Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
Locked
Primokorn
Posts: 8
Joined: 29. Dec 2019, 17:44

Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by Primokorn »

Hello,

HOST:

Code: Select all

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Neon
Description:    KDE neon User Edition 5.19
Release:        20.04
Codename:       focal

Code: Select all

~$ neofetch 
             `..---+/---..`                arnaud@L340-15IRH 
         `---.``   ``   `.---.`            ----------------- 
      .--.`        ``        `-:-.         OS: KDE neon User Edition 5.19 x86_64 
    `:/:     `.----//----.`     :/-        Host: 81LK IdeaPad L340-15IRH Gaming 
   .:.    `---`          `--.`    .:`      Kernel: 5.4.0-45-generic 
`/    .:     `+++++++++++/      /`   `+`   Resolution: 1920x1080 
/+`   --     .++++++++++++`     :.   .+:   DE: Plasma 
`/    .:     `+++++++++++/      /`   `+`   WM: KWin 
 /`    /.     `:++++++++:`     .:    .:    WM Theme: Sweet-Dark 
    `:/:     `.----//----.`     :/-        CPU: Intel i5-9300H (8) @ 2.400GHz 
      .-:.`        ``        `-:-.         GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB Max-Q 
         `---.``   ``   `.---.`            GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 630 
             `..---+/---..`                Memory: 2991MiB / 7841MiB
VirtualBox 6.1.10_Ubuntu r138449
Copy/paste: bidirectional

GUEST:
Windows XP (same issue with Windows 7 and Windows 10)
Freeze while using Microsoft Excel 2010 (same issue with Excel 2016 with Windows 10)

ISSUE:
I often use copy/paste feature to copy data from Excel to my Text editor. After some time (about 20-30s in this example/log), I can no longer switch to the host by clicking on the window in the KDE task bar.
I can switch to KDE windows by pressing Right Ctrl then Alt + Tab. However I can't click on items (select files, move windows...).
The situation lasts 10-30 seconds depending on the version of Excel/Windows and the configuration of the VM.

You will may notice that RAM and the number of CPUs are high for a Windows XP guest but I need power to execute macros in Excel.

If you need further information, request them of course!
Thank you.
Attachments
Windows XP-2020-09-05-18-13-38.zip
(27.57 KiB) Downloaded 16 times
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by scottgus1 »

Primokorn wrote:VirtualBox 6.1.10_Ubuntu r138449
This is the fork of Virtualbox provided by Ubuntu. You probably have Ubuntu's forked Guest Additions installed in XP, too.

Ubuntu supports their forks. Or you could uninstall their forks and try official Virtualbox & GAs from www.virtualbox.org.
Primokorn
Posts: 8
Joined: 29. Dec 2019, 17:44

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by Primokorn »

I understand. I removed the 3 virtualbox packages (virtualbox, virtualbox-dkms and virtualbox-qt) and their dependencies.
Then I installed a .deb file from your official website: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtual ... _amd64.deb
Once Virtualbox ready I also installed the extension pack: https://download.virtualbox.org/virtual ... ox-extpack

But it doesn't help. I recorder a new log.

For what is worth it was pretty long to close the VM due to a process called VBoxSharedClipboardClass. Windows asked me if I wanted to force closed the software.
Attachments
WindowsXP-2020-09-06-10-15-47.zip
(28.02 KiB) Downloaded 11 times
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by scottgus1 »

Definitely something happening with the shared clipboard:
00:00:56.981696 Shared Clipboard: Converting VBox formats 0x7 to 'text/plain;charset=utf-8' for X11 (idxFmtX11=3, fmtX11=3) failed, rc=VERR_TIMEOUT
...
00:01:33.103988 Shared Clipboard: Converting VBox formats 0x1 to 'text/plain;charset=utf-8' for X11 (idxFmtX11=3, fmtX11=3) failed, rc=VERR_TIMEOUT
Maybe out-of-date Guest Additions?
00:00:01.167669 VirtualBox VM 6.1.14 r140239 linux.amd64 (Sep 4 2020 08:48:52) release log
...
00:00:06.776147 VMMDev: Guest Additions information report: Version 5.2.34 r133893 '5.2.34'
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by mpack »

More likely it's the fact that Excel doesn't put plain text on the clipboard like simpler apps do. It creates a COM object to create renderings dynamically. Summary: VirtualBox only supports plain text and images.

Workaround: paste from Excel into a plain text editor on the host (e.g. Notepad or Notepad++), then copy from there to the VM.
Primokorn
Posts: 8
Joined: 29. Dec 2019, 17:44

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by Primokorn »

Sorry for the late reply.

I updated the Guest Additions:

Code: Select all

Guest Additions information report: Version 6.1.14 r140239 '6.1.14'
No changes though.

The workaround is a tricky one since I do a lot of copy/paste. Moreover the windows freeze during several seconds so I can't do anything.
It sometimes happens that the windows are not frozen but the "transfer of data" into the clipboard from guest to host is missing.
moacirrf
Posts: 3
Joined: 28. Dec 2020, 21:37

Re: Windows freezes especially when copy/paste

Post by moacirrf »

I have the same problem on:
Host: Manjaro 21.1.0, Plasma KDE
Guest: WIndows 10
VirtualBox: 6.1.22 r144080 (Qt5.6.1)
Problem: Plasma KDE freezes

I found that problem is more frequently when i copy text on windows and keep the text selected.

I workaround is kill Guest Addiction e start again,
open cmd

Code: Select all

taskkill /IM "VBoxTray.exe" /F
Execute guest addiction again

Code: Select all

VBoxTray.exe
You can put the two commands on a bat file.
Locked