Poor video performance Windows 2008 and Windows 7

In the early day’s (Windows 2003 and older) after the VMware tools where installed your video and mouse performance where dramatic improved. As of Windows 2008 and Windows 7 after the installation of the VMware tools, mouse performance is better. But video performance is still poor. If we look at the video adapter after the installation of the VMware tools, this is still a Standard SVGA video adapter.

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f we look the driver version, you will see this is a old driver of 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happened with the VMware SVGA Type II adapter? The driver for this video adapter is not installed by default anymore when you install the VMware tools. This is documented in the KB article.

So, how can we install the video driver for Windows 2008 and Windows7?

  • Go to you device manager
  • Right click on your video card and select update driver
  • Browse to the folder: C:/Program Files/Common Files/VMware/Drivers/wddm_video
  • Reboot your Virtual Machine

After the reboot you will see a VMware SVGA 3d(Microsoft Corporation – WDDM) video card and you will notice that your video performance is improved.

 

 

And the driver properties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all!

vExpert 2011

Last Friday I received the following email from John Troyer:

Dear Michael Wilmsen,

We’re pleased to designate you as a vExpert 2011 as recognition of your contributions to the VMware, virtualization, and cloud computing communities. You’ve done work above and beyond, and we’re delighted to communicate more closely, to share resources, and to offer other opportunities for greater interaction throughout the year as we continue to grow knowledge and success in the community of IT professionals. Welcome to the vExpert 2011 Program!

All the best,

John Troyer (vExpert Program Manager) and the VMware Social Media Team

Of course I’m really pleased that my work is appreciated and recognized by VMware so I can proudly say I’m a vExpert 2011!

Last but not least I want to congratulate all the other vExperts for 2011 and want to thank them for there contribution to the community.