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Parallels Stop or Suspend?

M

Mr.MacJr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2012
12
0
Hello all,

Couple questions regarding how Parallels works. My current setup is the MBPr 512gb SSD 2.3ghz 8gb RAM... Currently have 2 CPU's and 3GB RAM designated to Parallels (and run it mostly in Coherence). From what I understand, the CPU's and RAM are only designated to Parallels when I have it running, correct? When it's not, my computer is getting the full amount of memory and CPU's? Also, what's the difference between when exiting out of Parallels, stopping or suspending it? I assume stopping completely quits it out? While suspending pauses it? But what power is lost/gained when doing so? Any help would be great, I'm obviously new to the Parallels game. Thanks

Also, anyone experienced with Parallels who has tips or tricks that are useful, feel free to spread the wealth.
 
Last edited:
Stooby Mcdoobie

Stooby Mcdoobie

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
834
45
Suspending a VM saves its state so it can resume right from where you left off. Think of it like putting your computer to sleep.

Stopping a VM is equivalent to shutting it down. You will have to go through the boot sequence next time you want to use it.

In both cases, the memory and CPU are allocated back to your Mac. I would recommend the latter if you're virtualizing a boot camp partition.
 
M

Mr.MacJr

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 11, 2012
12
0
Stoobie, so from what you said I'm getting that both Suspend and Stop will allocate all computing power/memory to my Macbook? I'm not running the VM on a Bootcamp partition. I'm pretty much just using Parallels for a couple programs for work that will not run on OS X. I assume then Suspend would make the most sense?
 
Stooby Mcdoobie

Stooby Mcdoobie

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2012
834
45
That is correct. If you go to Activity Monitor, you should see that the VM is no longer taking resources when it's suspended.

Also, I was talking about one of the features Parallels has regarding boot camp. If you set up a boot camp partition, you can use Parallels to *convert* it to a VM and access it both through Parallels and by booting into it separately from OS X. The only caveat to this is that if you suspend it in Parallels, it can cause issues if you try to boot into the partition itself. Otherwise, it's pretty neat.
 
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