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Abraham Deutsch

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vmware workstation slow

my virtual machine in vmware work vary slow although the host is less then 50% in use at the time (memory/CPU/Disk)
Avatar of John
John
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If your host drive is a hard drive (not SSD), let the machine fully start (may take 10 minutes) and re-evaluate.

If the performance remains slow, defragment the machine using VMware Defrag (machine disk properties.

Now move the machine to a USB hard drive. Make sure you do this correctly.

Now defrag the main drive. When done, move the machine back to the host and test.
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
How much memory does the host have ?

What CPU is in the host ?

What disk system is in use by the host and VM ?

What is the VM ?

Have you configured the VMware Workstation preferences to Reserve ALL Memory for VMs ?
Good questions Andy, I did assume the physical machine was up to the task.
VMWare tools installed?
VMware Tools are for features and should not slow down a machine if not installed. That is my experience with VMware over many years.
VMWare tools will increase I/O performance
Not so I have seen from personal experience, or at least, not so as to be noticeable.
VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. Installing VMware Tools in the guest operating system is vital.
http://vmetc.com/2008/08/30/why-do-i-need-to-install-vmware-tools/
https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=340
That is quite a bit difference than base performance that is slow.
Feel free to skip installation of VMWare tools on you servers, I wouldn't
I will bail out of this question as you discount my comments as worthless. Bye All
VMWare tools will increase I/O performance

@Shaun Vermaak How does it do this ?

Please clarify this statement, with reference to VMware Workstation?

Overview of VMware Tools

VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machines guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. Without VMware Tools installed in your guest operating system, guest performance lacks important functionality. Installing VMware Tools eliminates or improves these issues:

Low video resolution
Inadequate color depth
Incorrect display of network speed
Restricted movement of the mouse
Inability to copy and paste and drag-and-drop files
Missing sound
Provides the ability to take quiesced snapshots of the guest OS
Synchronizes the time in the guest operating system with the time on the host

Source
Overview of VMware Tools (340)
Avatar of Abraham Deutsch
Abraham Deutsch

ASKER

24GB of memory
i7 3.07 GHz
The OS and applcations on a SSD 500GB
Files (included VM) SSD 1TB
VM 2 Win7 1 Win10
Tools installed
Drivers specifically designed for VM
You've added...

Installing VMware Tools in the guest operating system is vital.

Does not change performance of the I/O between Hypervisor and Host!
Look at the first link. I did not add anything
Okay, so the host has 24GB of memory.

and what setup does the VM contain ? e.g. VM specifications, in terms of memory and CPUs ?
Anyway the Asker has VMware Tools installed so moot.
Memory 2/3/4
4 processors
do you have memory reserved in workstation ?

what is the Host OS ?

is that 4 vCPUs ?

not quite sure what 2/3/4 is ?
Yes, if everyone let the OP answer for himself the conversation would have been

SV: VMWare tools installed?
Abraham: Tools installed
Host OS Win10
One machine has 2 the other 3 the third one 4 GB of memory
2 CPU
2 vCPUs
I am doing defragment see improvement will monitor for little an post
and all VMs are slow ?

what if only a single VM is in use ?

and any reason you are using VMware Workstation, a type 2 hypervisor, an application on Windows 10, rather than Client Hyper-V, a type 1 hypervisor, which will give far better performance.
All

Same if only single VM is in use

I was not aware of Client Hyper-V at the time of purchase.
It's been in Microsoft Windows since Windows 8.x Pro.

Not need for any additional hypervisor, or installed application, especially a type 2 hypervisor.

Okay, so if you have a Core i7, with 24GB RAM, and SSDs, and a single VM is SLOW.

Have you reserved RAM in Workstation ? for running these VMs.

I have no issues with a 2GB VM, on a Core i7 laptop, running Windows 8.1 Pro,

Disk I/O is usually the bottleneck, not CPU or Memory, unless you've over done it, what type of slowness are you encountering ?

and what I mean by that is you've really overcommited vCPUs and Memory in the VM.

You've not got BIOS set to Battery Mode, or Low Performance, Energy Savings.
Now all crashed see attached log files
vmware.log
vmware-0.log
vmware2.log
vmware5.log
vmware-6.log
Restart computer, Process Read and Write issues, Locking issues
On the host or virtual?
Sorry but I am not sure to what you are referring. Please give little more detail.
Power off and restart the host computer.

Power on the host computer, start VMware Workstation, and try a single VM.

The computer with the Core i7, with 24GB RAM, and SSDs
Did not help.

I noticed that ruing vmware spikes up the I/O extremely high (over 120 ms) as soon I turn it off is drops to 0 (I only measured the drive the VM or saved on)
What items are slow ?

I would consider using Client Hyper-V and compare performance ?
I am not familiar with the difference between the two products the pro and cons. but if this will work why not try. Will I have to purchase a new licence?
Are you running the Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition of Windows 10? If so, you can just enable the feature, no cost implication to install
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
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I'm investigating the host if it is the fault. Will post update
It was the OS that needed to be repaired
(wondering is haveing vmware and hyper-v on the same PC not a issue https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/29002978/Do-hyper-v-and-VMware-clash.html

Thank you for your help