Very Slow VPC

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T.L.Miller - 14 Dec 2004 00:15 GMT

I have installed the 7.0 upgrade on my G5 iMac (10.3.6) and allotted it
about 500 megs of RAM and it is slow. A good deal slower than I
remember 6.0 was on a TiBook 400.

Any obvious solution?

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Barry Margolin - 14 Dec 2004 00:52 GMT

> I have installed the 7.0 upgrade on my G5 iMac (10.3.6) and allotted it
> about 500 megs of RAM and it is slow. A good deal slower than I
> remember 6.0 was on a TiBook 400.
>
> Any obvious solution?

You might want to ask in microsoft.public.mac.virtualpc.

ISTR a FAQ that lists ways to improve VPC performance, try googling for
it. One of the suggestions was to reduce the size of the virtual
machine's RAM.

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Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***

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Davoud - 14 Dec 2004 01:47 GMT

T.L.Miller:

> I have installed the 7.0 upgrade on my G5 iMac (10.3.6) and allotted it
> about 500 megs of RAM and it is slow. A good deal slower than I
> remember 6.0 was on a TiBook 400.
> Any obvious solution?

One very obvious one, but probably not the one you are looking for.
Give it up and get a cheap PeeCee. By its very nature VPC is a poor
second to the real thing. I added an inexpensive PeeCee laptop to my
Mac network, and much as I hate the thing, it's good enough for what
it's for.

Davoud

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usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

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Per Rønne - 14 Dec 2004 05:59 GMT

> T.L.Miller:
> > I have installed the 7.0 upgrade on my G5 iMac (10.3.6) and allotted it
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Mac network, and much as I hate the thing, it's good enough for what
> it's for.

Furthermore, you can use Remote Desktop Connection to have your PC on
the Mac screen, and to copy-and-paste between the two environments. A
free download from Microsoft.

In general, I think, VPC is best on a Mac laptop when you need a few
Windows programs. Like the Oxford English Dictionary.

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Per Erik Rønne

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BobG - 06 Jan 2005 14:53 GMT

Per,

>>T.L.Miller:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> In general, I think, VPC is best on a Mac laptop when you need a few
> Windows programs. Like the Oxford English Dictionary.

This sounded like an intriguing solution. But I looked on MS's website
and it appears that a "Remote Desktop Connection Client" is needed to
control the Windows computer. But MS does not offer a version for the
Mac. In addition, the PC needs to be running XP Professional.

Or am I misunderstanding the requirements?

Bob

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Per Rønne - 06 Jan 2005 15:15 GMT

> This sounded like an intriguing solution. But I looked on MS's website
> and it appears that a "Remote Desktop Connection Client" is needed to
> control the Windows computer. But MS does not offer a version for the
> Mac. In addition, the PC needs to be running XP Professional.
>
> Or am I misunderstanding the requirements?

In part. A Remote Desktop Connection program /does/ exist for the MacOS
X. But it is necessary to run XP Pro {or one of the Windows Servers} to
use it.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remote
desktopclient

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Per Erik Rønne

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Brenna Hughes - 07 Jan 2005 11:37 GMT

> > This sounded like an intriguing solution. But I looked on MS's website
> > and it appears that a "Remote Desktop Connection Client" is needed to
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> X. But it is necessary to run XP Pro {or one of the Windows Servers} to
> use it.

I don't know if it's just my configuration but I recently found that if
another user is already at the remote computer and logged in, I can't
login remotely, unless they logoff.

The RDC thing is useful but I miss VPC, it has a lot of features that
make it much more useful than a physical computer. Not the least of
which is integration between the two Operating Systems and space (and
energy) savings from not having to setup another station. I also like
the idea of making the PC "just another application"

I have a PC in another room here and RDC just doesn't cut it for a lot
of things. I use it so infrequently, if I want to use it I have to
power it up and login so the wireless is setup. Then I can use RDC or
manually transfer files. RDC is slow using wireless but I don't want to
run Ethernet cable. VPC is much less of a hassle.

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If you *really* need to e-mail me, send it to:
usenet at hughesvideo dot com

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Per Rønne - 07 Jan 2005 21:25 GMT

> > > This sounded like an intriguing solution. But I looked on MS's website
> > > and it appears that a "Remote Desktop Connection Client" is needed to
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> another user is already at the remote computer and logged in, I can't
> login remotely, unless they logoff.

It's an XP Pro matter. Use one of the server options instead. Like
Windows Server 2003.

