Windows 7 - XP Compatibility Mode

[C6Gunner]

One of my regular maintenance clients, a doctor, is replacing his 5-6 y/o laptop with a new one in the next few days and wants me to migrate everything over.

My question is:

Just in case the medical software he uses (Practimax) is not compatible with W7, is the XP Compatibility Mode guaranteed to work? Do any of you have any experience with the XP Compatibility Mode so far?

Thanks,

S.

 

[Mr I]

if his business depends on the computer, as a technician, I wouldn't recommend switching to Win7. Unless the software specifies to be compatible with the OS.

 

[PCSupportGlasgow]

if his business depends on the computer, as a technician, I wouldn't recommend switching to Win7. Unless the software specifies to be compatible with the OS.

agreed,

easy rule of thumb if the software has any 16 bit code in it they will have problems.

Probably a full xp virtual machine rather than compatability mode would be the safest solution.

 

[rurbaniak]

We had issues with compatibility and Windows 7. We bought Windows 7 Professional, and downgraded it to Windows XP Pro, all legal and within the Downgrade rights. We were adding a server and they were running all XP Home computers, so we needed to be on the domain.

 

[CompConfig]

If you have a windows 7 test machine setup, install all of the software on it to try it before you move him over. Call the software vender and ask about Win 7 compatibility for that version or if there a newer version out.

My main computer is running Win 7 and I have a client who is married to a very old piece of software (1995) So much so that I had to build him a brand new second computer using old technology just so he can run this one program. I installed the win XP virtual PC and just for the hell of it I tried to install his old program and it never worked better or faster. So give it a try you never know.

 

[BlackHaxx]

I for one think that windows 7 xp mode is over rated it has been successful 2 out of 10 times i've tried it. As suggested by other forum members Windows xp is the best choice for this situation

 

[chrisaroz]

I love XP Mode. Once you get it set up, you have access to the program without having to boot into the full XP Mode.

 

[Psychoticus]

I would, as many others here have suggested, run a virtual machine setup, i'm sure that the dr would not have a problem using this type of method as most dr's etc use RDP and you could say, just click this icon and then you should be ok, run through it a few times with him to start off and then he should have the hang of it and you have another happy customer

 

[C6Gunner]

Thanks for the feedback/tips guys!

I tried to contact the software maker to ask them a few questions (16-bit or 64-bit, W7 compatible, etc), but I haven't received a reply yet (probably due to the holidays).

I will definitely not migrate anything over until I'm 100% cartain that everything is compatible.

S.

 

[C6Gunner]

Last minute change...

To save money I guess (I don't know why as he's a doctor), my client now wants to buy an HP desktop with Vista Home Premium at Costco.

That complicates things a bit because the medical software he uses needs Remote Desktop enabled, which can only be enabled in Business or Ultimate I believe.

Do you guys know a workaround?

Thanks,

S.

 

[mekon]

Use this link
http://www.unet.fi/fransblog/2007/08/30/enable-remote-desktop-connection-on-vista-home-premium/
and work your way down through the comments. I know when I tried to do this about 12 months ago I got it to work, but unfortunately I can't find my notes.
It definitely works, but there is a lot of buggeration factor built in; so you need to use this as your primer. Also when you run into problems (and you will) don't automatically look to the computer you are trying to access but also give the box you are trying to access from, the hard stare treatment. I hope this helps and will also see if I can hunt down my notes. By the way this will only work for 32 bit.

 

[goober0122]

We have a few customers that are "Weather Watchers" and the software and hardware that they use is very very old. Most of the customers have purchased new Windows 7 machines. We installed XP Mode on each of them and installed the software and set the serial port to mount in XP Mode. They have all had success and just load up XP Mode when they need to update their weather information. Not sure if it has been mentioned, but you could put their old computers in a closet with a power cable and network cable and just use Remote Desktop to access the program. Or even possibly just a cheap terminal server would probably work.