Friday 29 January 2016

Run Windows XP mode on Windows 7 using Virtual PC

One of the remarkable feature that Microsoft included in Windows 7 was Windows XP mode which makes it possible to run virtualized version of Windows XP on hosted Windows 7 operating system. This virtualization environment can be accomplished by installing Windows Virtual PC which creates and runs multiple virtual machines on host operating system. In this post, I will elaborate various steps to run Windows XP mode on Windows 7 with Windows Virtual PC.

The main motive behind introducing this Windows XP mode feature is to run and deploy applications that are compatible with only Windows XP on a computer running Windows 7. Since April month 2014 put an end to the usage of Win XP by officially announcing and implementing end of support for the same. In order to evade malware infection, most of the users quite using Win XP and upgraded to Windows 7. But some of the Windows XP- based applications fails to run on Windows 7 due to incompatibility. However, the solution is here, follow the below steps to run Windows XP mode on Windows 7 using Windows Virtual PC.

Steps to Install & Run Windows XP mode on windows 7 using Windows Virtual PC


Step 1: Download and launch Windows Virtual PC via the below link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3702
 

Step 2: Download Windows XP mode via below link
 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=8002

Step 3: Launch downloaded Windows XP mode set up by double click on it.


 Step 4: Once file extraction is done, a new windows will be displayed. Click next to proceed.


 Step 5: The next window ask you to browse the location where virtual hard disk of a Windows XP virtual machine will be located.


Step 6: In the next step, the program will start installing VHD file for Windows XP mode on a specified location.

Step 7: When the virtual hard disk has been installed, a new screen will be displayed. Click finish to launch Windows XP mode.



 Step 8:  In this step, accept Windows XP Mode license terms and click Next.


 Step 9: The new screen will require password. Type the password and click Next to run Windows XP mode on Windows 7 with Windows Virtual PC.


Step 10: Click on Start Setup to start Windows XP mode under Windows Virtual PC mode environment.


Step 11: In this step, Windows XP virtual machine is being configured which will take several minutes.


Virtualized version of Windows XP is ready to use inside Windows 7.


Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP mode, and installed applications in Windows XP mode are displayed in program list of Windows 7 also, as shown in below figure.


Note:
Support services for Windows XP Mode has ended by Microsoft, making the host machine vulnerable to malware threats. Therefore, before starting with the process, it is highly recommended that the mode be used without connection to the internet. Internet connection should not be enabled while the mode is being used in order to prevent entrance of malware into the system via web connectivity.

Conclusion: The above blog is all about how to install and run Windows XP mode on Windows 7 with Windows Virtual PC. You can run Windows XP compatible programs inside Windows 7 using this virtualization technology. In addition, Windows XP virtual machine support USB devices that are connected to the host machine. Windows Virtual PC makes it possible to run multiple virtual machines (Guest operating system) simultaneously on Windows 7 (host operating system).






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