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A Windows 2003 virtual machine high CPU usage after a conversion from physical to virtual

Symptoms

After a conversion from physical to virtual using VMware Converter, a Windows 2003 virtual machine may experience the following symptoms:

High CPU usage, even while idle
Slow responsiveness
Performance degradation

Resolution

From VMware Infrastructure Client, click Edit Settings. Remove any unnecessary virtual hardware, such as USB controllers, serial devices, and parallel devices.
From the Windows Control Panel, click Add or Remove Programs. Remove the following:
- Vendor specific applications and drivers.
- Non-VMware tools, such as network drivers and display drivers.
- Management agents and RAID control utilities.
Run the command the following command and disable any unnecessary services at startup:

msconfig
Remove any hidden devices. For more information, see Removing hosted or ghosted devices from a Windows virtual machine.
Use the correct hardware abstraction layer (HAL). For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 309283.

To determine which HAL you are using, click Computer from the Windows Device Manager. If you have one processor, you see ACPI Uniprocessor HAL. If you have two or more processors, you see ACPI Multiprocessor HAL.

Windows automatically changes the HAL when you adjust the number of virtual CPUs. If it does not, you can manually change it.

To manually change the HAL:
1. Right-click the HAL and click Update Driver.
2. From the Hardware Update Wizard, click Install from a list or specific location.
3. Select Don't search. I will choose the driver to install.
4. Select the correct HAL from the list.
Observe the CPU usage and adjust the number of virtual CPUs as appropriate.

Note: For example, if you have 4 virtual CPUs, try using 2. The appropriate number of virtual CPUs depends on your environment.

Note: If your problem still exists after trying the steps in this article, please file a support request with VMware Support and note this KB Article ID in the problem description. For more information, see How to Submit a Support Request.

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