programs load ok but run slow on windows 7

[Olliedog00]

I appreciate your patience. Hopefully this is the right file. I started Virtual box, ran the program to find fault, shut it down from the drop-down list on top of the screen right clicked on show log files, zipped it.

[mpack]

Good. The log is complete this time.

Before I go any further, one odd thing I just noticed: you are assigning 6.2GB RAM to a 32bit Windows VM, which is entirely pointless since 32bit Windows can't use more than 4GB, and in fact 2GB should be more than enough for it.

Another problem - non existing shared folder. Invalid network drives could certainly cause Windows to stall for long periods, especially since you still have not assigned multiple cores to the VM.

00:00:02.277685 ERROR [COM]: aRC=NS_ERROR_INVALID_ARG (0x80070057) aIID={872da645-4a9b-1727-bee2-5585105b9eed} aComponent={ConsoleWrap} aText={Shared folder path '/Volumes/old hard disk' does not exist on the host}, preserve=false aResultDetail=0

One question: I see that the VM is on a path "/Users/MikesSSD". Now is that just your username, or does it imply that the VMs are on an external SSD? If the latter, how is the SSD connected to the host?

Oops. Spotted this:

00:00:31.346223 AIOMgr: Host limits number of active IO requests to 16. Expect a performance impact.

An OS X expert would have to comment on what that is about.

And this:

00:00:32.481717 NAT: Guest address guess changed from 10.0.2.15 to 169.254.231.193 by gratuitous arp

Again, Windows can be led into excessive stalls by poor network configurations. The log shows a two minute pause ended by a DHCP message, so if you reproduced the lagginess then it may indeed be network related. Though, it must be said that the entire runtime is only 3 minutes, so it doesn't seem to me that you allowed Windows 7 to stabilize after a single core boot. When I last owned a single core Win7-32bit PC it used to take 20 minutes of disk thrashing before it settled down.

And this:

00:00:34.604128 GUI: UIFrameBufferPrivate::NotifyChange: Screen=0, Origin=0x0, Size=2560x1024, Sending to async-handler

That's a big display size considering that there's no 2D or 3D acceleration configured.

Enough for now I think.

[Olliedog00]

Okay done that.....2048

The old hard disk was the old original computer that was switched off whilst trying to run VB on the new system, hence would probably show a error. Have removed from new system, but no change

[Olliedog00]

There is no SSD in this system, only 1 TB fusion Drive. This is just a file called mikes SSD. The original or computer had an SSD but this is totally separate.

[socratis]

To recap...

• VM Settings » Display » Enable 2D/3D acceleration. And reinstall the Guest Additions. Already mentioned earlier.
• Do not enter full screen. Try something smaller; too many pixels to move around. Mentioned a couple of times already.
• As mpack said, ~3.5 GB is the max. usable. You reduced it to 2 GB, great.
• You could definitely afford a 2nd CPU for your VM. You have 4 cores on your host. Your VM is going to be grateful.
• Eject the Guest Additions CD once you're done with the installation.
• You have a folder in your root directory called "/PROGRAM SOFTWARE/"? Why? This is against all advice, security-wise and not! Have you disabled SIP on your host?

  00:00:02.277251 SharedFolders host service: Adding host mapping
  00:00:02.277261     Host path '/PROGRAM SOFTWARE/VIRTUALBOX', map name 'VIRTUALBOX', writable, automount=false, create_symlinks=false, missing=false

Oops. Spotted this:

00:00:31.346223 AIOMgr: Host limits number of active IO requests to 16. Expect a performance impact.

An OS X expert would have to comment on what that is about.

I believe his is not OSX specific. I have it in a couple of my logs, and in all of them the common denominator is that I have not enabled the "Use Host I/O Cache" in the SATA controller. If I have the cache enabled, I don't get that. Anyone care to verify if it's an OSX-only entry or not?

[mpack]

Oops. Spotted this:

00:00:31.346223 AIOMgr: Host limits number of active IO requests to 16. Expect a performance impact.

An OS X expert would have to comment on what that is about.

I believe his is not OSX specific. I have it in a couple of my logs, and in all of them the common denominator is that I have not enabled the "Use Host I/O Cache" in the SATA controller. If I have the cache enabled, I don't get that. Anyone care to verify if it's an OSX-only entry or not?

My Win7Pro-64bit VM does not have this option ticked and does not log this message on a Win10 host. So, not host OS agnostic. I'd say it's an OS X host special, but perhaps controlled by that switch - I have no way to test its effect except on Windows hosts.

I guess that the nature of the host drive could make a difference too. That particular Win7 VM is on a SATA-SSD.

