options running XP on newer PCs?

Anonymous

My 2005 Dell desktop running XP is having issues, and I'm thinking about a newer PC but want to run XP. I dont have the install discs (it's stored on the PC), so I would have to get those - XP PRO seems to be required if you want to run Windows Virtual PC on Win7/8... unless other brands of Virtual programs will run earlier XP versions?

So I'm wondering what's the best way to run XP on newer PCs that typically have Win7 or 8 pre-installed. I'd prefer not wipe out the original OS, even though they take up space. I would imagine it would work best on a separate partition...? I dont want to get into a 2nd HDD.

I've read that there wont be XP drivers for newer PCs, so compatibility sounds like an issue.

Here's my questions and exploration of the options. Brief answers (yes, no, wrong, etc) would be helpful since I won't understand too detailed explanations.

Does XP work better in 1) XP Mode, 2) as a Virtual PC, or 3) on separate partition?

The advantage of the first is you dont need XP install discs, and it seems to be easily accessible. Disadvantage is you dont get the XP appearance, and it's only available on Win7 Pro and up.

The advantage of Windows Virtual PC is you can load XP (Pro only) on Win7 Home and up (unlike XP Mode that requires Win7 Pro), BUT you need the XP Pro install discs.

Can you use another brand Virtual PC on Win7 or 8 and use any XP version instead of XP Pro?

Advantage of separate partitions is you are actually running XP and getting XP window, rather than Virtual version. Can you load ANY XP version? Is this faster than using XP in Virtual PC?

Disadvantage is you have to install programs twice if you want both OS to use it.

Major disadvantage is it seems XP cannot be installed on pre-loaded Win7 or Win8.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/install-more-than-one-operating-system-multiboot

I noticed that Win7, and programs in general, work really fast on my 2011 PC (6 RAM, Intel i5). Is that because of the hardware or OS, or both? Would XP work almost as fast?

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45 answers

Anonymous

2013-12-06T15:30:32+00:00

that last part is what's confusing to me. It almost sounds like the virtual drive or machine is another partition, if I'm suppose to choose a size for it.
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Anonymous

2013-12-06T15:13:53+00:00

Swap space, or virtual memory, is a portion of your hard drive that Windows sets aside as temporary storage for stuff in memory. When Windows needs memory for something, it'll move some of the least-recently used data in memory to the swap space to free up memory for what you're doing at the moment. Then when that data is needed, it gets swapped back. It's basically a juggling act to help with multitasking.

Actually, you're basically spot on with my recommendations. 200-250 for your OS and the XP virtual machine. Windows by default uses some of the system drive for swap space, so you need to leave some space for that, and for other "housekeeping" - updates and stuff like that. You don't want to use all of the free space on the system drive for your virtual machine file.

I'm probably recommending more space than you need for the OS partition, but it's not easy to adjust partition sizes, so it's best to give plenty. 200 - 250 should handle the "host" OS, and let you have a big enough virtual machine for XP and your most frequently used programs. And if you do start running low on space, you can install programs on your data drive as well. The key thing is to have enough free space on the system drive for Windows 7 to work well, and enough space on the virtual machine for XP to do its thing.

One thing I'm not sure I've touched on is that the OS on the virtual machine does not use the system drive of the machine directly. It treats the space on the virtual machine as its system drive. The size of the virtual hard drive you create is the space you have for the XP. This means you can have plenty of free space on your system drive, and be close to running out on the virtual machine. You'll probably do better reading up on that on the Virtualbox web site. They'll explain it better than I can.
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Anonymous

2013-12-06T14:38:37+00:00

okay, I finally got the XP software and external hdd, and will start backing up tonight.

I'm still hazy on the partition size. What is "swap space"?

I dont follow you after the 200-250 gb "system" recommendation. Do you mean 200-250 gb for the operating system - W7, XP, and "swap space"? And the rest for data?

The PC has 1 TB (with a small recovery partition, like 14 gb).
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Anonymous

2013-11-27T20:10:42+00:00

The built-in backup lets you pick & choose what to back up. It defaults to your user data and libraries IIRC, but you can add and remove as you need. While it can back up system stuff, I find it's usually better to just reinstall that stuff. And it does have the option to verify the data.

You can't really adjust partition sizes easily - you can shrink a partition, but I'm not sure about enlarging it, especially with another partition "in the way". You may find that you can free space up, but rather than being able to attach it to the other partition, all you can do is create a third because the space isn't contiguous with the partition you want to expand. Best bet is to plan your partitioning carefully.

I'd recommend first figuring how much space you need for XP and your main programs on the virtual machine. Then add the space needed for Windows 7, plus some swap space. I'd probably go for 200 - 250 GB for the system partition, and something like half to two-thirds of the space left after installing Win7 for the Windows XP virtual machine. And of course you can remove some of the bundled Windows 7 programs to give yourself a little more space. I would not allocate all the free space to the VM because Win 7 will need some for "housekeeping" and updates. You might be able to safely go higher than 2/3, but some empty space for the host OS is needed, even though you won't be using for anything besides maintenance.

The rest of the space (was it a 1 TB drive?) I'd make the second partition for your data. If you run low on space for your programs on the VM, you can install less critical ones on the data drive.
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Anonymous

2013-11-27T19:24:31+00:00

is that backup a "clone" of the entire system, or can I pick and choose? I didnt find anything about verifying backups for files in general. Anyway, it wont be happening until I get a hdd next week.

As it seems like a good idea to partition my PC hdd, I'm wondering how much space to allocate to the OS, since I"ll attempt to run XP in virtual. And can partitions be expanded later on?
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