What's great about running a virtual machine is that you can try
out a new operating system or test an application without affecting the host
OS. However, there are times wherein the program you are using to do so may not
be running the virtual machine up to its optimum level.
There are few reasons underlying the decrease in speed of your
virtual machine -- it could be due to your physical system's hardware
capabilities or it may be the program running your virtual machine that is
sluggish. Read more to learn some tips on how to go about speeding up your
virtual machine.
Before you do anything
else, it's best to give your PC a restart. This option is often overlooked but
is one very effective step to iron out the wrinkles your PC may be having.
These updates over time
will get rid of the bugs and handle your physical machine's RAM and processing
power far better than before.
If too much memory is
handed over, your physical PC may not have sufficient RAM remaining in order to
complete its regular tasks. Similarly, if too little is allotted to your
virtual machine, it may have some difficulties doing as much as loading a web
browser. There is a healthy medium, and what this is will vary based on your
physical PC's specifications. Take note that you need to provide your virtual
machine with 1GB of RAM per 4 GB of RAM on your physical PC. This may not be
the ultimate solution, but it is a wise thing to consider if you are new to
configuring a virtual machine.
In addition to adding
more memory, you can also add more CPUs and or enable hardware virtualization
and/or acceleration through your virtual machine's hosting software.
You need to allot some
time to defragment your computer's disk -- it may just be a simple procedure
but it can do wonders. For those unaware, defragging a hard drive is simply the
act of placing blocks of data closer together so that data can be read by the
machine more quickly. You will notice load times significantly decrease, not
only across your virtual machine, but on your physical PC as well.
If your
virtual machine is hogging a very large amount of storage, processes can take a
lot of time to complete. For more information, click here.
As long as you aren't
using your virtual PC permanently or to test sketchy or otherwise suspicious
programs, you may wish to disable preinstalled antivirus. Antivirus will use
extra CPU and RAM resources that, while necessary on a PC, are not so crucial
on a virtual machine. Again, choosing to disable antivirus will vary based on
the user's preference.
Your virtual machine
will noticeably run faster and smoother if the running processes in its
background are at minimal, since these are eating up RAM and the hard drive's
reading and writing. Try closing any program that is not urgently needed to
complete the task at hand.
