can't find virtual PC or XP mode after uninstall/reinstall of them

[ApeMan]

For some reason XP Mode is not asking for password this time. No idea why - i gave it a password during setup... :shock:

 

[Kari]

When XP Mode is installed, the default user profile (account) is called XPMUser. The password you set (you can't install XP Mode without!) is now your default password, and auto login is set on, also by default.

So, now your XP Mode login credentials are:
- Username: XPMUser
- Password: The one you set during installation.

Integration features are also on by default, so if you create new user accounts remember to set a password.

If you do not want to auto login, delete saved credentials from XP Mode settings. First open settings:



Then delete XPMUser's saved login credentials:



Now XP Mode stops every time when started to ask your logon credentials.

Kari

 

[Night Hawk]

Right on the money! Kari This is also the case when installing other OSs on VMs as well where a default password is required despite the options found later for auto login. Often you may run into a security prompting for password while in the XP Mode for certain things as well.

 

[ApeMan]

Thanks a lot for the help you guys!

Now if i can only figure out why my old winXP app is giving me a "MFC71.DLL was not found" error on start up!

I wonder if it could be related to the USBXpress drivers it uses being too old...

 

[Night Hawk]

That particular error is mostly due to the need to reinstall the application it comes with which would be the XP Mode in this case. A short guide for fixing these types of errors can be seen at How To Fix Mfc71.dll is Missing or Not Found Errors

One thing to note there is the caution about downloading driver files from some site and advises removing any you have already downloaded to proceed on with the steps explained on how to do it the right way. That allows the installer to work with Windows.

 

[ApeMan]

Thanks Night Hawk. I loaded about a hundred winXP updates to my virtual machine. Still getting the same error.
I am hoping the error will resolve itself when i install the latest USBXpress drivers.

Actually the application instructs me to update to the 12/2008 drivers.

Do you happen to know - is the USBXpress drivers specific to my application or is it more generic and available somewhere on-line?

 

[Night Hawk]

The thing to know about the XP Mode in particular as well as any other VM program is that you can't simply install drivers of any type as you would on the usual install OS to physical hard drive. VMs work a bit differently there.

The first reason is due to sharing things with the host rather then seeing them installed on the VM as hardwares in the same fashion. The XP Mode has it's own generics forms of onboard controllers for various things including 3d acceleration, sound sharing from host, virtual memory for video, NAT and a few other virtual network adapter options found there.

You are going to find you won't be able to run a number of things there if you haven't already found them to work on the previous XP Mode install you had for those reasons. The usb and other external from VM support seen there is due to the integrated components support incorporated into it.

 

[ApeMan]

Thanks for the update Night Hawk.

Funny though. The people that made my App are the ones that told me to run it in XP Mode [because they haven't gotten around to writing code for Windows7]. The installation instructions call for the drivers to be installed in the VM. I am following the instructions to the letter.

BTW - As soon as i plug the hardware into the USB port that i attached to the VM, XP Mode installs drivers for it.

 

[Night Hawk]

In most cases you wouldn't be installing drivers for hardwares and devices. Apparently they wrote this specifically for the XP Mode or the XP Mode is simply installing from it's generic driver base upon detecting the port in use.

Another thing to mention here is that if you have an external usb device or drive plugged and seen on the host OS(7) different programs like VM Player or VirtualBox have the option for unmounting the volume it from the host for use on the VM. That can make a flash drive or external HD a good way to transfer files over to a VM.

The XP Mode on the other hand already offers the integrated components support allowing direct access to drives and devices on the host OS depending on what it is as a shared resource. This was designed more for business interests however who would then be running their XP apps on the XP Mode when upgrading to 7 where direct access to drives and printers was the idea there.