Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Discussions about using Windows guests in VirtualBox.
Locked
jayeme
Posts: 5
Joined: 2. Aug 2019, 18:45

Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by jayeme »

Hi all,
I have a Host machine with Windows 10 and a Virtual Machine (Guest) in VirtualBox with Windows XP.

Up until a few weeks ago, last time I used it (several times), the VM was doing great with Windows XP.

But now, the VM is incredibly slow. Last night it was very slow.

I researched these forums and google. Since some people suggested it could be Windows Update, then I installed some XP updates (took all night to get them installed) and still today it keeps being very slow.

Problem description:
If there is no application running, the XP machine has the CPU at under 10%.
But whenever I launch an application that requires some graphics (browser or even some file system application like Total Commander) the CPU on the guest XP jumps to 100%. Stays there and I can't use the browser effectively (gets very, very slow).

I can edit .txt files on the guest machine, but every other applications get too slow.
If I close the browser the CPU gets from 100% to 5% again.
I tried several browsers on the guest machine (Opera, Chrome, Firefox), they all are slow and I can't scroll on pages... Chrome sends several "Page unresponsive" warnings.

I have these settings for the guest machine:
- Win XP
- 1 Processor
- 5GB
- 128MB for video
- 19.5 GB virtual disk

Im attaching the VM log. Can anyone more experienced give me some hints of what may be causing this problem? Any more suggestions?
I already tried several different configurations, usually one at a time, and nothing changed the behaviour.

Thank you!
Last edited by jayeme on 6. Aug 2019, 03:28, edited 1 time in total.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by scottgus1 »

When I tried to name a folder '......' I had an error from explorer. Could be the issue. You'll need to rename that folder to a normal-style name, then try the guest again.
jayeme
Posts: 5
Joined: 2. Aug 2019, 18:45

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by jayeme »

Hi, sorry that I got you into an error.
The folders with "...." were just anonymized due to work information on the folder tree.
I didn't think the path names should be important for the slowness, so I just anonymized them.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by scottgus1 »

OK, please take a look at any of the thousands of Socratis's posts, down at the bottom where his signature is. Give that a thought, then re-post those logs.

Hint: knowing your guest's path isn't going to allow anyone to hack you.
jayeme
Posts: 5
Joined: 2. Aug 2019, 18:45

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by jayeme »

Thanks for letting me know, I took a look at his signature. But I believe it's all Ok.
I just cut out the folder tree (project names) and the username, nothing that is relevant for the technical analysis. I hope someone can take a look and give me some hints of what could be wrong.

The thing is, I didn't change any settings and it started getting slow suddenly. Even after I installed the windows update packages last night and cleared the queue, it didn't get better.
I did notice now that Firefox is somewhat more bearable to use (Chrome is just impossible).
jayeme
Posts: 5
Joined: 2. Aug 2019, 18:45

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by jayeme »

Ok, nevermind this thread, you can close it. I don't need any more help with this issue.

I didn't get back with an unredacted Log, because I told here what I had redacted. And I'm a computer guy with 20y experience, I know the path of the VM isn't going to play a part in the issue.
Anyway, I could have come back with another LOG and a fake path, but I didn't want to do so, out of principle. I don't wanna have to lie, just to get an answer.
We are all grown up.

So, I reverted to a VM backup of the XP guest, from late March, and it got better indeed.
But then, I was having problems with Chrome and Firefox: they have ended their support on XP. Chrome was still impossible to use but Firefox was OK (but no more updates).

So, this weekend I created a new VM with Windows 10 (which is the fastest windows version around) and I'm in the process of transferring all the programs and info to the new Windows 10 VM.
I guess it's the best thing to do at this point. The new VM is running quite fast and consuming very little memory. It still runs into 100% CPU all the time, but I can use the VM in a very reasonable way if I only use Firefox as a browser (Chrome just gets too slow), for my work duties.

