hi John,

I doubt it very much. This software was sold both online and distributed by computer sellers many years ago... and I've never heard of a trial version being available. Copies for sale are very few and far between now, and it is only very few people who still have them and I'm willing to bet that they are not prepared to risk having them lost in the postal service or damaged in transit. Try http://www.amazon.com/MACMILLAN-Sta..._1_3?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1218550856&sr=1-3

Andy.

 

Is it 2 cd or 4 cd edition?

 

Hi John,

It's 2 CD Edition. The first CD contains the installer and some CD based content. The second CD contains Video Clips and Articles.

Andy.

 

I asked friends , and no one doesn't have it, is it possible to put one of the video files from 2 cd on some place as rapidshare to check it?

 

Hi John,

Not trying to be awkward here, but this is not possible. The video files are quite large, and I don't think playing these back stanalone will give you the same effect. It is actually the entire experience, not just the normal video and audio playback that is affected by this jerky and skipping behaviour. To transfer enough content for you to get the full experience would not be viable.

Cheers,
Andy.


P.S. John... a collegue has suggested that I trial VMWare Fusion. According to him, he has same Macbook with same spec and is running a similar product (the Star Trek Interactive Technical Manual) within a WinXP SP2 VM without any jerky video or audio problems. According to him... it runs as if XP was running natively on a PC. I'll give this a try over the weekend and report back to let you know if this is true... I'm a bit sceptical because I haven't seen this in action on his machine.

 

Hi John... just an update on this. Tried VMWare Fusion Trial with both Bootcamp XP Install and XP Installed in VM. I can report that my collegues claim appears to be true. The Encyclopedia runs without any video or audio lag and the same for the Interactive Technical Manual that I have also. The XP VM has same RAM allocated to it as under Parallels so I can only guess that there is some other reason why these play back perfectly in Fusion VM as opposed to Parallels VM. Could be just that Fusion is less memory intensive... hence allowing for smoother audio and video playback.
Seems that I've two choices here... hope that Parallels comes up with a fix before VMWare Fusion trial ends in 25 days or let trial period expire and purchase Fusion.
Cheers for the help and suggestions.
Andy.