XFCE on VirtualBox very slow

[scbs29]

Hello all
I have recently started using VirtualBox again, this time with an installation of XFCE, with hosts of
XP Pro SP3 and XFCE. The installation in VBox is to be used for Banking etc.
In the past when I used VBOX with the Gnome version of PCLos, it ran quite reasonably. This is not the case,
however, with XFCE.
I have allocated 512Mb RAM out of the 2GB I have, 64Mb graphics out of 512, with 3D
acceleration enabled.
The XFCE installation in VBox runs so slowly that it is virtually unusable. If I try to do anything at all
the usage meter rises to 100% and stays there for minutes at a time. I have a small program that I
run under Wine and when I open this it immediately minimises to the panel and I cannot get it onto
the desktop so that I can use it. Again the usage rises to 100% for a minute or two before anything happens.
Could the problem lie with VBox, XFCE, or a combination of the two ?
Can anyone advise ?
TIA

[menotu]

I have allocated 512Mb RAM out of the 2GB I have, 64Mb graphics out of 512, with 3D
acceleration enabled.

I personally would double both those figures to 1GB and 128MB respectively
 
Have you tried tweaking the the PAE/NX switch in Settings > System > Processor > by ticking (or unticking)

Which version of Virtualbox are you using?  In my use, I've  found version 4.2.0 handles resources better than previous versions  but YMMV

[scbs29]

Thanks for the reply.
I tried what you suggested but it made no difference, still unusable.
I am, however, trying LXDE. This is still slow, but it is not too slow as to be
unusable.

[Old-Polack]

Thanks for the reply.
I tried what you suggested but it made no difference, still unusable.
I am, however, trying LXDE. This is still slow, but it is not too slow as to be
unusable.

Try without the 3D acceleration.

[CaptainSarcastic]

What are the specs on the host machine?  What processor is it, and what video card?

I run XFCE as a guest in a Windows 7 host and it runs at practically native speed, but I'm running a Phenom II 965 quad-core CPU and an Nvidia GT 460 for graphics - I have a lot of horsepower behind it.

[scbs29]

Thanks for the reply Old-Polack.
I did as you suggested, and although it did speed up slightly it was still too
slow to be usable.
Again the Windows program ran under Wine immediately minimised to the panel and
again I could not get it to open on the desktop.

CaptainSarcastic.
Host Machine:
Pentium 4 dual core at 3GHz.
2GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT with 512 Mb RAM.

[CaptainSarcastic]

Thanks for the reply Old-Polack.
I did as you suggested, and although it did speed up slightly it was still too
slow to be usable.
Again the Windows program ran under Wine immediately minimised to the panel and
again I could not get it to open on the desktop.

CaptainSarcastic.
Host Machine:
Pentium 4 dual core at 3GHz.
2GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce 7950 GT with 512 Mb RAM.

Are you running current Nvidia drivers?  That is a pretty powerful video card, so that should help.

I'd also second bumping up the RAM for the VM to a full gigabyte, and max the video RAM, too.

If you aren't running anything else in Windows then I'd devote as many resources to the VM as possible.

Oh, and are you running the current Virtualbox in Windows and the most recent guest additions?

[scbs29]

Thanks CaptainSarcastic for the reply.
I have upped the RAM and video RAM as you suggested. I had messages in red stating that I
was using more that half of the memory and the host may not run. I ignored these and carried on.
The VBox installation now runs more quickly and although still pretty slow is usable.
I dual boot with XP and PCLos XFCE, and the VBox XFCE .vdi file is on a separate partition which
is accessible by both systems. I run the VBox installation using both hosts, XP and XFCE.
I do have the latest guest additions.
I still cannot run the Windows program in Wine, it still minimises and I cannot open it onto
the desktop. Since this is a Password Manager program, however, I am not all that bothered,
since I can replace it with another one, at present I am looking at Revelation.
Possibly it is a problem with Wine ?

[CaptainSarcastic]

I haven't run Wine in a long time, so hesitate to give advice on it.  If other things work in Wine and just this password manager app misbehaves, then I'd say it is probably something specific to this app.  If Wine in general seems buggy, then removing and reinstalling it might be worth a try.

[pags]

I haven't run Wine in a long time, so hesitate to give advice on it.  If other things work in Wine and just this password manager app misbehaves, then I'd say it is probably something specific to this app.  If Wine in general seems buggy, then removing and reinstalling it might be worth a try.

You may not need to re-install wine...try moving the ".wine" directory in your home folder...this holds all the "wine" config, as well as all the installed Windows programs...

Then, you can try to re-install the password program, and a new ".wine" directory will be created...

[GermanTux]

scbs29 - Can you take a screen shot of your settings under Machine->Settings->Display and post a screen shot?

512MB is a little light for XFCE 4.8, but it should do the job.  Part of the problem too may be trying to run wine under a VM.  Furthering abstraction layers inside a virtual machine can slow it down to a crawl. 

[menotu]

scbs29 - Can you take a screen shot of your settings under Machine->Settings->Display and post a screen shot?

512MB is a little light for XFCE 4.8, but it should do the job.  Part of the problem too may be trying to run wine under a VM.  Furthering abstraction layers inside a virtual machine can slow it down to a crawl. 

+1

And as the VM is slow I would suggest not run any (or limit them as much as possible) other applications in the host machine whilst the VM is running

You could also check to see if you have the latest extension pack installed/enabled using File > Preferences > Extensions