Virtual PC for Mac

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Leonardo


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I just got virtual PC version 7 for mac (not installed yet) and I was wondering, since my mac only has 256MB of ram and in order to run virtual PC you need 512MB, if I could hook up an external hard-drive and install the program directly into that, keeping the PC part virtually and physically separate.
 
louishen

louishen


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What do you want to run in Windows, Virtual PC is painfully slow, at least it was on my old G4
 
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Yeah, VPC not the best. It works wonders in OS/2 WARP (yes, my dad still uses OS/2) but on the Mac, don't waste your time. It's horrible, and I could never get it to work right.
 
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Leonardo


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What do you want to run in Windows, Virtual PC is painfully slow, at least it was on my old G4
Click to expand...

Well, my thought was it would just be nice to be able to use both PC and Mac and maybe be able to use PC cd software.

Having an extra external hard-drive for it to go through wouldn't make it faster?
 
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It's almost a waste of time to try running Windows on a non-intel machine. VPC just doesn't do a good job. I wonder if VirtualBox could run on s G4. Hold on...I'll check on that...be back soon!
 
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Lifeisabeach


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Leonardo said:
I just got virtual PC version 7 for mac (not installed yet) and I was wondering, since my mac only has 256MB of ram and in order to run virtual PC you need 512MB, if I could hook up an external hard-drive and install the program directly into that, keeping the PC part virtually and physically separate.
Click to expand...

Using an external drive would by no means accommodate for not having enough RAM to begin with. Not even slightly. If anything, you could make matters worse if the external drive and port used are slower than the internals.
 
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Leonardo


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So you think I shouldn't install the virtual PC at all?
 
vansmith

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Not unless you absolutely need it. Having a VM on an external will just slow things down and there is no point in trying to run a VM on 256 MB of RAM. Think of it this way - you have to run two OSes off of 256MB of RAM. Also, VBox is Intel only.

You could try Q but I can't guarantee anything.
 
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Leonardo


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Just out of curiosity, how much RAM would you need to run VPC comfortably?
 
louishen

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Leonardo said:
Just out of curiosity, how much RAM would you need to run VPC comfortably?
Click to expand...


You can give it a try, but no matter how much RAM you have, my experience of VPC on a G4 was that it was much slower than an early pentium

The only realistic way to run Windows on a mac is through virtualiastion on an Intel Mac, emulation on a G4 is a very very tiresome process
 
D3v1L80Y

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Leonardo said:
Just out of curiosity, how much RAM would you need to run VPC comfortably?
Click to expand...
Point is, it never runs comfortably.
I have 2 GB in my PowerBook G4 and it still runs doggedly slow.
 
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What we're telling you is not to bother with the install. Not worth it even if you had 2 GB.

Cheers
 
harryb2448

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Agree agree agree. VPC is too slow for running anything and is the very devil to set up and use over the 'net. Suggest looking for a cheap laptop, such as a Dell D640 if you desperately need to use Windows/Games.
 
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Leonardo


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Alright then, I guess it's going on the back shelf until one day it is old enough to be displayed in a frustrating software museum.;D

Thanks for your help.
 

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