My iMac (2007 model) can only be upgraded to 4GB memory max--I just ordered the 2x2 upgrade chips. My OS X is 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard, upgraded from original Leopard). Fusion has been upgraded several times to 5.02 presently.
According to Microsoft, Win 7 64 bit requires 2GB, and 32 bit requires 1GB. So if I create a new vm with Win 7 after I upgrade my memory, I would purchase the 32 bit version and allocate 1 or 1.5GB of RAM to the vm (as has been previously suggested above). Does this plan make sense? Or should I just re-format my existing XP vm and start clean with it? It ran fine the first few years after I installed it without slowing up my Mac host, but since the vm now has used up 45Mg of the 50 hard disk space I originally partitioned to it, both the vm and the host run much slower than they used to. The host runs faster if I suspend the vm, so the vm is clearly causing or contributing to the speed problem (spinning balls and hour glasses).
I checked the RAM allocated to my XP vm, and it is only 512k, which has never been changed since my original installation of Fusion and the XP vm.
Would increasing the RAM allocated to the XP vm to 1GB help solve my problem? Or should I pursue one of the other alternatives described above (re-formatting the XP vm or deleting it and installing a new vm with Win 7 32)? I don't think I can easily increase the partitioned space to the old vm (after researching this alternative in the forum--beyond my comfort zone) if that may be causing my problem, but I believe I can allocate more space if I set up a new vm.
Obviously, I don't have sufficient technical knowledge to figure out what is causing my problem and determing the best solution. That is why I am looking to this forum for help. Please try to keep it simple.
Thanks.