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Speed up VirtualPC by using Windows NT 4 Desktop
Authored by: paulsomm on Feb 27, '04 01:53:19PM

Without getting into a debate on Windows OS's, part of your slowness issue is you're using Virtual PC 5.

Virtual PC 6.1 has had a lot of tweaks since 5 to aid in performance. Having used VPC to QA products under Windows 98, NT4, Win2k, and Win XP, I can say that, at least under 6.1, Windows XP with service pack 1a with all the networking-related services set to "disabled" is by far the most responsive Windows OS under VPC. I was shocked to find it much more responsive than Windows 98 or NT 4.0.

Note, I do not mean disabling networking, just the following:
- Server
- Workstation
- Computer Browser
- TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
- Automatic Updates
- Fast User Switching
- IPSEC Services
- Messenger
- Network Location Awareness
- Remote Registery
- SSDP Discovery Service
- Secondary Logon
- Themes
- Upload Manager
- Wireless Zero Configuration

As I use Panther and the Finder to connect to our Windows network, I don't need my VPC XP to do windows networking. However, if you do need to surf a network from your VPC XP machine, leave Workstation, Computer Browser, and TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper running (IPSEC as well if your network is Windows 2000 ADS or higher with IPSEC required for inter-server communication).

Having all these services disabled does not affect most usage. I now regularly use XP under VPC to use Outlook 2003 for email. Note, you may also find the following will give you a significant increase in UI responsiveness:
1. Go into the "System" control panel
2. and to the "Advanced Tab"
3. click "settings" under "Performance"
4. choose "Adjust for best performance"

This turns off the annoying fade and shrink/grow effects as well as disables themes (though you should still disable the Themes service).



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Hot diggety dog!
Authored by: terceiro on Feb 28, '04 05:49:46PM

Just for fun, I installed WinXP (which was previously unusable) and tried tweaking it by turning off themes and setting the performance as listed this comment. I'll be jiggered if it didn't make a *huge* difference. XP was too slow for even test porposes before, but now (classic UI, performance set for "better performance") it's now quite usable. I'm not going to switch to it full time, but for my once-a-month stuff, this is great.

Of course, I don't have anything installed yet. I'll have to toss QuickBooks (for work) and Office (just in case) and my Topo software (the *real* reason I have it at all) and see how they work. Still, I'm impressed.



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