Windows 7: Windows 7 Professional with Virtual XP Mode RAM problem

I am running some of my old programs such as Autocad 2000i for XP in the virtual XP mode. They are running pretty slow so I opened the Virtual XP setting in the Windows 7 mode and checked the memory for the XP mode, all that is allocated for it is 512MB of RAM and is shaded out. It says in the same window that there is 2551MB of available memory and that text is also shaded out. Is there a way to get the shaded areas active to increase the RAM and if so how much can I increase to without causing other problems.

Hello sdlshop,

You will need to have the virtual machine (XP Mode) closed/shut down first. Afterwards, you should be able to change the settings for memory allocation.

Windows Virtual PC - Change Virtual Machine Settings

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Thanks for the reply Brink,
I have the same results with the Virtual XP turned off or in hibernate mode. Could the hibernate mode be the problem. It was set that way from the start.

Yes, you will need to completely "Shut down" the XP Mode virtual machine window first, then open the XP Mode virtual machine settings window to adjust the memory size.

Brink,
Thanks again, after shutting down instead of hibernating I was able to change the values. How much RAM should I use? Will it effect my Windows 7 mode?

You're welcome mate.

It really depends on your needs, and how much you want to have for Windows 7 (host) when you have XP Mode running.

Since you only have 4GB total, I would try 1024 MB (1GB) first to see if that is enough and go from there. I wouldn't recommend to go past 2048 MB (2GB) though.

Brink,
Thanks for the info I will try that.

Hi there
Autocad will run quite nicely on even a 512MB or 768MB XP virtual machine BTW -- I'm running similar on a NETBOOK believe it or not. My XP VM is set to 512MB and it runs just fine under vmware workstation (vmware player also works and is FREE) on an ASPIRE one LO 521 Netbook - I have 2GB RAM in the netbook BTW so your 4GB is PLENTY.

However I would DITCH XP mode -- it's a great idea but the overhead is quite high and the only advantage is that you get a "Free" XP system.

If you can source an older XP system -- perhaps from your previous computer where you ran AUTOCAD I'd install VMWARE PLAYER -- it's free and runs Virtual Machines very well indeed -- beats the SOCKS off XP Mode and with decent integration printing etc is not such a hassle to set up.

Also you could load the VM on to say a USB device and use the Virtual machine on ANY computer that has vmware player installed -- even LINUX machines.

BTW vmware player runs on ANY Windows 7 system including Windows 7 starter so you have much more flexibility in any case on where you run your Virtual Machine(s).

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45,
Thanks for the info.

jimbo[/QUOTE]
If you can source an older XP system -- perhaps from your previous computer where you ran AUTOCAD I'd install VMWARE PLAYER -- it's free and runs Virtual Machines very well indeed -- beats the SOCKS off XP Mode and with decent integration printing etc is not such a hassle to set up.

Also you could load the VM on to say a USB device and use the Virtual machine on ANY computer that has vmware player installed -- even LINUX machines.

BTW vmware player runs on ANY Windows 7 system including Windows 7 starter so you have much more flexibility in any case on where you run your Virtual Machine(s).


I have been reading thru lots of post on XP running on Win 7 machine. I am no expert on these types of issues but sounds as if I can accomplish this work. My question/senario is this. My old tower running XP burnt the mother board. So got a new Windows 7 machine. I use an old (Win3.11/win95) invoicing program. Unfortunately it is no longer available nor upgraded to run on 7. Now with that said, I still have the HDD from the old tower, it is OK. I am considering the purchase of a case so that I can use it externally hoocked to a USB port on my new 7 machine. So this now external HDD has my old Win XP operating sys on it. What is the best and esiest way to dual boot with this setup? Truley I would probabably be runnign XP most of the time. As I see the only real difficultiy would be that I would have to shutdown and reboot to access the other oper sys. Any SIMPLE instructions would be much appreciated. This is my first post/reply as I just signed up today. Thanks