[socratis]

I'd say it's an OS X host special

Thanks for testing this mpack! My WinPC is (yet again) dead at the moment, so I can't test it on a Win host. i think you're right then, it seems to be an OSX host thing...

I guess that the nature of the host drive could make a difference too.

The nature of the host drive does not make a difference, I found the logs from my backup from 2015, VirtualBox 5.0.20, when I had another MBP with a mechanical, rotational HD; still the same entry in the log if the "Use Host I/O cache" is not enabled...

[Olliedog00]

You mentioned a second core would be an advantage.
Any directions please on how to install into VB ? Can't see anything of relevance in the wizard for this.
Nothing we have tried so far seems to work, so maybe the second core scenario would be an option.
Also it seems that if the screen is reduced to a size that is totally unusable(600x800), although slow, does not lock up so it seems like a memory problem.
The strange thing is that any apps loaded with the Windows 7 program seem to work okay in fullscreen. (except Internet Explorer 8(or 11) when used with and ActiveX CCTV Monitor program) explorer 8 works fine connected to the Internet for browsing.

Does anybody else have a 2017 5K iMac that does actually work with VB, or am I looking at situation that is only relevant to this particular Machine ? I have a 2011 iMac that although a less resolution screen(2560 x 1440), works perfectly with the same software and settings

Is there anything in the windows program that would affect this ?

[socratis]

Can't see anything of relevance in the wizard for this.

You've already been given the explanation for that, I don't like to repeat things that are already in this very thread. And you were already told once how to increase the CPUs in the VM, but I'll repeat it one more time...

Shut down the VM (not paused, not saved). Go to the VM Settings » System » Processor: increase the number of CPUs. Don't reach the red limit, keep it to minus one from the limit, i.e. set your max to 3, but even with 2 you'll notice the difference. That's how all my VMs are set up.

Also it seems that if the screen is reduced to a size that is totally unusable(600x800), although slow, does not lock up so it seems like a memory problem.

Don't choose the extremes. There are other options in between 2560x1440 and 800x600. You could go for 1280x1024, or 1440x1050 for example. Or something else that's usable...

except Internet Explorer 8(or 11) when used with and ActiveX CCTV Monitor program

Then don't use that combination, simple. It may not be suitable for running in a VM, not everything is. It may have high requirements from the GPU. And your virtual GPU is from the 1995-2000 era, i.e. rudimentary.

Does anybody else have a 2017 5K iMac that does actually work with VB, or am I looking at situation that is only relevant to this particular Machine ?

A lot of people in the forums, I imagine a whole lot more that haven't visited the forums. The idea is to keep your expectations at a logical level.

I have a 2011 iMac that although a less resolution screen(2560 x 1440), works perfectly with the same software and settings

Guess what the difference is? The lower resolution!

[Olliedog00]

Apparently, as I have read, whether is true or not, but Virtual box do not support Retina displays. Any ideas ??

[socratis]

Wherever you read that? Stop reading that site/blog/whatever...
I am on a Retina display, and so is everyone with a Mac built in the last 5 years. Well, the majority...
Retina displays are well and supported, especially on OSX.

[Olliedog00]

Well guys I am at a complete loss. Spent almost 3 days trying to make this work and all your help has been much appreciated. Problem is i load in Parallels everything works first time. Screen in full resolution and really fast but that's going to cost me £80 per year. Apparently no problem with the resolution here so I've no idea why virtual box can't cope with this on my machine, obviously can be done.

I'll keep on trying find a way round this unless anybody got any better ideas..............

[pwiz]

I just had to do some fiddling with a VM on this mac pro box. I was getting a little flustered too as this thing has 16 logical cores and 64 gb's of ram and regardless of what I did, it just seemed wrong... A VM shouldn't be this slow on a system this performant.

Take a look at your VM settings under the Display section. Do you see an option for [HiDPI Support] [ ] Use unscaled HiDPI Output?

If so, try checking that. I'm going to assume that with the High DPI mac displays, this is causing an issue. After checking that, it likely at least doubled the performance of the VM.

Here's my other settings for comparison:

System
- Motherboard
8192mb ram
[x] Enable I/O APIC
[x] Enable EFI (my VM is win 10 64bit.. this one I don't think applies to Win7..)

- Processor
4 cores (out of 16 logical cores)
Exec cap: 100%
[x] Enable PAE/NX

- Acceleration
Paravirtualization interface is default
[x] Enable nested paging

Display
128mb.. put it higher if you want. Didn't seem to be the magic solution in my case.
monitor 1
scale 100%
[x] Use Unscaled HiDPI Output
[x] Enable 3D Acceleration
[x] Enable 2D Video Acceleration

Rest I didn't need to change, other than installing VM additions and also added Oracle VM Extension pack but thats so I could feed a bunch of USB devices in that I needed for specific testing.