Windows XP Mode - Windows Virtual PC

[hlewton]

Since I have already had more problems than I wanted with Win 7 I thought I’d ask ahead of time about installing the Windows Virtual PC to run in the XP mode. I do have a couple programs that won’t even install on my Win 7 Pro machine that I would like to be able to run without booting up another computer. So I just have a few questions.

Are there any pitfalls I need to be aware of before downloading and installing this Windows Virtual PC to avoid potential problems?

If I am understanding correctly what I read and viewed in a quick video I believe once installed and running I will be able to install these programs that won’t install now because of being a 64 Bit machine. Is that correct?

Will installing this allow me to run old DOS programs that I could run before in a CMD window in XP? I have read there are other programs like Virtual Box or DosBox but don’t want to have to use them if this Virtual PC will work.

Thanks

Sorry I should have said I have read a lot about this at MS site and know the BIOS has to have the virtualization setting changed and also I have a step by step document about how to install and use it. I really am just looking for things that I asked and also anything I may have not read about. For instance I know the version of the virtual PC I have to choose but the article also say I have to choose a version of XP for the XP mode. I have no idea what that means.

Thanks again.

[bjsatola]

I have not tried so I cannot really say, but some things to consider:

1.) I have a professor who uses VMWare and seems to like it, e.g. see http://www.howtogeek.com/171395/how-to- ... windows-8/ for instance (should be translatable to Win-7). I just mention this as an alternative to the Windows Virtual PC if you run into trouble.

2.) Things are moving towards "Windows Server Virtualization", i.e. Hyper-V, at least that's my understand. So if you have a supporting processor, e.g. newer Intels and AMDs should have it but cross-check your chip with the manufacture, then maybe you want to consider biting the bullet early. The pros of it is that you can run multiple virtual machines at the same time without much performance loss. Check out, for instance, http://www.howtogeek.com/76532/how-to-i ... windows-8/. This is what I use, but it may be overkill in your situation. I am not too clued up on it myself, I just learned enough to install and run it... Also, note that you may have to go into your bios to enable the Hyper-V before you can enable the feature in Windows.

3.) Also I like this site for procedural stuff; for instance, installing Windows XP Mode in Windows 7:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/82 ... setup.html

Cheers,
>>Brian

[JoeP]

The version of XP supplied with XP mode is 32-bit XP SP3. There is no choice.

Running old DOS programs may be problematic. The only way to know for sure is to try it.

Joe

[hlewton]

Thank you both. Brian I will check out those links.