Windows 7 within W10 - how well does it work?

[teckneeculler]

Sorry if this topic has been covered elsewhere. If so, kindly point me to the correct location.

Thing is, my main computer's W7 needs rebuilding and I'm wondering if I'd be better off to install a new version in a W10 VM (if that's the right term), something I've never done before.

I have another desktop pc (that I built a year ago and haven't yet used) running W10, so I could put W7 in VM there, if it's practical. Specs:i5 CPU, 250GB SSD, 16GB ram.

Suggestions appreciated.

 

[flavallee]

If your main computer is running Windows 7 and is working, why don't you do a clean install of Windows 10 in it?
If it's running Windows 7 Home Premium, you can switch to Windows 10 Home.
If it's running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, you can switch to Windows 10 Pro.
After you download and use the Media Creation Tool to create bootable Windows 10 install media, you can use these instructions to switch to Windows 10 for free:


1. Insert the bootable Windows 10 install media, then expose its contents.
2. Expose the contents of the sources folder.
3. Copy the gatherosstate.exe file to the desktop.
4. Right-click that file and then click "Run as Administrator".
5. A GenuineTicket.xml file will appear on the desktop.
6. Copy that file to a USB thumb drive or burn it to a disc.
7. Do a clean install of Windows 10.
8. Skip the step to enter a product key.
9. After Windows 10 is installed, navigate to the C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\ClipSVC\GenuineTicket folder.
10. Use the media you have the GenuineTicket.xml file saved in to copy it inside the GenuineTicket folder.
11. Restart the computer.

Notes:
The above steps should work in a computer that already has a working activated copy of Windows 7 SP1.
The GenuineTicket.xml file will only work in the same working computer that it was created in.
Before you complete step 9, navigate to File Explorer, then click "View - Options - Change folder and search options", then click "View - Show hidden files, folders and drives", then click Apply.

 

[teckneeculler]

flavalee:Thanks for your response but my question concerned the efficiency and practicality of running W7 in a W10 VM.

 

[Bree]

... my question concerned the efficiency and practicality of running W7 in a W10 VM.

I run Hyper-V VMs on a W10 host machine. I use VMs for XP, W7, W8.1, W10 and Linux Mint. They all run well. Using an SSD for their virtual disks means they feel as fast in use as if they were physical machines.

The practicalities that may concern you would be file sharing between the host and guest systems, most simply solved by setting up shared folders on the host that the guest OS can access over the network.

If you need sound in the W7 VM then that may be more of an issue, I don't believe Hyper-V's enhanced session mode is available for a W7 guest OS.

Enhanced session mode provides the following new capabilities for Virtual Machine Connection sessions:

• Display Configuration (dynamically re-size window)
• Audio redirection
• Printer redirection
• Full clipboard support (improved over limited prior-generation clipboard support)
• Smart Card support
• USB Device redirection
• Drive redirection
• Redirection for supported Plug and Play devices

...The Hyper-V virtual machine (guest) must have Remote Desktop Services enabled and run Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 as the guest operating system.

Turn On or Off Hyper-V Enhanced Session Mode in Windows 10 | Tutorials

If you need sound that I believe that VMWare may be more appropriate, though I haven't used it myself.


You can easily try out a W7 Hyper-V VM on your W10 machine (assuming it has W10 Pro and you have enabled Hyper-V). Install Macrium Reflect Free on the W10 machine, then use it to make a bootable Macrium rescue USB. Boot your W7 machine from the Macrium USB then you can make an image of it to an external HDD.

Macrium Reflect Free includes a utility called viBoot. Using this you can boot the Macrium image as a Hyper-V VM.

Macrium Software | Macrium viBoot

For a more long term solution (meaning you wouldn't need the HDD with the Macrium image permanently connected) you could create the Macrium rescue media as an ISO. Use that to boot a new empty VM, then restore your Macrium image to the VM. That method works for VMWare as well as Hyper-V.

 

[teckneeculler]

Thanks, Bree, that's the sort of information I was looking for. Seems like there could be a few fishooks, ie, sound problems. I was also hoping to maybe run XP in another VM, so I could play some old games.

 

[iko22]

Don't know if this helps your situation. However, it used to be true that users could not run a third party host VM alongside Hyper-V. Meaning that users had to run all guest OSes under the same VM host. Apparently, that has all changed and it is now possible to use third party VMs using the Hyper-V API, See:
How to use VirtualBox and Hyper-V together on Windows 10, and
How to use Vmware and Hyper-V on the same Windows 10 machine .

 

[Bree]

Thanks, Bree, that's the sort of information I was looking for. Seems like there could be a few fishooks, ie, sound problems. I was also hoping to maybe run XP in another VM, so I could play some old games.

Hyper-V is a Type 1 Hypervisor, while VMWare and Virtualbox are Type 2 Hypervisors.

Type 1 Hypervisors sit between the hardware and your virtual machines AND your Host OS.

In effect, your Host OS is turned into a virtual machine as well. Each Guest OS has direct access to the native hardware via interface built into the Hypervisor.

Type 2 Hypervisors sit between your virtual machines AND your Host OS.

The Guest OSs do not have direct access to Host hardware, and use emulated drivers....​

....Hyper-V is really more geared to Windows virtual machines but will run alternative OSs but sound is typically not available. Biggest minus is it is not available to Home users.

VirtualBox and VMWare have more flexibility, but require more maintenance, particularly when a build upgrade = occasionally a build upgrade "breaks" the type 2 hypervisor.

...Nobody can say one is better than the other - it really depends on what you are doing.

Hypervisor Type 1 and Type 2 - Windows 10 Forums

The emulated drivers of a Type 2 Hypervisor would provide more opportunity to use sound in your VMs, whether they are W7 or XP.
​

 

[teckneeculler]

iko22, thanks. Bree, thanks again. Good info!

 

[Snick]

I have a quad core AMD system.
Running anything in VM is very slow!
You are basically running an OS within an OS.
I would suggest you dual boot Win7 & Win10.
I do that on separate SSDs.

Snick

 

[teckneeculler]

Thanks for that I kinda suspected there might be limitations...

 

[Megahertz07]

I have a quad core AMD system.
Running anything in VM is very slow!
You are basically running an OS within an OS.
I would suggest you dual boot Win7 & Win10.
I do that on separate SSDs.

Snick

I agree. That is what I have in my computer with Win 7 being the default.
Win 10 has great tools but I don't trust or like it.

 

[Snick]

Megahertz07

Thank you for the agreement.

I have several issues with Win10, one aggravating, sleep doesn't work with wireless mouse. Repair Install requires current version of Win10 which I have yet to locate from M$ or other avenues on the Net. Weekly backups help as always.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth isn't helpful for some/most errors unfortunately.