a good VM?

Hi there
VMWARE for running the virtualisation software.

For 32 bit Guest systems you don't need to enable the Virtualisation in the REAL machine's BIOS -- you only need this if you are using MS'es XP MODE or you want to install a 64 Bit guest.

(Note to people who like to try out stuff -- you CAN certainly run a 64 bit GUEST os on a 32 Bit HOST -- you can run W7 X-64 on XP if you like - your host machine must have a 64 bit CPU of course --- the limitation here is that the MAX ram both the HOST and the GUEST cvan see is 4 GB).

It's a fun exercise actually to get a W7 X-64 VM WITH AERO running on an XP Host. !!!

For the actual GUEST OS I'd suggest EITHER XP PRO or W2K3 Server with the mods on this site (easy to do all standard windows stuff) to run a Server as a desktop -- a server has all sorts of notifications etc that you can turn off so it behaves like a desktop OS.

both of these are EXCELLENT for running almost every known legacy pieceof hardware that you can't get W7 drivers for and apps that for one reason or another won't run on W7 even in Compatability mode.

I prefer W2K3 server myself if you can get it -- it's a ROBUST INCREDIBLY fast efficient OS and it will still be supported until around 2018 or so --unlike XP which is entering "End of Life" phase.

If you CAN get a copy of W2K3 server - here's the link on how to customise it so it behaves like a desktop OS -- it beats XP hands down and is especially suitable for running as a Guest OS -- depending non your requirements a guest RAM size of 512Mb - 640 mb would be MORE than sufficient. (For EITHER of these guest systems).

How to convert your Windows Server 2003... to a Workstation!



If you stil have the physical machine running the legacy system the easiest way to create the basic GUEST is to use the vmware converter tool to create your OS - this saves having to install a guest OS and the applications again.

Cheers
jimbo

DWFII said:

Is there a VM that will work reasonably flawlessly...that has support for USB devices including printers and external hard drives and actually will give me access to older apps that cannot run on Windows7 without so many problems I spend more time tweaking the settings or fiddling with the VM than actually using the apps?

That might, in other words make migrating from XP to Win7, if not pleasant at least painless (or vice versa).

Have you tried Windows Virtual PC XP Mode? It may work fine for your purposes.

I used VMware Player for quite a while until SP1 was released for my Win 7 64 bit OS. Then I had a lot of problems with VMware. They may have worked it out by now, but I then tried Virtual Box & had issues with it also. I know that both of those programs are highly recommended by many, but it just wasn't for me - Possibly cockpit errors!?

Anyway, I installed Windows Virtual PC XP Mode a few months ago & have had no problems. It has never had issues with recognizing my USB devices - which was my main problem with the other programs.

Check HughShaw's 4th post here:

I got XP mode to display 24-bit color with integration!

This method works & is easy to do.

I do professional photography. I convert & edit image files in my Win 7 64 bit OS, but often must use XP mode to print to a couple of printers that only have 32 bit drivers. When I pull up the images in XP Mode (now 24 bit after following HughShaw's instructions) I see no real difference in color than when viewing in Win 7 with 32 bit color.

When I had only 16 bit color in XP Mode, I could definitely see the difference.