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Just be aware that you will pay a heavy price in start-up time and system responsiveness with XP Mode and Virtual PC -- even if you are not actually running them.

This should be viewed as a solution of LAST RESORT only.

It only works if your running Window 7 Professional 32-bit. It won't work with 64-bit Windows Prof'l.

mipa, on 24 May 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

Even with hardware virtualization?

rixware, on 24 May 2012 - 07:00 AM, said:

Only if your computer is a piece of crap. As long as your PC is a dualcore 1.6 with 4GB of RAM and you have a very decent GPU, it will be fine. I would say you could go as low as be using Core 2 Duo @ 1.6Ghz and it will run fine as long as you have 4GB of RAM install.

Right now I am using a Core i3 with 4GB and it has the Sandy Bridge GPU and no other and it works out perfect for the few apps that dont work with compatibility mode.

I didn't notice any huge performance hit with XP Mode.
In my opinion, VMware runs XP Mode better than Virtual PC does, or even VirtualBox.

mipa, on 24 May 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

What are you talking about? I have windows 7 x64 and can run windows XP mode. The restriction is you can only run Windows XP 32 bit free. I don't know if you can run 64 bit OS on the virtual PC

mipa, on 24 May 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

Are you sure? I think you would be wrong. XP Mode works on both 32bit and 54bit versions of Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate.
http://www.microsoft...c/download.aspx

Just use the dropbox at that link. If you pick an edition that XP Mode doesn't work with, you will get an X. Any Edition of Windows Vista and 7 that are Professional or higher will run XP Mode.

What you don't need is a VT based CPU as VMware 8 requires now.

maxknux, on 24 May 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

XP Mode includes the 32Bit version of XP. if you want to run the 64Bit version of XP, which I don't know what anyone would, you must be using a 64Bit based OS as the host and you would need your own installation media.

I'd enjoy knowing what justification, technical or otherwise, that Microsoft makes for only allowing users of Win7 Ultimate or Professional to run Windows XP mode.

Be aware that Windows XP in XP Mode is not the same Windows XP that we are familiar with over the past 10 years. Some applications that will not run in Windows 7 will run in XP Mode, but even those run poorly. Everything runs poorly in XP Mode and the configuration and GUI of XP Mode is completely different from Windows XP. XP Mode is just another Microsoft failure.

mipa, on 24 May 2012 - 09:51 AM, said:

I run XP 32 bit app's, programs and games in Window 7 x64 bit Professional everyday, it has a 32 bit set of programs were these app's are installed. Running XP programs or Vista Programs is a no Brainer in Windows 7 x64 Professional.

Look in your main drive and you will see the x86 program folder were 32 bit app's are installed. And i haven't had any problem with any of the app's or programs I've install running poorly. X64 bit just lets you use all the available memory you have and run any 64 bit programs you might have to. In the next few years all computers will be 64 bit anyway.

I have Programs and Games that run fine, that are 98 and 98se programs, and any and all XP programs run just fine. Though i don't use the UAC it's shut off. It was the biggest hurdle they ever put in the operating system as far as I'm concerned. Though it has helped a lot of less savy Windows users from installing Malware. Plus many of the older software has been upgraded to run natively in Windows 7. Check with the Developer of that software to see if they have upgraded it. Though like i said any of the older software has run fine to me.

Have use VM's to, the only problem I've found with the VM's is it letting me use my nvidia drivers for some game's when running Linux. This is due to the fact of the VM having it's own proprietary driver for video, and there is a fix coming for this to. Though dual booting and running Linux in it own partition solves this problem and i don't need the VM software.

This post has been edited by YellowEagle: 28 May 2012 - 02:48 PM