Win 10 in Virtual Box cripples MBP forces restart

[ben824]

I have a late 2011 MBP 13" i5 with a 1TB Hybrid drive and the stock 4GB of Ram (16GB upgrade in the mail currently) and I have tried to run Windows 10 in Virtual Box but every time I try and run it, it cripples my Mac to the point it freezes up solid and I have to do a force restart the computer. I originally upgraded the Windows 7 virtual machine I already had been running. The Windows 7 machine ran ok but it still bogged down my Mac and I couldn't jump back and forth easily from the Windows 7 machine to OS X doing multiple tasks between the two. If I was going to run the Windows 7 machine, I needed to stick with it until I was finished with my tasks and then shut it down before moving back to OS X. Windows 10 doesn't even afford me that luxury. I tried doing a fresh install on a new Virtual Machine of Windows 10 from a Windows 10 .ios file and as soon as I created the machine and booted it to start the installation process, it froze the computer at the very first option screen past the opening Windows logo.

Is the i5 in my machine just not powerful enough to run this anymore or is the RAM what is crippling me here?

 

[chrfr]

Is the i5 in my machine just not powerful enough to run this anymore or is the RAM what is crippling me here?

You need the RAM. How much memory is allocated to the virtual machine?

 

[ben824]

You need the RAM. How much memory is allocated to the virtual machine?

I allocated the minimum 2GB but I know it would run better at 4GB but I only have 4GB total on my MBP right now. I do have 16GB on order in the mail but it hasn't arrived yet. I just wanted to make sure that even with the RAM upgrade to allocate more to it, that my MBP has the power to run it with the i5. Its a 2 core 2.4 GHz i5 so I am just trying to make sure its up to the task of running everything.

 

[kschendel]

Once you get the memory in there it will be OK. VirtualBox doesn't seem to run Windows as well as some other VM's (empirically it seems a bit slow) but it ought to function without any problems.

 

[flyinmac]

I've always found VirtualBox to be buggy. It's fine if you need a free solution and can deal with the occasional glitch.

I prefer VMware Fusion. But it is expensive (by comparison).

Parallels works also. Just not my personal preference.

 

[ben824]

Well the 16GB RAM worked! Runs great now! I looked at activity monitor and it seems even macOS Sierra even needs more than 4GB or RAM because it seems to use around 5GB consistently.

 

[MBP_187]

Well the 16GB RAM worked! Runs great now! I looked at activity monitor and it seems even macOS Sierra even needs more than 4GB or RAM because it seems to use around 5GB consistently.

Congrats!

Similar scenario here; similar MBP (Late 2011), i5, with 512 Gb SSD, had 4 Gb RAM, recently upgraded to 16 Gb.

Upgraded RAM for the sole purpose of running Windows thru VirtualBox. (and Bootcamp later on)

I might have Qs for you later, learnt from this thread, thank you.

 

[ben824]

Congrats!

Similar scenario here; similar MBP (Late 2011), i5, with 512 Gb SSD, had 4 Gb RAM, recently upgraded to 16 Gb.

Upgraded RAM for the sole purpose of running Windows thru VirtualBox. (and Bootcamp later on)

I might have Qs for you later, learnt from this thread, thank you.

Let me know! I'll help the best I can.

 

[MBP_187]

Let me know! I'll help the best I can.

Hi ben824,

Thank you for extending your help, I appreciate it.

I am reading the guide : http://osxdaily.com/2015/03/25/install-run-windows-10-mac-virtualbox-os-x/

One difference is that, you are using Sierra, whereas I am using Yosemite, still I hope you can answer a few Qs:

1. How much RAM should I allocate for Windows 10? I see you intend to use 4Gb(?)

FYI : I have an Andriod emulator (Andy) installed in VirtualBox, allocated 2 Gb to it.

2. Is the link posted in above article 'current' for Windows 10 download? Do you recommend any link for downloading Win 10 iso?

3. How is you user experiance? I primary use Word/Excel in Windows.

Thanks in Advance for the replies.

 

[ben824]

Hi ben824,

Thank you for extending your help, I appreciate it.

I am reading the guide : http://osxdaily.com/2015/03/25/install-run-windows-10-mac-virtualbox-os-x/

One difference is that, you are using Sierra, whereas I am using Yosemite, still I hope you can answer a few Qs:

1. How much RAM should I allocate for Windows 10? I see you intend to use 4Gb(?)

FYI : I have an Andriod emulator (Andy) installed in VirtualBox, allocated 2 Gb to it.

2. Is the link posted in above article 'current' for Windows 10 download? Do you recommend any link for downloading Win 10 iso?

3. How is you user experiance? I primary use Word/Excel in Windows.

Thanks in Advance for the replies.

I ended up allocating 6GBs of RAM to Windows 10 since I had plenty to spare. Windows 10 needs a minimum but I wanted to make sure it had a bit more than the minimum to run efficiently and like I said, I had plenty to spare. I downloaded Windows 10 .iso right from Microsoft. You can download the .iso from them for free. When it asked for a Product Key, I chose the proceed without key option. Still hasn't asked me for a Product Key yet since then. I am sure this may be an issue of some kind at some point but since it isn't my main machine and I just use it for the very rare occasions that my Mac is not compatible, I don't see this being a big issue for me. The user experience has been good but I haven't used Word or Excel yet so I cannot comment but the UI of Win 10 seems to work without a problem. Make sure when you install it, you go through and install the "Guest Additions" for Win 10 and Virtual box. This way it will fill out the whole screen when running the virtual machine and not be downsized.

 

[MBP_187]

I ended up allocating 6GBs of RAM to Windows 10 since I had plenty to spare. Windows 10 needs a minimum but I wanted to make sure it had a bit more than the minimum to run efficiently and like I said, I had plenty to spare. I downloaded Windows 10 .iso right from Microsoft. You can download the .iso from them for free. When it asked for a Product Key, I chose the proceed without key option. Still hasn't asked me for a Product Key yet since then. I am sure this may be an issue of some kind at some point but since it isn't my main machine and I just use it for the very rare occasions that my Mac is not compatible, I don't see this being a big issue for me. The user experience has been good but I haven't used Word or Excel yet so I cannot comment but the UI of Win 10 seems to work without a problem. Make sure when you install it, you go through and install the "Guest Additions" for Win 10 and Virtual box. This way it will fill out the whole screen when running the virtual machine and not be downsized.

Thanks ben824.

I am downloading Windows 10 from the MS site , as you suggested. I am downloading 64 bit version, is that correct? (wow its a big file, may need to re-download or continue when back home). Good to know about the Product key, thanks.

What is minimum RAM requirements for Win 10? As I mentioned before, I recently upgraded to 16 Gb (from 4Gb).

Where should I install the "Guest Additions" from? I was going to ask you how to make it so that it shows full screen, thanks for that.

Thank you.

 

[MBP_187]

Just to update : Have successfully installed Windows 10 on my late 2011 MBP (Yosemite), through VirtualBox. I allocated 4 Gb RAM (for starters), have installed the 'Guest Additions' (thanks ben824).

Windows 10 is running smooth, so far. I am really enjoying the 'drag & drop' between my Yosemite desktop and Win 10 desktop, its making my office work much easier.