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pamelah · May 3, 2003, 02:03 AM

Hello again. Yes it's me. You'll be happy to know that this isn't really an apple related problem...

I just fired up VPC 6 for the first time after having installed it and windows xp with it.

While it is incredibly easy to get up and running (you can keep all of your mac stuff going on in the background) it is soooooooooooooooooo sssssllllllllooooooooooowwww....unusably slow.

Now, I installed XP (rather than 2000 which everyone recommended) for 2 reasons...I already had a copy AND all of the programs I have are XP versions.

I heard someone mentioning "turning off the eyecandy" helps...but I have no idea what that is or how to turn it off. Anyone know?

I highly doubt turning off my apple programs at the same time will help it run faster as I have 512mb of memory alloted to VPC6 and I'm only running mail and itunes in the background.

Now, I could go ahead and just uninstall it and use 2000 and get the 2000 programs which wouldn't be a problem, but I wanted to make sure that I tried all the options with making XP run smoother/faster.

Thanks for you advice! (esp. for telling me how to turn off eyecandy?!)

geekwagon · May 3, 2003, 02:26 AM

You can use Office XP and sundry with Windows 2000. None of that stuff actually requires Windows XP.

In any case, you can turn off most of the visual effects by going to Control Panels, Display, Appearance Tab, Advanced button. Then turn off most of the stuff in the dialog that pops up (shadows, stuff like that..) You might also want to go to the Themes tab and set the theme to something like "windows classic." I can't stand the default look of XP that looks like a clown car exploded on my desktop or something..

I use Win2k in VPC on my 17" and it runs pretty good. Starting and installing programs is excruciatingly slow, but once things are running they work about as fast as the 500mhz Dell laptop I replaced with the 17". Since you can just close the window and save the PCs state I don't really mind the slower app launching too much.

pamelah · May 3, 2003, 03:21 AM

awesome! It's much better now! thanks!

hey by the way..my mouse won't leave the constraints of the windows window so i can't access any of my mac stuff...is that normal?

also, how do I share files between xp and my mac? i'm not sure if you set up a network? or? and what would that network location name string look like?

thanks!

Evinyatar · May 3, 2003, 04:59 AM

IIRC those things require specific Virtual PC drivers and such for Windows XP (I know this was how it was with VPC4, and I doubt this has changed). They also boost performance considerably. You should find them on the Virtual PC cd-rom if I'm not mistaken, or they should be preinstalled if you bought the OS with VPC.
You could do without them though; Holding the command key (the one with the funny curly thing and the apple logo on it) should allow you to move the mouse outside the window, and you should be able to communicate between the PC and the Mac if you enable Windows File Sharing in the System Preferences, and browse your Mac shares in Explorer.

xyber233 · May 3, 2003, 08:17 AM

I believe you have to install VPC additions. Make sure you are in windowed mode. At the bottom, there should be a puzzle piece icon. Click on that and there should be an option to "Install Additions". This is allow you to move freely between VPC and your mac and allows drag and drop work between the two.

wallinbl · May 3, 2003, 08:27 AM

One thing I have found is that Remote Desktop Connection is *much* faster. Leave your Windows PC running, and just RDC into it. XP supports this, and you can download the Mac client from Microsoft. Doesn't work while on the road, but works when you are at home, or on a Windows network (Windows 2000 server also supports it). It's blazingly fast.

Karim · May 3, 2003, 10:43 AM

Go to the Connectix website (quick before they turn into Microsoft

at www.connectix.com

Go to support for VPC and you will find a document that outlines all the configuration changes you should make to Windows XP to get the maximum speed out of it. The document shows you how to turn off all the eye candy etc.

For file sharing between Mac and Winxp it is very easy. Drag and drop a file from the mac desktop onto the win desktop or vice versa. For this to work the Virtual PC additions have to be installed. At the bottom of the VPC window are little icons, I believe it is the one all the way on the right, just click on it and it will say "install VPC additions?" and do it.

Switching the cursor from the VPC to Mac window, just hold down the Apple key as you drag out.

Running VPC in full screen mode will also eke out a little better performance.

You can find alot of good tips on the Connectix site.

I use VPC alot and it isn't quick, but it is usable. Looking forward to the relaunch of RealPC as that is expected to be quite a bit faster.

adamberti · May 3, 2003, 06:25 PM

A good way that I share files is to use the Share Folder option in the settings. It allows you to set a folder, that appears to the PC as a drive (starts with Z: and works backwards I believe)

You can also set some auto sharing stuff in there too I believe

hall · May 3, 2003, 10:04 PM

i took my win2k vpc image the other day and copied it to my firewire external drive. i now have the option under vpc to boot from my external drive. it runs win2k faster! if anybody else has a drive to try it on, its worth doing.

hope this helps