Windows XP Mode Help

First thing to do is to add RAM to XP Mode. To do this, turn XP Mode off and go to its settings and assign the amount of RAM you want:



My recommendation is to use at least 1GB, 2GB's if your host has more than 3GB.

Next, modify the options.xml:

• Turn off all running virtual machines
• Open C:\Users\Your_Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Virtual PC\Options.xml with Notepad
• Add this somewhere between the Preferences tags:
  
  Code:

  <virtual_machines>
  <enable_idle_thread type="boolean">true</enable_idle_thread>
  </virtual_machines><br/>

• Save the file

This allows your virtual machines to use more of the hosts resources, thus increasing the performance. A clear difference!

Kari

I would give it 2 gigs (2 GB = 2048 MB)

Add the lines anywhere between the Preferences tags. I have them quite in the beginning of the file:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>
<!-- Microsoft Virtual Machine Options and Settings -->
<preferences>
	<version type="string">2.0</version>
	<properties>
		<modifier>
			<build type="string">6.1.7600.16495</build>
			<name type="string">Virtual PC</name>
		</modifier>
	</properties>
	<virtual_machines>
		<enable_idle_thread type="boolean">true</enable_idle_thread>
	</virtual_machines>
	<br />
	<virtual_machines>
		<power>
			<mm_timer_duration type="integer">10</mm_timer_duration>
		</power>
	</virtual_machines>
	<br />
	<virtual_gateway id="0">
		<id type="integer">0</id>
		<type type="integer">0</type>
	</virtual_gateway>
        ...
        ...
        ...

(The above is an extract of my options.xml file.)

Kari

Good to hear that.

No. It is a virtual machine, using resources of the host computer, which makes everything takes longer.

Running XP Mode smoothly like host OS is not possible. XP Mode is OK when running legacy software in Win7, but because of this speed issue and emulated old S3 graphics it is not a good alternative for a gamer.

Kari