Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode


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Is there any way to get Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode to run on Windows 8? Couldn't find much information on it, but I hope there is a solution as that was meant to be one of the advantages of having the Professional edition. 

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i'm pretty sure that the feature was removed and was never intended to last past 7 anyway

I don't recall Microsoft mentioning this anywhere, but if that's the case they should at least provide an alternative as XP Mode along with Virtual PC was really useful for people like me. :/
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I don't recall Microsoft mentioning this anywhere, but if that's the case they should at least provide an alternative as XP Mode along with Virtual PC was really useful for people like me. :/

 

 

It?s a shame Microsoft removed this feature from Windows 8, but it?s clear why they did. Microsoft no longer wants to support Windows XP, not even in a virtual machine. Windows XP mode was a feature for business customers to feel confident upgrading from Windows XP ? they could feel confident upgrading to Windows 7, knowing that any applications that experienced problems could just be run in Windows XP mode.

However, Windows XP mode isn?t forever ? Microsoft wants businesses to upgrade their applications and ensure they?ll continue to work on newer versions of Windows rather than depending on Windows XP forever. It?s a good idea to upgrade to applications that work on modern versions of Windows and not depend on a Windows XP virtual machine, but other virtualization programs will continue to provide a failsafe option even while Microsoft no longer offers Windows XP Mode.

 

Same for some of my clients. For instance, one of them had QuickBooks 2004 or some other god awfully old version that wouldn't run on Windows 7. I had to get it setup under XP mode until they upgraded to a newer version. Key point being "until they upgraded". You need to get off of XP. Soon you'll run out of crutches. 

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I don't recall Microsoft mentioning this anywhere, but if that's the case they should at least provide an alternative as XP Mode along with Virtual PC was really useful for people like me. :/

the whole reason for it in the first place was for businesses that were transitioning and needed it for compatibility reasons if some of their apps didn't work on 7 so they could have a bit more time and update the apps properly

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Same for some of my clients. For instance, one of them had QuickBooks 2004 or some other god awfully old version that wouldn't run on Windows 7. I had to get it setup under XP mode until they upgraded to a newer version. Key point being "until they upgraded". You need to get off of XP. Soon you'll run out of crutches.

I need it for different reasons. Also, I find it weird that they would discontinue Virtual PC after all these years. :(

the whole reason for it in the first place was for businesses that were transitioning and needed it for compatibility reasons if some of their apps didn't work on 7 so they could have a bit more time and update the apps properly

Should they not consider those who migrate from Windows XP to Windows 8.1?
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Should they not consider those who migrate from Windows XP to Windows 8.1?

MS gave them plenty of time since 7 was out (plus MS probably understands that most businesses are going to upgrade to 7 and skip 8.x)

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I need it for different reasons. Also, I find it weird that they would discontinue Virtual PC after all these years. :(

Should they not consider those who migrate from Windows XP to Windows 8.1?

You can still download and use Virtual PC but it's not current technology anymore. There are far better visualization tools out there, as was mentioned in the article I linked. 

 

Plus, Microsoft has been nice enough with XP users with basically giving away a free XP license with every Windows 7 Pro license. It was incentive to upgrade at the time and if you haven't by now, it's not up to Microsoft to hold anyone's hand any longer.

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You can still download and use Virtual PC but it's not current technology anymore. There are far better visualization tools out there, as was mentioned in the article I linked. 

 

Plus, Microsoft has been nice enough with XP users with basically giving away a free XP license with every Windows 7 Pro license. It was incentive to upgrade at the time and if you haven't by now, it's not up to Microsoft to hold anyone's hand any longer.

I have Virtualbox and VMPlayer, but they don't provide XP Mode without the use a product key. Also, Virtual PC doesn't work unless you modify the files and update the it's drivers.

 

Windows XP is still supported, so they should provide a solution until support officially ends.

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I have Virtualbox and VMPlayer, but they don't provide XP Mode without the use a product key. Also, Virtual PC doesn't work unless you modify the files and update the it's drivers.

 

Windows XP is still supported, so they should provide a solution until support officially ends.

 

 

Have you looked at any of your options with Hyper-V.  This is integrated in Windows 8 itself.  That is the reason that you no longer see Virtual PC/ XP  Mode with Windows 8.

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Have you looked at any of your options with Hyper-V.  This is integrated in Windows 8 itself.  That is the reason that you no longer see Virtual PC/ XP  Mode with Windows 8.

I have, but it can't co-exist with other third party solutions, so I disabled it again. :/

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Have you looked at any of your options with Hyper-V.  This is integrated in Windows 8 itself.  That is the reason that you no longer see Virtual PC/ XP  Mode with Windows 8.

 

This.  XP Mode was a hack at best, and with HyperV built in, there's no reason to look back.  I've yet to encounter a scenario where the third-parties do something that I absolutely need but can't be done with HyperV.  Not suggesting your needs must be the same as mine, just saying you have to have something really exceptional for it not to be an acceptable solution.

 

Would love to know what problem it is, at a fundamental level, that you need to solve.

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It kinda works, but Windows isn't activated:

 

Edit: Just realized, I can use my old product key using phone activation. Thanks guys for the help! :)

Does VirtualBox give you all the same start menu integration features that you have in Windows 7 w/ XP Mode and VMware Player like in the link I posted earlier? It seems to me that you may be able to use the information about extracting the free VHD and apply it to VMware Player to have exactly what you want.
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I have Virtualbox and VMPlayer, but they don't provide XP Mode without the use a product key. Also, Virtual PC doesn't work unless you modify the files and update the it's drivers.

 

Windows XP is still supported, so they should provide a solution until support officially ends.

 

Hell no.  XP needs to die asap.

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Does VirtualBox give you all the same start menu integration features that you have in Windows 7 w/ XP Mode and VMware Player like in the link I posted earlier? It seems to me that you may be able to use the information about extracting the free VHD and apply it to VMware Player to have exactly what you want.

No it doesn't. Also, I don't think VMware Player allows usage of .vhd's without a configuration file, unfortunately.

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How do you change the format using VMware Player? :huh:

Use the VMWare VCenter Converter.  This is freeware and not tied to any VCenter product.  It changes a lot of formats into VMWare.  You can also capture live systems and run them in Vmware Player. 

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