> The RDC thing is useful but I miss VPC, it has a lot of features that
> make it much more useful than a physical computer. Not the least of
> which is integration between the two Operating Systems and space (and
> energy) savings from not having to setup another station. I also like
> the idea of making the PC "just another application"

It's just slow, but of course it's an option. Especially useful on a Mac
laptop.

> I have a PC in another room here and RDC just doesn't cut it for a lot
> of things. I use it so infrequently, if I want to use it I have to
> power it up and login so the wireless is setup. Then I can use RDC or
> manually transfer files. RDC is slow using wireless but I don't want to
> run Ethernet cable. VPC is much less of a hassle.

I've got ethernet cables, and at present I use 100 Mb/s switches to
connect the computers and to connect the intranet to the router and
internet. My Mac and my Windows laptop has 1 Gb/s ethernet cards so I
plan on getting a Gb/s switch - this will make screen updates much
quicker.

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Per Erik Rønne

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BobG - 10 Jan 2005 21:44 GMT

>>This sounded like an intriguing solution. But I looked on MS's website
>>and it appears that a "Remote Desktop Connection Client" is needed to
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> http://www.microsoft.com/mac/otherproducts/otherproducts.aspx?pid=remote
> desktopclient

Ahh, the possibilities are multiplying. I had been using a PC for work
and financial stuff. Last summer I bought a G4 Powerbook to replace the
PC and relegated the PC to family stuff (games, email, etc.). A few
weeks ago, I bought the dual-G5 2.5 for additional family use and video
editing.

I have decided I need to get a portfolio management program (Captools)
that is only made for Windows. I would like to be able to continue to
do all of my financial stuff on the laptop. I read that VPC6 is very
slow so I had been waiting for VPC7 to use on the G5. I figured I could
export reports from Captools into a format I could access from the
laptop over my local network (802.11g).

My ears (eyes?) perked up when I read that I could access a Windows
computer with Remote Desktop Client and run software on the computer.
It would be handy to run Captools from my laptop using VPC7 on the G5
with Win XP Pro and Remote Desktop Client on my laptop. (The PC I have
is too old to run XP.) However, I have read Brenna's and others
comments that VPC7 isn't so fast, especially over a wireless network,
which is how I will start out. (Might have a wired network after home
remodeling.)

So I am wondering if I should go for VPC7 on the G5 and access over the
network or if I would be better off running VPC directly on the laptop.
Any opinions?

If from the laptop, would I be better off with VP6?

(or if someone knows of a really good portfolio management program for
the Mac, that would make things much simpler. Quicken is not a candidate.)

BobG

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sbt - 10 Jan 2005 22:37 GMT

> So I am wondering if I should go for VPC7 on the G5 and access over the
> network or if I would be better off running VPC directly on the laptop.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> (or if someone knows of a really good portfolio management program for
> the Mac, that would make things much simpler. Quicken is not a candidate.)

Frankly, I've found VPC's performance to be quite reasonable on a G4,
if it contains enough RAM, that RAM is accessible to VPC (other apps
not using it up), and VPC set to emulate a PC with at least 512MB
(preferably 1GB) of RAM. The default configuration for VPC really
bites, performance-wise, but that's because it is configured as if
assuming that your Mac is a basic model with only about 256MB
installed.

It's not as fast as my Toshiba (2.8GHz Pentium IV with 1GB), but a lot
faster than my 700MHz PIII with 256MB, when running on a 1.25GHz G4. I
haven't upgraded to the G5 version for my 2GHz dualie yet because I
don't use VPC all that often.

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Spenser

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Dave Hinz - 10 Jan 2005 22:43 GMT

><much snipped>
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> Frankly, I've found VPC's performance to be quite reasonable on a G4,

Same here.

> if it contains enough RAM, that RAM is accessible to VPC (other apps
> not using it up), and VPC set to emulate a PC with at least 512MB
> (preferably 1GB) of RAM. The default configuration for VPC really
> bites, performance-wise, but that's because it is configured as if
> assuming that your Mac is a basic model with only about 256MB
> installed.

Exactly. And 256MB doesn't work on a PC running native on Intel
hardware, so why would people expect it to not suck when emulated?

> It's not as fast as my Toshiba (2.8GHz Pentium IV with 1GB), but a lot
> faster than my 700MHz PIII with 256MB, when running on a 1.25GHz G4.

My numbers are similar. I get performance like my P2-450 on a G4-800
with VPC.

> I
> haven't upgraded to the G5 version for my 2GHz dualie yet because I
> don't use VPC all that often.

Once I finally migrated the last of my needs off of Windows software,
I haven't used it. Probably been months, and I'm sure I'll need to
install a ton of windows updates if I ever do bring it back up.

Dave Hinz

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Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / January 2005

Very Slow VPC