XP crawls and then stops

Parallels with XP pro was working fine but in the last few days when I try to use parallels, xp will open but if I try to do something in windows it gets slower and slower then stops. The indicators at the foot which show disc activity stop flashing. If I leave parallels open in this state the mac also runs very very slowly and the mac timer comes up all the time - any ideas?

 

Hello,

You should check if the VT-x support is enabled for the virtual machine. Launch Parallels Desktop for Mac, select the virtual machine and click any link in the Configuration page. You will see Options at the very top of the list. Make sure that the Enable Intel VT-x support option is selected.Please, try to check the following:

1. Set memory for Virtual Machine to less than 1 GB
2. Perform Mac and Windows side disk defragmentation http://www.xvsxp.com/system/system_tools_defrag.php
3. Set Adjust memory limit from Auto to Manual at Parallels Desktop -Preferences-Memory, and set limit a bit more higher than VM memory
4. Disable Themes in Windows XP serives.msc stop Themes service
5. If you are running in Coherence, try to switch to Single Window, or lower Mac resolution
6. Some antivirus software can load CPU when Heuristic Prediction is set, or Tamper protection (Symantec, MacAffey), adjust settings to risk you are supposed, high security settings is not always good idea, as it can also affect software running
7. Run msconfig , and disable unneeded startup items
See http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.html
8. Make sure that no VNC,or remote desktop connection is established to Mac, this can slowdown Parallels Desktop

 

Very many thanks - the defrag seems to have got things moving again but I am having problems with the window size - when I switch to full screen mode the windows desktop is still very small. I am still getting the apple timer and it has crashed once since I did the defrag. Alas I do not know what VNC is or even how to check if there is a remote desktop link with the mac. What's the best screen resolution for the mac? the only one that fits my mac book is 1152 x 720

 

Please reinstall Parallels Tools

 

Re install

I have reinstalled the desk top and the same thing happens - the parallels screen is not the full screen size with a big black border around it. Also the speed is an issue as the mac timer comes up for 10 seconds every word i type in this reply whilst paralells is open so I've had to close it.

 

Wait I am not talking about Parallels Desktop, I am talking about Parallels Tools,
When you in Windows -Action - Install Parallels Tools