Hi, I'm testing Parallels 4 for Mac and set up a Windows XP VM with a single processor to test its performance. I noticed that the system event log would register "Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 3 Uniprocessor Free". I benchmarked and tested applications and everything was fine. I then changed the settings to allow the VM use 2 processors and noticed the system event log would register "Microsoft (R) Windows (R) 5.01. 2600 Service Pack 3 Multiprocessor Free". I benchmarked and tested applications and everything was fine and running even faster. After I shutdown the VM and changed the preferences back to 1 processor, I noticed the system event log registered the boot up not with the uniprocessor kernel but the multiprocessor. All the while, the perceived performance hit rock bottom: XP turned slow as molasses. I did boot up and shutdown tens of times and it never reverted to the uniprocessor kernel on its own (only by creating a new VM and reinstalling XP). Is this a Windows problem or a Parallels problem?
That's both problems. XP won't revert properly all by itself to the right kernel and Parallels Desktop won't really help. I have read many work-around for this, but have personally only found two to work: (1) set it back to 2 processors, or (2) while configured for single processor re-install Windows on top of it (will offer to repair the existing configuration and migrate registry).
sorry to jump in here but where and how do I set my VM to have 2 processors ?? I have a dual core macbook, but my WinXP VM shows just a single processor
