virtual pc optimization help (please!)

[kevinuaa]

first of all, thanks to everyone in advance for their suggestions.

I have a rev c 12" PB 1.3ghz w/768 memory. i'd like to use virtual pc essentially to run a program called "DR eye" which is a instant translation dictionary for Chinese (traditional). However, after optimizing Virtual PC as per MS's instructions (except for Virtual memory, i'm not sure how to turn that off) i'm still running too slow to function--with all mac os apps closed. I have to use this program with ms word, and it basically is unusable, even though on my 2000 P3 500mhz compac laptop, running both programs only takes 4% of cpu power total [[[side note: by the way using the pc laptop isn't an option. it's on its last legs, it is very slow, not portable (needs external keyboard, the front/top is open (you can see the CPU, etc......and the power chord needs to be plugged in)]]].

However, virtual pc shows that winxp is using 100% of CPU power just by itself--with no programs running...that sounds strange to me, especially b/c the numbers don't add up in the task manager. Using the Mac OS activity monitor it's only using about 40-61% of cpu power (though it did go up to 90% during start up)....it's fluctuating between using 300 and 480 MBs of memory....Anyway, task manager shows that out of 512mb available of memory, 370mb are available

Can anyone give me some suggestions as to how to use this program? it really shouldn't be so difficult. it sometimes takes a couple minutes just to open a file. erg.
i did notice thta there were three svchost.exes running.

i think this may have been covered before but i was unable to find relevant posts. but i did look!


i feel like i just blew a lot of money. i probably should have just bought a cheap laptop. d'oh.


i should add the following info:
hardware info shows my cpu is 294Mhz.
i switched to word pad, and made all of the display options (background, windows, resolution, etc.) as ghetto as possible. still problems. thanks

 

[coconn06]

If you do a search on the forums, there are threads (at least one) that link to methods to improve performance of Virtual PC.

One suggestion, if this is possible at all for you, use Windows 2000 instead of XP. I've heard Win2k performs much better.

 

[vga4life]

1. Set up your virtual pc with a fixed-size disk image. (i.e. don't use the dynamic allocation option)
2. Use Win2k if possible. Win98SE is another option. Windows XP is simply too slow on VPC.
3. Because you've only got 768 MB ram, consider allocating 384 MB to the virtual pc, rather than 512 MB.
4. Remember, the virtual PC is still a PC. The very first thing you should do after installing windows is to go to Windows Update and install all the critical patches. Keep installing patches, rebooting, and going back to Windows Update until no more critical updates are available for install. It's possible your virtual PC image has been infected by a worm or other malware.

Hope this helps,
-vga4life