[raviruddarraju]

Hey All,

I was wondering whether virtual PC performs significantly better running 2000 vs XP. I have XP installed, but it is very slow on PB G4 1.33Ghz. Thanks.

- ravi

[Weezer]

I get fairly decent performance running 2000 (much better than 98 SE) on my setup. If you are gonna use XP, make sure you turn off all the fancy graphical stuff.

[-Q-]

I find that most of the stuff I do in 2000 is tolerable (mainly accessing some online content management tools via IE) if not speedy. XP really appeared to be a dog on my 867 Ti. Your best bet is probably 2000 just for performance-sake.

[the_glassman]

2000 All the way. It's by far the fastest OS setup I've run in VPC. Almost useable.

[bmhome1]

Windows NT4 with Service Pack 6 and IE updated to 6 is VERY fast in VPC7. I also hand-installed the audio driver and got web-streaming audio working very well and even can playback video clips smoothly with decent audio. Its only 320MB in size and can be bought sealed new with serial on eBay for $15.00.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by bmhome1:
Windows NT4 with Service Pack 6 and IE updated to 6 is VERY fast in VPC7. I also hand-installed the audio driver and got web-streaming audio working very well and even can playback video clips smoothly with decent audio. Its only 320MB in size and can be bought sealed new with serial on eBay for $15.00.

Have you been able to compare Win 98 against the performance of NT4?

[D'Espice]

Windows XP is actually not slower in VPC than Windows 2000 - given you disable all the eye-candy

Check out this thread for more information: http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=233862

[Green Leaf]

How do you disable all the eye candy?

[bmhome1]

NT4 is vastly faster than 98SE, now one of the slowest OS under VPC7. NT4 is available new, sealed with COA for $15.00 on eBay. If USB isn't needed and software is supported, its the fastest (and stable unlike 95) VPC OS.

Sorry, but 2000 is still considerably faster than any hand-optimized version of XP. Making XP look and run like 2000 helps XP's speed. Go to Display>Advanced and turn off ALL animation effects. Also select Classic display, window display, simple file view and Start Menu. Go into Control Panel and shut off all features not needed such as System Restore, etc.

[PurpleGiant]

Unrelated to the OS, but make sure you have plenty of RAM! I have seen VPC running on a Powerbook with 256mb RAM and it ain't pretty!

...crunch crunch crunch goes the hard drive...

[bmhome1]

Absolutely. Optimizing speed in XP on VPC can't be discussed without first having a minimum of 768-1GB RAM (256 to VPC and rest to run OSX without ever using virtual memory while running VPC). OSX will run better overall anyway.

[badtz]

has anyone been able to run Win2000 in VPC 7?

[the_glassman]

Originally posted by badtz:
has anyone been able to run Win2000 in VPC 7?

Originally posted by the_glassman:
2000 All the way. It's by far the fastest OS setup I've run in VPC. Almost useable.

[badtz]

^ that doesn't indicate it was VPC 7 though.

to my knowledge, 2000 doesn't work properly with VPC 7 [try installing all of the additions]

[bmhome1]

VPC7 works with ALL previous VPC6 OS versions, the drive image has to be converted to the new format (can't be reused in VPC6 again) and new Additions have to be installed. Takes about 10 - 30 minutes to convert. Also, VPC7 requires latest Service Packs to be up to date for full integration of features.

[badtz]

Originally posted by bmhome1:
VPC7 works with ALL previous VPC6 OS versions, the drive image has to be converted to the new format (can't be reused in VPC6 again) and new Additions have to be installed. Takes about 10 - 30 minutes to convert. Also, VPC7 requires latest Service Packs to be up to date for full integration of features.

Yes, that's what you have to do, but have you tried it with Win2000? [doesn't work]

[bmhome1]

I never post anything other than my own personal experiences, nor just idle speculation. YES, 2000 works in VPC7.0 right now and has for many weeks running. I did convert it from a VPC6 image file, though. What exactly are the problems you are having installing 2000 in VPC7?

[badtz]

i also upgraded from a win2000 image from VPC6, and there's a couple problems with the upgraded image in VPC7 .....


- the mouse doesn't leave the VPC window unless I switch out of the program

- can't install the new additions



that's it me thinks ..... :X

[bmhome1]

No mouse crossover means definitely needing the Additions installed, are they greyed out or does it just fail? From the VPC menu you should be able to just select "install additions.iso" Did you update to Service Pack 4 for 2000 yet? Or, try restarting and install additions again? The Additions should be listed in Control Panel>Install/Uninstall programs if present.

[badtz]

it tries to install but fails about half way into it.

i believe it's a problem for many people, not just myself ......

[bmhome1]

Uninstall the Additions from the Control Panel>Add and Remove. Restart the 2000. Install Additions from VPC Menu bar, let if finish (it may look stalled but IS working in backround, this may take awhile, also move the wizard window off-center to not block any dialog screens that may be appearing under it, there is at least one to authorize uncertified software) then restart 2000 again. Hopefully that will work. While without Additions you will have to use command key to move mouse between desktops.

Be SURE you have SP4 installed, VPC7 requires it to support installing VPC7's Additions for 2000.

[PubGuy]

RE: Virtual PC
Windows 2000 >> IS << faster than XPm even with all the eye-candy turned off. I've got both installed for testing software and the Windows 2000 image is more fluid than the XP image.

I also found out that you do NOT need to have SP 4 installed to get all the additions working in Windows 2000. When you install on an image less than SP 4, the Additions informs you that it won't install the Virtual Printer, but it installs everything else.

You can manually install the Virtual Printer in Window 2000 without SP 4 and it works fine! Here's how:
1) Load VPC Additions.
2) Open Explorer. "Explore" the CD Image.
3) Navigate to VMAdditions\Windows\Windows\VMADD\WinXP
4) Copy the files there to a TEMP directory on your Windows 2000 image
5) Goto START\Settings\Printer. Double-click Add Printer.
6) Click Next. Click Local Printer. Click Next.
7) Select LPT1. Click Next.
8) Select Have Disk. Click Browse. Navigate to your TEMP directory and select vmprint.inf.
9) Finish installing.
When you're done, the Virtual Printer will print to any Mac printer, either locally, on your nextwork, or via Rendevous.

[Cadaver]

Thanks for the tip, PubGuy.

[Preciousss]

Thanks for all the great comparison tips. VP7 is on my Xmas list, but I have a different sort of question.

I don't need to have the latest and greatest software so sticking with Win2K makes sense to me. But I also want to plan for the future. I'm wondering if I should get/use XP anyway so that as things are upgraded (XP service packs and hopeful improvements to the OS, and eventual hardware upgrades on my end--my specs below).

In other words, in keeping an eye to the future, is using XP with VP7 a sounder investment because the performance will eventually catch up? Basically, trading off some speed in the present for longevity and growth in the future?

Right now, I have a TiBook, SuperDrive, 1GHz, 1GB RAM, 60GB HD and 10.3.6.

There's always the option of just getting the standalone version of VP7 and giving both Win2K and XP Pro a try to see which one I can put up with in terms of speed.

Appreciate any insight.