The process to change to a Windows 10 VM wasn't smooth anyway, so I'm leaving here some notes of what happened, in case it is of interest to anyone:
- I used Windows 10 Media Creation tool from Microsoft, using the latest ISO from Windows 10: 1903 Edition
- There were some OOBE errors during the creation of the VM. I had to google to be able to find a workaround and proceed. Apparently after 1803 Edition, the Windows 10 ISO's arent working very well if used to create VM with VirtualBox
- I also tried to create a VM with an older edition of Windows 10, downloading Windows 10 1803 Edition from Microsoft. But the VM creation originated some critical error and it didn't finish at all.
- So I reverted to the VM with Win10 1903 Edition, even if I had to use some workarounds. But it got stable enough to trust it
- And then I tried to create a Shared Folder and the VM would hang up when I tried to access a folder
- So I googled and identified this issue reported here: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/18766 ... um_hist=14
- Apparently it was because I was using Guest Additions 6.0.10. So I uninstalled it from the VM
- To solve this I came to Virtualbox.org and downloaded the Guest Additions 6.0.8 ISO
- Installed GA 6.0.8 into the Win10 VM and the Shared Folders started working correctly.

This thread can be closed, hope I helped someone with this report.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by scottgus1 »

jayeme wrote:I didn't get back with an unredacted Log, because I told here what I had redacted. And I'm a computer guy with 20y experience, I know the path of the VM isn't going to play a part in the issue.
Anyway, I could have come back with another LOG and a fake path, but I didn't want to do so, out of principle. I don't wanna have to lie, just to get an answer.
We are all grown up.
?, especially the last sentence?

When we on the forums take the OP's word for it that a particular thing will not cause trouble, often we are run down a long winding rabbit hole trying to help troubleshoot the OP's problem, only to find that OP's assertion was wrong and the thing OP said was OK was not. Thus the insistence on non-modified logs.

We have had issues where a non-ASCII character in a path name caused trouble. So as long as OP continues to reject the requirement to post a complete unobfuscated log we cannot take him/her at their word that the obfuscated parts would not cause a problem, regardless of the OP's stated experience. If they were that experienced in the areas they need to be, they would not have a problem. Perhaps the changed parts were irrelevant. Perhaps they were exactly the problem. We cannot know until OP cooperates.

There is no data in a Virtualbox log that will enable a hacker to gain entry into the OP's PC. Even if the hacker knows the OP's username the hacker would still have to find the OP among the millions of available IP addresses, at least. With all the trouble the developers have gone through to plug security holes over the hardening on Windows Hosts, they would know if hackable data exists on a log and change the log structure to compensate.

When an OP comes to us asking for our volunteer help and they then refuse to cooperate in giving the data we need to confirm a problem or lack thereof, the OP is free to wither on the vine waiting, or solve their problem themselves.

Since OP has solved the problem, I would see no need to continue, even if an unobfuscated log is now provided. Others may disagree...
jayeme
Posts: 5
Joined: 2. Aug 2019, 18:45

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by jayeme »

It's your right to not help. It's also my right to be sure and true about what I said was modified.

As I said, the thread can be closed, the issue is no longer worth anyone's time, I found another solution and tried to give back a bit.
Thank you for replying.
scottgus1
Site Moderator
Posts: 20965
Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows, Linux

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by scottgus1 »

Ah, well, some folks you just can't reach.
jayeme wrote:the issue is no longer worth anyone's time
With this state of things I totally agree...
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Very slow guest Windows XP, suddenly (over Win10)

Post by mpack »

jayeme wrote: As I said, the thread can be closed
You seem to be under the impression that this is a support ticket. It isn't, it's a discussion topic where VirtualBox users help other VirtualBox users, and the discussion remains behind to help future visitors with the same problem.

We don't close off discussions without good reason, and the OP having lost interest is not a good reason.

Did you delete the log from your first post? That too is a no-no - we regard it as vandalism, as it prevents future visitors from fully understanding the discussion. Please don't do that again. If you are not prepared to share unredacted logs and leave them there for posterity then please don't bother to post questions.

That all said, it is true that this topic now has no useful (VirtualBox) information. Locking it.
Locked