Is there a HOWTO to get Windows 7 (and possibly 8)...

jonathan_haywar · ‎01-20-2013

I have a MacBook Pro with Fusion and use VMware primarily for extended compatibility. I find that I have a very rich base of software under my XP machine, and under Windows 7 I have IE9 and that's about it. My software won't install.

My understanding of what is going on is that Windows 7 wants to install VirtualPC, and the present VirtualPC does not see virtualization hardware, which it can. However, some older version of VirtualPC, 2007 I think, does not require virtualization hardware and will run, if perhaps a bit painfully.

Is there a HOWTO to get Windows 7 willing to talk with binaries from XP?

SvenGus · ‎01-21-2013

If you want to run XP Mode nested inside a Fusion Windows 7 (Professional and higher) VM, it definitely works, without hardware virtualisation and also with reasonable speed, both via Windows Virtual PC and via VMware Player, with Player being much faster than VPC (and thus the recommended method; and it also works in Windows 8, where VPC and XP Mode are not available: but there you will need to install XP autonomously); here are some links which might be useful:

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-8970

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10911/run-xp-mode-on-windows-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualizati...

The latest VMware Player also requires the vCenter Converter, installed in client-server (advanced) mode, in order to import XP Mode:

http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/overview.html

It looks complicated, but is really quite simple, once tried...

Another approach could be to simply use XP compatibility mode while installing the programs directly into Windows 7 or 8:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/10436/using-program-compatibility-mode-in-windows-7

... which perhaps might be sufficient for many XP age programs.