Memory Allocation Problems...

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by buske, Oct 25, 2006.

  1. buske

    buske Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    I used the Parallels 15 day trial with no problem. Now, I'm running the boxed software with only one VM of XP on my Macbook w/ 512MB RAM. When I first set up the VM, I was instructed that 192MB is the maximum recommended. Now, after every seemingly minor change I make, that number goes way down (to 140 and now 88MB). Am I doing something wrong, here? Any help is much appreciate.

    Buske
     
  2. Andrew @ Parallels

    Andrew @ Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,507
    Please check your reserved memory limit in menu Preferences->Memory. What value is set now? Try to set maximum possible value there.
     
  3. buske

    buske Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Set Memory to 256MB

    System runs like molasses. Gotta be something simple, as I had NO problem with the 15-day trial version.
     
  4. Andrew @ Parallels

    Andrew @ Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,507
    buske,

    I still have no clear picture on what is going on. Could you please answer a number of questions?

    1. Which build number you used during 15-day evaluation? What was your memory configuration (RAM in VM and resevred in Preferences)?
    2. Which build number do you use now? What is your memory configuration now? (you said 256M reserved and what for VM?)
    3. Did anything changed since your evaluation in your Mac OS X - may be you istalled some new apps?
    4. What about VT setting? Is set in VM config Options->VM flags? Is it on after booting in About->Advanced?
     
  5. buske

    buske Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    I think I see where you're going, here...

    Andrew-

    Thanks for the quick reply.

    1. My Download Manager lists Parallels Desktop Mac 1848 (build number?) I did not tweak the recommended settings on the trial version, and I think it recommended 192MB or maybe 244MB. What's the difference between "RAM in VM" and "reserved in Preferences"?

    2. Current build: 1848.2. 140MB Reserved and 256MB for the VM (Is this the problem? If I only have 140MB reserved, the VM cannot use 256?)

    3. No new apps. I got the boxed version of the software and installed it one day after the 15-day trial version expired.

    4. VT is ON and acceleration is set to high.

    Thanks for your help on this one.

    Nick
     
  6. Andrew @ Parallels

    Andrew @ Parallels Parallels Team

    Messages:
    1,507
    This is your problem. You should set reserved limit to maximum (244M) and set VM 192M. It will boost your performance for sure!
     
  7. DaveB

    DaveB Member

    Messages:
    33
    Andrew-
    Can you provide a simple chart somewhere in the Forum with three columns that displays the current recommended configuration for Installed RAM, Reserved RAM and Memory in VM for the most recent Build? Or if you already provide that info please indicate where. Thank you.

    David
     
  8. joem

    joem Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,247
    Those recommendations depend on what you are doing with the VM(s). You need a reserved memory limit greater (by some amount that someone suggested was 200 meg or so) than the sum of the memory assigned to all the VMs you are running at one time. How much memory you assign to a VM depends on what you are doing with it, and how much installed RAM you have on your machine. It has nothing to do with the Parallels build unless you have more than 2 GIG ram installed, in which case you need 1940 or better, but this has to do with installed RAM, not allocations.

    You need to try different values to see what works for you. I found that 768 meg for Win2k and about 900 reserved memory limit works well for me. Giving the VM less slows it down, and giving it more slows OSX without improving VM performance.
     

Share This Page