

Once it’s finished, restart your computer, and move on. Second, install new downloaded Windows Virtual PC. Get it Installedįirst, uninstall any of previous version of Windows Virtual PC from your computer. The XP mode virtual image is about 470M big, so it may take a little bit time to download. Where to get it?Įven though it’s a new nice feature in Windows 7, in order to use it you need to download Windows Virtual PC (current in RC as Microsoft Update Standalone package format) and Windows XP Mode (in self-extract cab format) from this Microsoft download page first. If your computer doesn’t meet any one of these, stop here and get a computer that meets all these requirements before moving on. It requires a CPU processor with Intel Virtualization Technology or AMD-V feature turned on.


Windows XP mode will only run on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions,.Sounds like a hassle, but let’s see how exactly it works. The XP Mode package contains Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3.One another major feature that aims to smoothly solve compatibility issue in Windows 7 is Windows XP mode, which basically runs applications that don’t naturally work in Windows 7 in Virtual XP on top of Windows 7. The system requires Microsoft Virtual PC software installed and hardware virtualization support from the processor. When you start a link to a program from the menu, the virtual operating system will automatically start up in invisible mode and the selected application. Since the program was created to facilitate the migration to Windows 7, some programs that consume a lot of resources and actively use the graphics adapter, such as 3D games, may not work.Īfter installing the programs in the virtual OS, links to them become available in Windows 7, Start menu→Windows Virtual PC→Windows XP Mode Applications.

You can work with hard drives and CDs, use flash drives, install applications, work with files, use office software and much more. In Windows XP Mode, you can perform all the operations you might have performed on a normal system. This may be useful to solve compatibility problems if some important programs that have been running WinXP do not work in Windows 7. The program can be run as a regular application and run in a separate window. Windows XP Mode is a specially prepared distribution for Microsoft Virtual PC, allowing you to run a full version of Windows XP in Windows 7.
