Can I run XP inside of Windows 7 with "Virtualbox"?

[Just William]

I asked the 'Dual Boot' question a while ago. I am not sure whether I have Raid or Sata so did not proceed.
However I have just discovered "Virtualbox" which claims to allow me to run XP inside of W7.
Anybody know about this? Does it work? Is is better or easier than a true dual-boot?

Just William

 

[huisinro]

you need to install our plugin, VMLite XP Mode Plugin for virtualbox, otherwise XP Mode won't keep activated, i.e., you will be able to only use about 30 days of xp mode if you use only VirtualBox.

VMLite XP Mode Plugin for VirtualBox released - VMLite

 

[JonM33]

I asked the 'Dual Boot' question a while ago. I am not sure whether I have Raid or Sata so did not proceed.
However I have just discovered "Virtualbox" which claims to allow me to run XP inside of W7.
Anybody know about this? Does it work? Is is better or easier than a true dual-boot?

Just William

Yes, it will work without a problem. It also has Fullscreen Mode so that it displays full screen. VirtualBox is one of the most useful (and free) programs I have ever used.

 

[Kari]

Yes, it will work without a problem. It also has Fullscreen Mode so that it displays full screen. VirtualBox is one of the most useful (and free) programs I have ever used.

+1. You have no problems installing and using XP in VirtualBox, as far as you have valid installation media.

you need to install our plugin, VMLite XP Mode Plugin for virtualbox, otherwise XP Mode won't keep activated, i.e., you will be able to only use about 30 days of xp mode if you use only VirtualBox.

To my knowledge Microsoft does allow use of the XP Mode only in its own Virtual PC platform. If the user wants to install XP to any other platform, he / she needs to have a valid XP license.

Could you please tell me does VMLite have Microsoft's official permission to use XP Mode vhd the way this VirtualBox plugin does? If yes, where and how can I verify this?

Kari

 

[huisinro]

Microsoft does not state that you can only use XP mode with VPC, so as long as users use it on Windows 7 Professional and above, it's legal.

 

[strollin]

Not only can you use VirtualBox to run XP from Win 7 but I have also used it to run Win 7 from XP, Win 7 from Win 2003 Server and Win 7 from Mac OS X. I haven't tried it but you should also be able to use VirtualBox to run Win 7 from a Linux distro like Ubuntu.

 

[Night Hawk]

Let's see One custom install of XP Home edition, Vista, ubuntu, Mint 9, Puppy 5.0, SUSe 32bit/64bit 7 RCs since last year as well as recently on the new build in the Oracle Virtual Box.

The VM Lite Workstation will allow you to run the XP Mode when your hardwares lack support for the MS Virtual PC. In fact that will automatically download and install the XP Mode for you if you don't already have the XP Mode's VHD present on the system to select when browsing for it.

 

[pparks1]

you need to install our plugin, VMLite XP Mode Plugin for virtualbox, otherwise XP Mode won't keep activated, i.e., you will be able to only use about 30 days of xp mode if you use only VirtualBox.

VMLite XP Mode Plugin for VirtualBox released - VMLite

The other option is to use VMWare Player 3.0...which will allow you to convert Windows XP Mode and keep it activated. That's the product that I use.

 

[Night Hawk]

The download for that is the free trial version you sign up for at https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/?p=player&lp=1

The free VM Lite Workstation is available at Download - VMLite Products

I'm presently giving both a run on an old Socket A single core XP build with only 1gb of memory installed where I have been running some compatibily tests for the temp 32bit 7 install. Have to see how this one goes.

Well there you have it! The VM Lite Workstation has successfully downloaded, initialized, mounted, and is running the XP Mode on the following hardwares.

cpu = AMD XP3000+ 2.067ghz
memory= 2x 512mb PC2700 DDR333
main board = Asus A7V600-X
Storage = 80gb WD ide hard drive
Optical(dvd previously installed failed - install of 7 by usb key) = cd-r/rw 12x(until replaced?)

The last screen shows the advantage of the XP Mode's one item integrated components having direct access to the host's main drive.

 

[huisinro]

Thanks. We will release a new version soon for VMLite.

Here are the main new features:

1) USB Device Support

Add native support for USB devices, such as USB Flash drives, USB Printer and scanners, USB webcams, iPhone, etc.
Support OHCI and EHCI, USB 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0

(2) Single Virtual Application Mode - taskbar and system tray integration

When a user starts vm applications from host Start menu, the applications will be put into this mode. Only these applications
are displayed on the screen, and seamlessly integrated with host taskbar and system tray. This is very similar to Microsoft's virtual application
mode.

