Virtual future for Windows 7?

hazel123 · 02 Oct 2018

I don't know anything about virtual box or virtual anything really - have also just kept simple stuff - programs on hard drive etc. But I read something recently about how you could have a computer running in, say Windows 10 or other supported distro - and then install Windows XP in virtual box (as a safe way of running XP indefinitely).

Anyone tried that? Just wondering if that might be an option with Windows 7 when it comes to 2020. ie install Windows 10 and install Windows 7 in virtual box?

iko22 · 02 Oct 2018

In my opinion, this sounds like a good idea, particularly if you got older software that wont run under windows 10 but still runs on 7. If you have never installed a virtual machine before, you might want to experiment a bit with installing a linux distro, first before you try with win 7.

Barman58 · 02 Oct 2018

Hazel

There is a whole section on this very subject over on our sister site Windows 10 Help Forums - Virtualization - Windows 10 Forums and Shawn has performed his normal magic, (assisted by others), and there are Tutorials for everything you need to know.

If you go for the Pro version of windows 10 there is Hyper-V virtualisation included, I use it to keep a vanilla copy of Windows 7 running for when I need to test something or grab screenshots - and it works well on the hardware I use (in specs)

hazel123 · 02 Oct 2018

Thanks I'll check that out! In particular I have an XP recovery disk for a Disney netpal netbook - with all the Disney desktops and games etc (for kids of course!) - just wondering if I can actually use those recovery disks in a virtual install or is it only iso's from the existing hard drive?

Barman58 · 02 Oct 2018

Recovery disks are always a problem, they are designed to restore the setup exactly to a known set of parameters, Processor, Memory, even disk size (some HP recovery systems used to only load on a specific size disk), whilst install disks for Windows are designed to work with a vast range of hardware. Also software designed to work for XP is unlikely to work with Windows 7 never mind Windows 10 as they use different systems

Of course it may be possible to set up a virtual "version" of the netbook hardware and then run XP and the software that way

iko22 · 02 Oct 2018

It is possible to use a physical drive with VirtualBox.

However, it is also possible to convert a physical drive into a virtual machine with Disk2VHD.

strollin · 02 Oct 2018

It also depends on what you want to do. Virtual machines are great for running many types of applications but if you try to play games or anything that is very graphics oriented then you will be disappointed at the performance.

hazel123 · 02 Oct 2018

Ah I wondered about that strollin. I might give it a go just to see what happens!

badcrc · 02 Oct 2018

I've got the full set from Windows 1 to 10 Insider on VMware. It's great for nostalgia eg hearing the old start up sounds. Who remembers Microsoft Bob and that pesky dog ?

hazel123 · 03 Oct 2018

Nice! I didn't have a computer until Windows XP