Parallels 4.0 very sluggish

[Pokernut]

When I first started using Parallels several months ago my Windows XP ran great and I had no problems. But recently it has become very sluggish and lags a lot. I'm using a Mac mini with 4gb of ram and have allocated Parallels to use the max 2876mb in the settings.

If anyone knows any tips to speed it up I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[rgarjr]

sounds like you need to drop the memory size on it. I've always wondered what is the best settings to set the memory at.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

Can you reset your settings to default?

 

[Pokernut]

The settings are at default.

So you think I should give Parallels less than 2876mb?

 

[Bill Gates]

The settings are at default.

So you think I should give Parallels less than 2876mb?

Yes, that is definitely a start. I would lower that to 2048MB maximum, but what are you doing under Windows that caused you to set the memory so high in the first place? Perhaps you need even less. 1024MB may be optimal, and I would try that unless you know you need more. If I remember correctly, only the newest Mac Mini has a 64-bit chipset, so unless you are using a new Nvidia Mac Mini, the maximum memory your system can address is slightly more than 3GB anyway, so 2876MB is far too much for those older systems.

Also, are you using Windows XP from a Boot Camp partition or from a virtual disk? I don't know how much fragmentation affects virtual disks, but certainly if it's from a Boot Camp partition, defragment often.

 

[Pokernut]

I'm using the new mini.. I just assumed giving it 2876mb would make Windows run faster but obviously I'm wrong. I'll try lowering the memory and see if that works out.

Thanks for the help.