Anytime Upgrade and XP Mode... any tips?

[Xander]

Dang -- thought I hit Submit ~18 hours ago but, apparently didn't and then I restarted my browser. {sigh}
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I've got a customer whose XP box was dying so they bought a new one and I migrated all their data over. He's the only customer I've had so far who has found the transition "too difficult". I looked into downgrading but Acer has zero XP drivers for his system.

I've suggested that we upgrade him to Ultimate and get him XP mode and then leave him in XP for as much as possible. He loves the sound of this, especially to go back to OE.

However, I've not been asked before to do this upgrade... I don't foresee any problems with it but thought I'd check if any of you have encountered obstacles that I might want to look out for.


Side question: I assume that I might be able to set it up so that XP Mode runs on startup and that the user might not see much of 7 at all. Is that definitely possible?

 

[FoolishTech]

I don't believe XP Mode is what you think. From my understanding it is a seamlessly integrated VM for running for specific applications that aren't compatible with versions of Windows later than XP. It doesn't take over the whole OS and make it look/act like XP. At least that is how I understand it (never used it honestly).

What part of this "transition" is your user having a problem with so much? If it's the look and feel of Explorer, you can switch the theme to classic mode and there are a few other tweaks to make it appear more like XP...

 

[dogskool]

This is the set up I have. I have a win7.

I use vmware workstation running an XP operating system in a virtual machine.

After booting the win7 machine, open vmware workstation, run the xp machine and switch to full screen. You can not even see the win7 operating system. I only use win7 to host vmware workstation. That's the only program on my win7 machine.

nice set up. easy to make backups of the xp by making a clone.

 

[JTS]

XP mode does look just like XP, but I think it would end up being more of a hassle. It has a lot of limitations especially with less common usb devices. It's more of a crutch than a full blown OS. I had to set it up on a box for a company that has to use a MA state website that only works with IE 6 or below (wtf, right?).

I would look into a theme as well and maybe switch him to Thunderbird for e-mail if he needs a system based client.

 

[stro]

You could always switch the theme to classic, the start menu back to classic and then it looks just like Windows 2000 or 98.

Alot of these types of business systems I also load with 32bit Win7 to try to avoid compatiblity issues down the road with old business apps.

 

[jb4479]

According to MS the only way to boot directly into XP is to dual boot. In order to boot into XP mode you have to login into the host OS first. So unfortunately, no.

However, you might see if you can find the XP drivers here.

acerfans.ru

This is of course translated from the cyrillic. There may be a couple of other sites out there like this one.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I've done a lot of XP Mode setups...even have it setup on my workstation here at the office.

Anyone remember Microsofts first crack at the virtual guest/host Virtual PC?
Or has anyone setup a server on Microsofts Hyper-V?

That's pretty much what XP Mode is..just virtual PC running inside of a Windows 7 host. XP running in a Window....a bit pokey. Most end users get frustrated with it.

You want your physical host to have 4 gigs of RAM minimum. And a true dual core processor minimum. Anything less....and you'll have a better time watching grass grow than wait for the system to do anything.

 

[732914TECH]

I've done a lot of XP Mode setups...even have it setup on my workstation here at the office.

Anyone remember Microsofts first crack at the virtual guest/host Virtual PC?
Or has anyone setup a server on Microsofts Hyper-V?

That's pretty much what XP Mode is..just virtual PC running inside of a Windows 7 host. XP running in a Window....a bit pokey. Most end users get frustrated with it.

You want your physical host to have 4 gigs of RAM minimum. And a true dual core processor minimum. Anything less....and you'll have a better time watching grass grow than wait for the system to do anything.

^^ This. We just had the same issue, we did an anytime upgrade to Windows 7 Pro, then installed XP mode, it basically opens a Remote desktop connection to a virtual machine where you can either just open the XP programs on top of the windows 7 host and it will run seemlessly, or you can disable that and run it in a traditional window mode. Either way its going to take some getting used to for the customer

 

[Xander]

I don't believe XP Mode is what you think. From my understanding it is a seamlessly integrated VM for running for specific applications that aren't compatible with versions of Windows later than XP. It doesn't take over the whole OS and make it look/act like XP. At least that is how I understand it (never used it honestly).

What part of this "transition" is your user having a problem with so much? If it's the look and feel of Explorer, you can switch the theme to classic mode and there are a few other tweaks to make it appear more like XP...

For crying out loud! I did the same thing-- typed out a reply and didn't hit Submit so what I'd written is no longer relevant.


Restart: Met with him to pick up the box. Since I still have his not-yet-wiped HD from the old box (I was waiting a month), I'm currently creating a VHD out of it. I'm installing Virtual PC 2007 on his Win7 and, if all goes well, will give him his well-familiar old system. His email is on IMAP so that will resync to the old system. I'll set that to autostart on Win7.


BTW, thanks for the info, guys.