win 8.1 runs like crap in virtual box

OFaceSIG

OFaceSIG

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 31, 2009
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So on the rig in my sig I'm trying to run win 8.1 in virtual box. I have latest version of virtualbox installed and win8.1 runs like crap. It's stuttering, and terrible. Fedora operates the same way.

The only thing that runs stably is win XP but I don't have much need for an XP VM anymore. Any ideas? Anyone else running into this?

Just in case anyone is curious I have given the VM 4 processors and 8GB of RAM and it has a fixed, not a dynamic disk. I have no idea why it's running like crap.
 
have you tried backing off the ram and processors a bit? Start with a 2 proc, 4gb setup?

Sometimes more is actually less with VMs...
 
I would guess the lack of gpu acceleration. I know when I RDP into a windows 8 box, everything in metro is really chunky.
 
I would echo the GPU acceleration. Windows 8 and Server 2012 are painful on the console in VMware. I'll test with GPU passthrough and see if that improves things.
 
Do you have the VBox tools installed? It's going to be choppy if you're not using the VBox graphics driver. The one for Win8 should work, but you'll have to install it yourself.
 
the graphics or the mouse is definately the biggest issue. there is a definate lag in the interface. If I install the tools CD the video driver doens't auto load? If not how do I load it?
 
OFaceSIG said:
the graphics or the mouse is definately the biggest issue. there is a definate lag in the interface. If I install the tools CD the video driver doens't auto load? If not how do I load it?
Click to expand...

Just manually install the drivers from the tools ISO like you would any other Windows driver. The installer won't auto-identify Win 8.1 as Win8 to select the drivers for install, AFAIK.
 
I've never used VMware player as I thought you couldn't "create" VMs with it. I'll have to check it out.

peep I'll try your idea. Thanks!
 
OFaceSIG said:
I've never used VMware player as I thought you couldn't "create" VMs with it. I'll have to check it out.
Click to expand...

That used to be the case, and that was what I thought until recently when a coworker told me to switch from VB to VMWare Player just as I have said here. But now it's basically like Workstation minus some non-essential features. And it, like any VMWare stuff, is just more polished than Virtualbox.
 
Like first post suggestion, allocating all your cores will create CPU contention, google it for more information, its a bit to much to explain here.
 
So I may have been nerding myself into performation issues. I was always tweaking the settings, chipset, etc and now that I'm on the default settings in VB, except for two cores and 4GB of ram it's working pretty dang well. Not as good as the dedicated laptop I have running 8.1 but really well for a VM that resides on a regular hard drive. Next up, VMware player!
 
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