(3) Allow two or more people to share the same physical computer by running separate virtual machines on separate monitors,
USB keyboards and USB mouses.

(4) VMLite Portable - runs from USB flash drives or external hard disks. We will offer a paid version installed on 16-G flash drives, along with a VBoot Linux.

More can be found here:

Changes for upcoming VMLite Version - VMLite

 

[Night Hawk]

I was impressed just having downloaded the latest now seen on this old build for a look to see if the XP Mode would even run along with the Lite Workstation. The screens there do show that this will help a large number of people out there lacking hardware support for the virtualization requirement seen for the VPC but still need the XP Mode by itself.

For the most part not too many will be running a 6-7yr. old custom case however but would typically see 2gb even DDR400 up until the 939 boards for the AMD side of things. This of course also helps those out who have certain Intel model cpus that also lack the support there too.

Hope to see the next version tried out on this oldie as well as the new build there since the integrated components works as well as on the VM ware unlike simply custom installing the previous version on VBox or a virtual disk while it only sees access to one optical drive or a floppy.

When going on this old case it automatically configured the amount of memory and set that to 256mb as well as the other settings you would go through before the first start.

The only problem was seen in the Help where no content was seen under each topic besides an opening paragraph when looking through for the manual configuration prior to seeing the VBox version of VBox screen come up. This may have been an installation glitch as far as the docs but everything is quite responsive considering the hardwares.

Portable Virtual Box simply unpacks the program files onto a flash rather then using an installer to make that one portable as well. A portable Workstation for the XP Mode would be something to see as well as the problem many VM wares have now with accessing usb devices in general.

 

[huisinro]

Thanks for testing on old hardware.

I am not sure if any other vm vendors implement system tray integration, we will provide that next release.

a screenshot shows Windows Messenger running inside an xp vm displaying a taskbar button and a system tray icon on host:

Changes for upcoming VMLite Version - VMLite

 

[Night Hawk]

I actually pinned the desktop shortcuts here and have had the Windows Live Hotmail and Messenger on other VMs for both XP amd Vista. I will be seeing that tried on this install of the XP Mode setup on this older case as well and shouldn't run into any problems for that.

Having the XP Mode itself running on this oldie however is a bit more then what people were first running into when the MS hardware checking tool left them out for seeing it on their machines. For those lacking the correct Intel cpu for newer boards or boards themselves that are pre AM2 for AMD or simply lacking support this provides an excellent alternative.

The only thing about any VM wares however just like the VPC is the lack of direct hardware support for gamers in particular. But it also does limit options for other things such as dvd burning and the use of addon expansion devices like tv tuner cards unfortunately.

The supprt being seen for usb devices however is definitely step forward there since flash drives are becoming increasingly popular as well as the overall use of usb for various types of hardwares besides printers.

By the way the thread at the link there was locked and wouldn't display anything when clicked on here for some reason. May be from not being signed in over there?

 

[JonM33]

you need to install our plugin, VMLite XP Mode Plugin for virtualbox, otherwise XP Mode won't keep activated, i.e., you will be able to only use about 30 days of xp mode if you use only VirtualBox.

VMLite XP Mode Plugin for VirtualBox released - VMLite

You don't need any plug-in. VirtualBox features both Fullscreen Mode and Seamless Mode.

 

[huisinro]

we are talking about using exactly the same VHD file provided by Microsoft, i.e., the one you can download from VPC home page for Windows 7 Pro and above. If you hook this xp mode VHD to VirtualBox, it won't get activated, so it can only be used within 30 days of installation. If you install our VMLite Plugin, this is not an issue.

 

[Night Hawk]

When first setting up the WM Lite WS it immediately provides the option of browsing to where any previous download of the XP Mode had been seed or downloading it fresh. It also automatically detected the hardware environment on the old case here and set for 256mb where the old case has a pair of 512mb dimms. I see it automatically configures things according to the hardware situation it finds itself in without manual settings.

The plugin was a second download seen when going for the Workstation itself. That won't be needed for the old case here since that was only a temp install of 7 to begin with that did discover some interesting things such as seeing the XP Mode running there as well as XP drivers working on 7 for the board, onboard sound, and old 7yr. old AGP video card.

The main thing to note from all that was seeing no support at all for virtualization such as would be required by the MS VPC while WS program went right on and worked for seeing the XP Mode still available. The second item was still seeing the integrate components available not seen with any custom installs on VMs generally seeing only the A for floppy drive and D for optical as the only two internal media devices available.