All you have to do is choose a password for the default User account it cannot be modified at this stage in the installation process.
Accept the End User License Agreement, and you will be presented with a configuration dialog window for a user account. Download them, again choosing between x86 or 圆4, and then run VirtualWindowsXP_32_en-US or VirtualWindowsXP_64_en-US. After a reboot, you are ready for XP Mode.Ĭhances are that you will need the bits. Installation could not be simpler - download the (32-bit) or Windows6.1-KB958559-圆4.msu (64-bit) updates and then run the one better suited to your system. Choose either the 32-bit or the 64-bit flavors, depending on the Windows 7 RC variant you are running, and the language.
Installing Windows Virtual PC Betaįirst off, make sure to download Windows Virtual PC Beta. If it is disabled in the BIOS, you will have to comb the options available and enable it manually.
But fear not, chances are that you are running a modern processor, with hardware virtualization and with the BIOS setting already enabled. This tool will tell you straight forward whether you can or cannot run virtualization solutions from Microsoft. For AMD processors, you will need to do the same with the AMD Virtualization Compatibility Check Utility. If it's NO, then you probably guess what's happening. In the CPU Technologies tab, if the value of the "Intel Virtualization Technology" field is Yes, then you can run Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. If your CPU is made by Intel, then you need the Intel Processor Identification Utility. Is there an easier way? Of course! There are a couple of tools that will scan your hardware and tell you whether the processor supports hardware virtualization or not. How do you know that you processor supports XP Mode? There are lists of supported CPUs on the Internet, you could try and hunt them down and then see whether you processor will play well with Windows XP Mode and Virtual PC. It is recommended that XP Mode be run on machines with at least 2 GB of system memory, and on top of the RAM, each virtual machine needs at least 15GB of hard disk space. In addition, Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC will only work with a CPU of at least 1 GHz 32bit or 64bit the processor must feature CPU w/ AMD-VTM or Intel VT features, and the CPU virtualization technologies must be enabled in the BIOS. I already said Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise. With the combination of the two, Microsoft is essentially offering a preconfigured, licensed and activated, free copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 that will act as a virtualized environment for Windows 7. This is why Microsoft's description of the two offerings as Windows 7 optional features is right on the money. Once installed, Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode seem to have always been an integral part of the operating system. While it might appear that Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are a standalone virtualized environment and a virtualization solution, the intimate level of integration with the Windows 7 client proves otherwise. A beta of Windows XP Mode will be made available on April 30,” revealed Scott Woodgate, director of Desktop Virtualization and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) at Microsoft, ahead of the Beta launch of the two features at the end of the past month. Customers can run many older Windows XP business and productivity applications within Windows XP Mode and launch them from the Windows 7 desktop with just a single click.
“Windows XP Mode, an optional feature of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions, helps small businesses upgrade to Windows 7 by providing a virtual Windows XP environment capable of running many Windows XP-compatible business and productivity applications.
Make sure to install only the Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate editions in fact, go with the high-end SKU, as it is the simplest choice, and the default installation option via the default RC configured packages. Users will need, first of all, the Build 7100 Release Candidate of Windows 7. Initially released on April 30 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers, the Beta development milestones for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are now available for the public to download and test drive. Windows 7 Release Candidate, although virtually at an apparent standstill in evolution since the release of interim Builds 70, does manage to take it up a notch with the secret features Microsoft confirmed to have tucked away since the public Beta Build 7000 in January 2009.