Windows 7 XP Mode - Comments Page 1

This article is most interesting, as I am currently running Windows XP Pro 64 bit, Server 2003, and there are quite a few programmes that don't have support. There are no drivers for my Canon A720IS camera, and in particular, I have Video Editing programmes that work fine on XP, but have an issue with my Graphics card, an ATI Radeon HD 4800 series. I had been waiting for Win7 in the hope that these problems will be solved. Will the XP Mode be able to make use of all the RAM? I have 4GB. I really enjoy your newsletter and articles. Thank you.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I would think yes.

I will not be using windows 7,micosoft is trying to make another buck,and this is just another nightmare,like vista for 2 years or better,been there done that crap stay with windows xp ,and will be fine.

You gotta love Microsoft, forget the majority of users that could really use this option and put it with the larger profit versions. This is a great idea, although I will continue to use VMWare myself, it has never failed me when it comes to a os workaround.

Looks like M'soft are going to rip off the punters again !!! I think Linux is the way to go from now on, lets hope that the Magazines and web sites give lots of simple to follow advice on how to change over.

Microsoft *needs* to "legacy" Windows XP, much as it did DOS when Windows 95 came out. They need to realize that there is a multitude of software programs that will be moved from old PC's to new PC's - some of which will not run on Windows 7 and cannot be replaced.

I work at a Civil Engineering firm. Some of our more esoteric software was written by Engineers - who really don't know "programming", just how to write software to get things done. Their software, which at the time cost us hundreds of dollars each, will never be re-written for Windows 7, yet is invaluable to us. (Some of our more obscure software was written by "companies" that no longer exist, and still run under DOS.)

If Microsoft abandons a "Windows XP" mode of operation, and it looks like they have already made its implementation pretty torturous, it will be doing a disservice to millions of users who have made many of its employees millionaires, if not billionaires.

You should've mention VirtualBox virtualisation solution too. It's light and it's free. It has versions for Windows, OS X (Intel Macs), Linux (multiple distros supported), [Open]Solaris hosts. I personally run both winxp and win7 on kubuntu without problems. It supports Windows (all versions since 3.1), Linux, Solaris, BSD, IBM OS/2 and other guests.

I've been running Win7 RC 64-bit on a quad core AMD box for about 3 weeks now. Tested Vista and XP on the same box, and win7RC works noticeably better. XP can't use the 4 GB of ram efficiently, and Vista is just slow anyway. Win7 is what Vista should have been - looks and works the same (only twice as fast), with most of the problems fixed (aside from compatibility with poorly written code). It should really be called Vista SP3...

So far, I am loving Win7. Only one problem so far - the Vista LAN driver (dated in '07) shipped with my MB would not install due to the windows version check. The Vista driver dated 12/08 from Realtek's website worked just fine. The hardware guys are already on it. I suspect anything with a Vista driver will have a Win7 driver, because the only problem to fix is the OS version check.

Oblivion (my favorite older game) would not install under Vista, never bothered to find a fix. I'll see if it works in WIN7, and see if I can try the virtual XP on the RC version, and report back.

I have a Gateway P-6860FX notebook with 4gigs of ram running Windows 7. I installed an X7900 Intel Core 2 Extreme cpu over a year ago.The BIOS: Phoenix Technologies LTD R01-A1P
(94.29.00) 03/10/2008 supports overclocking this chip up to 3Ghz and I have been running it like that with no problems.That cpu also supports Intel VT but there is nothing in the BIOS to enable it. Is there an updated BIOS available that will enable Intel VT and if so where can I download it for free? The Phoenix Technologies BIOS Update Agent wants $30 to upgrade my BIOS.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The vendor's website is always the best place to look for BIOS updates.

I've got XP [oem] on my C drive and Windows 7 ultimate on another partition... will i be able to use my existing XP OS in windows 7's XP mode..?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't think it's a "bring your own XP" deal. As far as I can tell, you must download a special version of XP that's preconfigured to work with XP Mode, which runs in a virtual machine environment. Of course, you could always install your own virtual machine software, and run your XP there.

Maybe you covered this already. Sorry to ask it again. What size partition do you recommend for Win7? The answer must assume there will be SP1 and Sp2, and patches and .....
Bob

EDITOR'S NOTE: In general I recommend only ONE partition. The exception is for dual boot systems. If you're creating a new partition for W7, make it as large as possible.

http://askbobrankin.com/partitioning_your_hard_drive.html