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XP mode?

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Bob2004:
XP mode is a virtual machine, so there's not really all that much difference. It just has the advantage of already being pre-configured with Windows XP, integration features, access to the host PC's hard drives already set up, things like that.

XP Mode is generally easier to install, and better than most other free VM software. There's no reason not to use it, if you actually need to (though it seems strange that your software only works in a 32-bit environment. The way Windows handles it, a 32-bit application shouldn't even be aware it's running in anything other than a 32-bit environment, and should work fine).

lapa321:
The program i use for managing my archives was written in Visual Basic several years ago and there are no Win7 compatible libraries. Simply setting the XP mode in the program properties isn't enough because of the missing DLLs, so the only other option was to install MSVirtualPC.

I don't actually know how the other VM's work, but the thing about using the MS one is that there are two ways of running in XP. Either by launching the MS virtual XP and running your application on it...



Or running the program directly on Win7.


Note the classic WinXP title bar and the Win7IE9 behind it.

The second one loads much faster.

When you install a program in VirtualPC, it creates a duplicate link in Win7. Launching from the link will launch the program inside Win7 without needing to go through VirtualPC.

Clannad_92:
hey @lapa, did you just mention that i can run a program that is not compatible with win 7 directly after installing xp mode?

@bob, its not my software, its my school old software...and fyi i can run them in win7 32...im asking about xpode because i think installing two windows (64 and32) is waste of space...so i think i want to install only one windows 7 64+xp mode 32...

megido-rev.M:
If it's not clear already, XP mode is essentially a pre-configured VM with XP on it, just that it's integrated with the actual OS (Win7). The integration allows you to run a XP-only process seemingly outside the VM, when it actually is inside it (notice the XP-themed window in lapa's second screenshot).

As far as Win7x64 is concerned, it can also run 32-bit software, so there's no reason for you to install a 32-bit OS. If you want XP mode (for stuff that can only run on XP's core) you'll need to get the professional edition or higher.

Bob2004:
Ah, could it be that the software you want to run is (at least partly) 16-bit? If it's old enough, that would be quite possible. Windows Vista/7 x64 cannot run 16-bit applications (for no good reason - it's just been arbitrarily disabled as far as I can see), but the x86 versions can. That would explain your problems.

If that is the case, then yes - Windows XP mode is definitely the best solution, since that always contains a 32-bit copy of XP, even when the host PC is running a 64-bit version of Windows.

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