virtualbox.org

Hi everyone,

I think there is a bug in the VirtualBox-4.3.26 that affects my W7 host.

Installed VirtualBox-4.3.26-98988-Win on my W7 host. Without VirtualBox running
my host cpu averaged 20%. Start VirtualBox and host cpu averaged 35%. Start
virtual W7 guest machine and host cpu averaged 55%.

Resource Monitor showed "NT Kernel & System" was the bulk of the 20% host cpu
load before even starting VirtualBox. Uninstalled VirtualBox and my host idled
at a normal 1% cpu load.

Installed VMware Player, host cpu idles at normal 1%. Start VMware Player, host
idles at 1%. Start virtual W7 guest, and host cpu idles at 28% average.

I had used older VirtualBox versions on an XP host without this type of issue.

Googled this issue and searched the VirtualBox forum, tried the "dos small
guest" hack, but it didn't help.

Anyway, wondered if this is a known issue, and if anyone knows of a solution?

Well, did some more thinking on this high cpu problem. Noticed the default Virtualbox Network Adapter was running on host after boot. Tried disabling the Virtualbox Network Adapter, but still the high cpu. Tried removing the Virtualbox Network Adapter, but still the high cpu.

Tried searching the forum and manual for virtualbox process and service that startup with host, but haven't found a full list.

Just thought I would report what I've tried so far, in case anyone else has this issue.

It must be a Window 7 issue if there even is one. On my Windows 8.1 host, idle=1%, VB open 1%.
Same with my OSX hosts.

In my opinion, system monitors and benchmarks are the bane of man's existence.

Thanks loukingjr for your reply, and for the comparitive data. I grabbed another W7 host to install VirtualBox, and the cpu idles at 1% on that machine.

My guess is there is a conflict between 1 or more hardware drivers on my machine, and the drivers VirtualBox loads at boot for some process/service that always is
running.

I tried to figure out what exactly always runs, but found nothing with msconfig.

Looked in ProcessExplorer - nothing but these 4 drivers in C:\Windows\System32\drivers
VBoxDrv.sys
VBoxNetAdp.sys [host only networking]
VBoxNetFlt.sys [bridged networking]
VBoxUSBMon.sys

Grabbed the log below, but I'm not really sure if it points to anything useful...

VirtualBox COM Server 4.3.26 r98988 win.amd64 (Mar 16 2015 17:35:35) release log
00:00:00.015600 main Log opened 2015-04-23T00:16:35.218886000Z
00:00:00.015600 main Build Type: release
00:00:00.015600 main OS Product: Windows 7
00:00:00.015600 main OS Release: 6.1.7601
00:00:00.015600 main OS Service Pack: 1
00:00:00.031200 main DMI Product Name: U47A
00:00:00.046800 main DMI Product Version: 1.0
00:00:00.046800 main Host RAM: 6029MB total, 3569MB available
00:00:00.046800 main Executable: C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxSVC.exe
00:00:00.046800 main Process ID: 8764
00:00:00.046800 main Package type: WINDOWS_64BITS_GENERIC
00:00:00.046800 Loading settings file "C:\Users\Paul/.VirtualBox\VirtualBox.xml" with version "1.12-windows"
00:00:00.218400 usbLibDevCfgDrGet: DeviceIoControl 1 fail winEr (31)
00:00:00.795601 HostDnsMonitorProxy::notify
00:00:00.795601 HostDnsMonitorProxy: Host's DNS information updated:
00:00:00.795601 server 1: 192.168.0.1
00:00:00.795601 server 2: 216.170.153.146
00:00:00.795601 no search string entries
00:00:00.795601 domain: Home
00:00:00.826801 VDInit finished
00:00:00.826801 Loading settings file "D:\Symbolic link\Users\Paul\VirtualBox VMs\Acer-W7\Acer-W7.vbox" with version "1.14-windows"
00:01:24.909630 main ERROR [COM]: aRC=VBOX_E_OBJECT_IN_USE (0x80bb000c) aIID={05f2bbb6-a3a6-4fb9-9b49-6d0dda7142ac} aComponent={Medium} aText={Medium 'D:\Symbolic
link\Users\Paul\VirtualBox VMs\Acer-W7\E18DCC3CEDEE9CB4-00-00.vhd' cannot be closed because it is still attached to 1 virtual machines}, preserve=false
00:01:24.909630 Watcher ERROR [COM]: aRC=E_ACCESSDENIED (0x80070005) aIID={fafa4e17-1ee2-4905-a10e-fe7c18bf5554} aComponent={VirtualBox} aText={The object is not
ready}, preserve=false

Success of sorts!

Installed VirtualBox 5.0 Beta 2, and the cpu load is normal.

During installation a choice was given between 2 driver packs, so I chose the newer one, NDIS6. I can only guess that the new drivers resolved the cpu load issue.

I like the first look at VirtualBox 5.0, obviously lots of work went into this.