XP Mode

[sygnus21]

I ran across this article and it is the best explaination of XP Mode and VirtualBox I have seen anywhere:

Win 7's XP Mode And VirtualBox: When You Need Windows XP : Introduction

Completely agree. For anyone wishing to explain XP Mode, this is it.


Bookmarked. Thanks

 

[squall leonhart]

VirtualBox lacks D3D support under 8 and over 9.

not surprising since D3D7 requires patching DDraw.dll and in turn causes a infinite loop of fail as OpenGL32.dll which i assume virtualbox uses to emulate dx8 and 9, requires the original ddraw.dll.

unsurprisingly it doesn't fix the lack of d3d7< 16bpp dithering either on G80 and higher even if you manage to get Wine for windows to work.

gunna get the virtualbox source soon and look at implementing Host OS display mode switching or some manner of flat panel scaling emulation, configurable of course.

unsurprisingly,... a recent windows update (i think) has killed Sudeki on windows 7. yet it works fine via VirtualBox.

 

[Kari]

A practical tip to speed up XP Mode and other Virtual PC machines. http://www.sevenforums.com/virtualization/75986-windows-xp-mode-help.html#post669056

Kari

 

[squall leonhart]

Doesn't matter how much ram you add to XP Mode, it still moves like a turtle. Unsurprising to be honest, prepackaged installations don't optimise very well.

What is surprising, is the lack of available display modes and colour formats, since xpmode is limited to something like 1440x???? and 16bpp depth.

i doubt theres going to be a special hotfix to add more display modes, like there was with virtualpc 07.

 

[logicearth]

What is surprising, is the lack of available display modes and colour formats, since xpmode is limited to something like 1440x???? and 16bpp depth.

If you turn off Integration it won't be limited in display modes. With the Integration features turned on it uses Remote Desktop which is what creates the limitation.

 

[squall leonhart]

What is surprising, is the lack of available display modes and colour formats, since xpmode is limited to something like 1440x???? and 16bpp depth.

If you turn off Integration it won't be limited in display modes. With the Integration features turned on it uses Remote Desktop which is what creates the limitation.

i didn't have integration enabled at the time, and it still only supported 16bpp depth.

however i can't say i really payed much attention to it after discovering how limited the VM configuration was compared to other free VM's

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

What is surprising, is the lack of available display modes and colour formats, since xpmode is limited to something like 1440x???? and 16bpp depth.

If you turn off Integration it won't be limited in display modes. With the Integration features turned on it uses Remote Desktop which is what creates the limitation.

i didn't have integration enabled at the time, and it still only supported 16bpp depth.

however i can't say i really payed much attention to it after discovering how limited the VM configuration was compared to other free VM's

I personally prefer VMWare even though it feels bloated. (Probably the installer size that makes me feel like its bloated).

You can get 24-bit color depth in XP Mode with a simple tweak. Just not 32-bit color depth.

 

[logicearth]

So very wrong. See screenshot below. Just installed the XP Mode image from Microsoft not 30 minutes ago. (No tweaks used)

 

[squall leonhart]

lucky you, still, i find the installation of xpmode rather drawn out and invasive considering the few things necessary to actually run it.

now whether it can launch starcraft is another matter

 

[Kari]

So very wrong. See screenshot below. Just installed the XP Mode image from Microsoft not 30 minutes ago. (No tweaks used)

Nice to see somebody telling the truth, instead of these 'I've not tested but I know' comments.

I really dislike these comments made by people who base their opinion on what they feel or have heard, not bothering to check the facts first. Like this:

i didn't have integration enabled at the time, and it still only supported 16bpp depth.

Simply not true.

however i can't say i really payed much attention to it after discovering how limited the VM configuration was compared to other free VM's

Good base to offer advice, not paying attention.

Kari

 

[squall leonhart]

The mere fact it is limited to 16bpp with integration says microsoft really did some Quality work on XP Mode, considering other software which offers similar, if not better integration equivalents have no such problems.

By default, XPMode installs as a sluggish, somewhat bloated (ok very bloated) virtual hard disk, which like most preinstalls does not allow for the post install cleanup that installing a personal copy of XP into one of the other VM's would provide.

It also makes use of IDE emulation which utilises more CPU cycles then necessary when accessing the virtual hdd, while others with sata emulation have no such problem, and then you have supposed experts ranting at others about it not being as bad "WHEN THEY HAD TO CHANGE PREDEFINED SETTINGS AND REGISTRY ITEMS THEMSELVES".

XPMode is crippled by default and by design, that much is a fact. So stop trying to sell it like it isn't.

Simply not true.

Was true for me, but considering it only emulates a 4MB video chip, i don't expect it capable of spectacular results, so 16bpp would probably perform better for desktop functions anyway. considering windows XP required a 16MB gfx card for anything more then word processing anyway.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

So very wrong. See screenshot below. Just installed the XP Mode image from Microsoft not 30 minutes ago. (No tweaks used)

If that was directed at me, I meant with it being integrated. Which I believe is default (and only allows 16-bit by default).

