4

It seems impossible, I am shocked.
I installed Windows 7 on my PC, it took about 30-40 minutes to install, and normal boot (when there's no program installed) takes me about 30 seconds. I run a VM on the same PC, installed the same Windows on VM and installation took me about 20 minutes (!) and it boots in 10-15 seconds every single time.
I noticed smtg like that when I did the same with Windows XP (about a year ago) but I thought it was a mistake.
I wouldn't believe in it too, but the fact is - now I'm writing my question from that PC.

So my question is - How is it possible?

Note 1: On host machine I used ISO image to install and installed it without DVD or USB, so DVD and USB couldn't cause performance loss.
Note 2: I am running Windows 7, VMWare Workstation 9, VM has fixed-size VMDK (15GB) and uses my both processor cores.

4
  • "On host machine I used ISO image to install and installed it without DVD or USB" How did you use a iso image to install on the host? Also define when you start the clock and stop the clock to get your times of 30 seconds and 10-15 seconds. Many things happen before windows "boots" and many things can happen afterward that are not part of the "booting" but could technically still be counted. May 4, 2014 at 15:42
  • I used Daemon Tools to start the setup from ISO. I started clock in the first stage of install (Copying files). I stopped the clock when it asked for new user name.
    – Jet
    May 4, 2014 at 15:49
  • So you used Daemon tools to essentially do a dirty install from ISO? May 4, 2014 at 16:41
  • If full-install without formatting (when Windows folder goes to Windows.Old) means dirty then yes.
    – Jet
    May 4, 2014 at 16:45

1 Answer 1

6

I can think of at least one reason:

The physical host has real hardware that needs to run actual tests and respond with a status to the OS.

This is probably most pronounced when drivers are initialized; say, during boot or install.

The virtual machine has artificial hardware (virtual) that responds in a fraction of the time. Pair that with host resources that are already "hot" (drives, memory, etc.), and things get faster.

For example, compare the speed of powering on, initializing, and utilizing an actual DVD drive, vs. the one attached to the VM.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .