Parallels or Windows freezing - not sure, but getting annoyed

J

JasonH3

Junior Member
As of recently (last two weeks it seems) I have been getting intermittent freezing. Sometimes its once a day, other times its 3+ times a day, and I am not sure if it is Parallels or if it is Windows related. I am working in a CAD program, and out of the blue, it's as if my screen is frozen. I have dual monitors (one being windows, one being MacOS). On the Mac side, it runs fine/normal. Windows side, it's as if everything is frozen, minus the cursor that's coming from the MacOS side. The cursor within windows is frozen. I am not able to even get the dock that I typically hide for the MacOS to appear when on the Windows side when it is frozen. When the system is not frozen, I can get the dock to appear if I have the cursor at the bottom of the monitor long enough. It works fine within the monitor with the MacOS running.

The only way to "fix" is to for the MacOS to restart. This will end up causing the Windows side to be suspended, or that's what appears as it is reloading, once I have restarted. Never had this issue before, and the only thing I can think of is it is somehow due to Ventura.

If I go under Activity Monitor, neither Parallels or Windows is running/consuming more than say 10% of CPU when it freezes.

Any help would be appreciated.

Current Build/System:
MacBook Pro 2019 - 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB
MacOS 13.0.1
Parallels 18.0.3 - If I check for an update, it says none are available, even though I am seeing something about 18.1 on the forums. (Maybe its not an update for my system).
 
I just wanted to add this...

I am able to "quit" Windows as well as Parallels from the drop-down box within the respective application. Yet my screen on the Windows side of things remains there, as if I have not closed things down and it is still frozen. Not sure how the screen or display is maintaining the "image" even though things are supposedly shut down.
 
I was able to update Parallels to 18.1, and I thought that had fixed it, as there were no issues after that. Unfortunately that lasted for 24 hours, as I have had the system freeze on me 2 times within a 3 hour period today. Still don't know if this is Windows freezing, or Parallels. I have even moved some files to my desktop in lieu of my desktop NAS, thinking that maybe it was something to do with the NAS and saving. Still getting the freeze. At a loss as to what to do other than open a ticket.
 
I created another thread which similar issues, except I get freezing/interruptions almost every minute. Also happened in last ~2 weeks, so no idea if it was Parallels or Windows update.
 
Another follow-up.... I made the decision to do a complete wipe of the MacOS and start over with the computer. Essentially taking it back to factory settings. I am thinking it was more on the Mac side of things than Parallels, as I was starting to notice my computer was almost daily shutting down due to an error, or that was the message I kept getting. Since wiping everything, reloading everything (don't forget to save your VM prior), it has been running much smoother. Loads faster, etc. Will see after a week or more if I get an issues, but so far I have been in the clear. While not always the easiest or best to lose a day of work saving everything, wiping everything, and reloading. I think in the long run if thats what helps, then it was well worth it.
 
To keep my thread going, I am back to multiple times a day, where parallels appears to freeze. The only way I can get anything to happen is to restart my MBP.
When I say freeze, my virtual machine is essentially frozen. Everything on the MacOS is fine.

Looking for any thoughts/input.
 
As I continue to document my issues....
So once again things froze up on me, and while I go back and forth as to who/what is causing this.. I am starting to lean now toward the Mac side of things. If I click "Control Center" (right click on Parallels app) it gives me a pop-up window that shows the VM or what is happening within that screen. If I put my cursor in the VM and either click around, try to open apps, I can see it moving or opening within the pop-up window (preview). So Windows/Parallels is not freezing up it would appear. It's something to do with my display freezing. I can't imagine its the monitor that is doing that, but something within the graphics card of the MBP. Specs are listed above.

Considering this is the only time I have issue with the dual monitor, I am at a loss as to what is causing my issue. Continued to look for thoughts/input from the community.
 
.... well knock on wood, things are going well. I made a change to the refresh rate within MacOS. I have it on 60Hz instead of variable, as that is what my monitors run at. What is strange is why one monitor would stop whereas the other would not. I have also recently updated to MacOS Ventura 13.1. Not sure if that helped to solve things or not, but things are running smoothly to date.
 
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