By default, XPMode installs as a sluggish, somewhat bloated (ok very bloated) virtual hard disk, which like most preinstalls does not allow for the post install cleanup that installing a personal copy of XP into one of the other VM's would provide.

Really? Look at my system specs. Tell me, why is it I can run XP Mode perfectly, no slowness, without it feeling bloated, with only 2GB of RAM and a 2.8GHz CPU (removed my O.C. and tested it again). USING the default RAM settings for the VM might I add.

If any one here has problems with XP Mode being slow, and they have better system specs then myself, then its either user error or somethings off with the machines settings.

If you really have that many grudges against XP Mode then simply do not use it. No need to sit here and bash it.

 

[pparks1]

If you really have that many grudges against XP Mode then simply do not use it. No need to sit here and bash it.

I'm not here to bash XP Mode, but I really feel that performance with this product is lacking. And because I feel that I get better performance with other products and many here are quite performance centric, I feel compelled to share my knowledge or experiences so others can make good choices.

Today, I decided to run a few more stop watch timed tests between Windows XP Mode and VMWare Player 3.0 running the same XP Mode which was converted using the built-in VMWare Player 3.0 XP Mode conversion tool. Both VM's are installed onto the same physical WD Caviar Black HDD. Both VM's have 512MB of RAM assigned to them, both are running 16 bit color at 1440x900 resolution. Both had Open Office 3.2 installed with JRE, version 6 update 18.

Time to complete with XP Mode: (Times are cumulative)

• Boot to Windows XP desktop with no hourglass: 40 seconds
• Launch Open Office Writer and Open Office Calc and close both: 56 seconds
• Time to restart and get back to desktop with no hourglass: 2:02

Time to complete with VMWare Player 3.0 (Times are cumulative)

• Boot to Windows XP desktop with no hourglass: 17 seconds
• Launch Open Office Writer and Open Office Calc and close both: 32 second
• Time to restart and get back to desktop with no hourglass : 1:04

So, as you can see, XP Mode under VMWare Player 3.0 is pretty much 2x as fast as XP Mode natively. I think that says alot.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

If you really have that many grudges against XP Mode then simply do not use it. No need to sit here and bash it.

I'm not here to bash XP Mode, but I really feel that performance with this product is lacking. And because I feel that I get better performance with other products and many here are quite performance centric, I feel compelled to share my knowledge or experiences so others can make good choices.

Today, I decided to run a few more stop watch timed tests between Windows XP Mode and VMWare Player 3.0 running the same XP Mode which was converted using the built-in VMWare Player 3.0 XP Mode conversion tool. Both VM's are installed onto the same physical WD Caviar Black HDD. Both VM's have 512MB of RAM assigned to them, both are running 16 bit color at 1440x900 resolution. Both had Open Office 3.2 installed with JRE, version 6 update 18.

Time to complete with XP Mode: (Times are cumulative)

• Boot to Windows XP desktop with no hourglass: 40 seconds
• Launch Open Office Writer and Open Office Calc and close both: 56 seconds
• Time to restart and get back to desktop with no hourglass: 2:02

Time to complete with VMWare Player 3.0 (Times are cumulative)

• Boot to Windows XP desktop with no hourglass: 17 seconds
• Launch Open Office Writer and Open Office Calc and close both: 32 second
• Time to restart and get back to desktop with no hourglass : 1:04

So, as you can see, XP Mode under VMWare Player 3.0 is pretty much 2x as fast as XP Mode natively. I think that says alot.

Everything after squall leonhart's quote in my last post was directed towards squall leonhart.

 

[huffman]

I had not realized that VMware Player was free, but now I have it and it is installed in Windows 7. That is easy part and as far as I have gone do far.

I found the instructions to install XP Pro in VMWare Player at:
VMware Player with your own Windows XP Professional Virtual Machine

It looks a little complicated, but hopefully I can deceifter it.

I understand also that XP Mode can be installed into VMWare Player also, but the glitch as I see it, is that XP Mode has to be installed before VMWare Player. I have NOT been able to install XP Mode, always get an error.

Run XP Mode on Windows 7 Machines Without Hardware Virtualization - How-To Geekhttp://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1091...s-7-machines-without-hardware-virtualization/

IF XP Mode can be installed after VMWare Player I sure would like to know how.

I make an Acronis Image after each step so if I screw it up, I can always go back. I do plan on experimenting some.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[huffman]

I tried both VMware Player and Sun Virtual Box. I never could get VMware to work, but VBox installed easily and is easy to setup. It is now working how I want it to work.

With VBox and using usb DVD, thumb memory and wireless mouse and keyboard you do have to add a couple of filters but those easily handled.

I do recomment the VBox as an alternative to XP Mode.