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I am having a problem with high CPU usage.

Situation: I am using VirtualBox 3.1.6 OSE under Ubuntu 10.04 Server (LTS). The guest is Windows XP running SQL Server 2008. I configured the XP machine on an Ubuntu client installation, tested it, and then exported it as an appliance. On the Ubuntu server, I imported this appliance and am running it using VBoxHeadless.

When configuring this guest, I ran into a problem with high CPU usage. The solution turned out to be changing a driver in the device manager (from "ACPI" to "Standard PC").

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, I am now experiencing high CPU usage on the server. When the guest has recently been started, but is basically idle, CPU usage is around 20%. After several hours (but again, when idle), CPU usage has risen to 40% or 50%.

Should it be of use, here is the output from "VBoxManage showvminfo"

Name:            SQL2008
Guest OS:        Windows XP
UUID:            e6b69eef-beb3-4937-9f9e-283d20018a6b
Config file:     /root/.VirtualBox/Machines/SQL2008/SQL2008.xml
Hardware UUID:   e6b69eef-beb3-4937-9f9e-283d20018a6b
Memory size:     768MB
VRAM size:       16MB
Number of CPUs:  1
Synthetic Cpu:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          on
PAE:             off
Time offset:     0 ms
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Hardw. virt.ext exclusive: on
Nested Paging:   on
VT-x VPID:       on
State:           running (since 2011-04-17T16:19:41.738000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address: 
Teleporter Password: 
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE Controller
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Name (1):            Floppy Controller
Storage Controller Type (1):            I82078
Storage Controller Instance Number (1): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (1):  1
Storage Controller Port Count (1):      1
IDE Controller (0, 0): /root/.VirtualBox/HardDisks/SQL2008.vmdk (UUID: 7c291838-3cab-4780-8506-5be0c2ee5ea0)
IDE Controller (1, 0): Empty
Floppy Controller (0, 0): Empty
NIC 1:           MAC: 080027E73C79, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'eth0', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps
NIC 2:           disabled
NIC 3:           disabled
NIC 4:           disabled
NIC 5:           disabled
NIC 6:           disabled
NIC 7:           disabled
NIC 8:           disabled
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: ALSA, Controller: AC97)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Video mode:      0x0x32
Shared folders:  <none>

VRDP Connection:    not active
Clients so far:     0

Guest:

Statistics update:                   disabled

brad wrote:IOAPIC: on
Nested Paging: on
Am79C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps

3 things to try to change.