Performance on MBA with Lion

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by BrianS9, Jul 27, 2011.

  1. BrianS9

    BrianS9 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Ever since upgrading to Lion, performance of my 64 bit Windows 7 bootcamp virtual has been terrible. Prior to Lion, I never once had a single issue with performance. I have even upped the allocated RAM and that has had no impact. Is any else having issues with with setup? It's killing productivity and is almost unusable. Every so often Windows will just hang for between 10 - 60 seconds.
     
  2. Geesu

    Geesu Member

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    76
    I just installed the 6.0.12094 update and I'm really regretting it. My XP Pro install its CRAWLING, I can't even use it
     
  3. hackmodford

    hackmodford Junior Member

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    Try reinstalling parallels tools. Usually fixes problems like that for me.
     
  4. BrianS9

    BrianS9 Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Unfortunately no dice. I reinstalled, and did a complete uninstall reinstall of the parallels tools. Performance is still borderline unusable. It's weird. It will be fine for a while, and will then all of a sudden dog down for 60 to 90 seconds. If it were just a second or two lag here and there it would be a different story. Again, I never experienced a single issue like this when using Snow Leopard. Not good.
     
  5. geofcorb

    geofcorb Junior Member

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    16
    +1

    I am experiencing *exactly* the same thing that you describe with what sounds like an identical setup-- MacBook Air (1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD) running 64-bit Windows 7 on a bootcamp partition. Prior to the Lion upgrade, performance was phenomenal-- not as good as running Windows 7 solo on the machine, but well within acceptable performance limits. Since the upgrade to Lion, performance has been *terrible*.

    Hoping the fine Parallels folks are monitoring... I'll be glad to provide details to help troubleshoot.
     
  6. twynne

    twynne Hunter

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    155
    Not sure if this is useful, but thought I'd add that I have a similar config and I'm *not* having these issues. My setup:

    Macbook Air 1.8ghz with 256gb SSD, 4gb memory
    Lion
    Parallels 6.0.12094
    Windows 7 Pro Sp1 64-bit
    1gb memory allocated to VM

    I do occasionally find the VM consumes a bit more than normal CPU, but in my case it's Lotus Notes that's the culprit.

    If I can answer any questions or help compare let me know.

    Tom
     
  7. geofcorb

    geofcorb Junior Member

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    That's interesting. My performance has become abysmal-- and I have twice the memory allocated to my VM (2GB). 1.6GHz CPU, but I can't imagine that makes all that much of a difference.
     
  8. twynne

    twynne Hunter

    Messages:
    155
    That *is* interesting... mine generally performs very well as above. As you say, I can't imagine the difference between the 1.6 and 1.8 is that significant. How many CPU's have you allocated to the machine, and is hypervisor enabled?

    My settings:

    1 CPU
    'Faster Mac'
    Hypervisor enabled
    Tune Windows for speed enabled

    Not sure if a factor, but I also use Shared networking. I also tend to run either Windowed or Full screen (not Coherence or otherwise).

    Anything else I can answer?
     
  9. I have a 2010 MBA 13 inch 1.86Ghz 2Gb RAM. Running 32 bit Windows 7 Premium in Parallels 6 on Lion and previous to that Snow Leopard. I have to save the things I have noticed is that when I run Windows 7 and use IE 9 I find a very slow response to load a web page. Sometimes I think it hangs. It was doing it in IE8 too. As some of the Apple forums indicate that Lion does slow some computers down and nobody has found a spacific fix for everybody. Not sure about Parallels but from what they official state. Parallels 6 runs OK in Lion but does not work with all of Lions new features? That tells me that Parallels has some work to do yet. It also means that Lion may also have some bugs to work out. When you combine the two your bound to have slow downs and glitches. I have certainly had my share. But I accept them because I choose to not wait for Lion to mature more before upgrading.
     
  10. geofcorb

    geofcorb Junior Member

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    16
    I've got 1 CPU, faster VM, enable hypervisor, tune windows for speed, better performance on battery. Using Window or, principally, full screen. Aero graphics enabled.
     
  11. Better after re install

    I ended up doing a clean install of Lion and then re installed Parallels 6 and Windows 7. I think its better then the first try. Not sure if the fact I upgraded from Parallels 5 to 6 and then upgraded to Lion from Snow Leopard was the issue.
    Still the Virtual Machine is using 1.8GB with just IE 9 and Windows 7 running. No Apps running in OS X. I know my RAM is the big weakness but the 2010 MBA cannot upgrade RAM. So it is what it is.
     
  12. geofcorb

    geofcorb Junior Member

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    16
    patience is a virtue, i guess

    I've upgraded to Parallels 7 and my performance woes have disappeared. It's all better. :)
     

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