Windows 7: Problem After trying Virtual XP Mode

So after I started XP mode (downloading the wizard and getting it set up was easy), I tried to install a game on the virtual drive but the graphic couldn't be initialized. Rather than figuring that out I ended up deciding to not want to use XP mode for that application so I deleted the folder XP mode was installed too.

After I deleted the folder, I went about my day and started to load up another game, one that I have been playing regularly for about a month or so. I was using Steam, a game manager used by Valve inc., and noticed incredible lag in the processing of the game (game launching and beyond). So I troubleshooted for a while, reinstalled both Steam and the game but still nothing. I also noticed that while trying to play the game my computer doesn't increase its CPU usage like normal, it would vary between 20% and 40% but now it basically flatlines at 5%-8% under the same conditions. I tried it with other free standing applications and got similar results.

The only reason I post this here is that the ONLY change made to my computer was that of the implementation and then deletion of the whole XP mode on my computer. I believe I have reset my BIOS settings to their original (before visualization) settings to no avail.

Another disturbing thing I now see, under System Properties, it shows a single 2.3 GHz processor seen and a total of 6GB ram BUT only 3GB is usable. I know for a fact that all my 6GB and (4) 3.0 GHz processors USED to be seen and used by the System.

Please, can anyone tell me what I did to screw my computer up?

Hi there
you need to UNINSTALL not just delete the folder. Uninstall Virtual PC as well.

BTW you will only see useable RAM > 3GB or so if you are running an X-64 version of Windows.

The XP virtual machine will only see a Max of 3GB whatever size of RAM you have on your host -- incidentally an XP VM will run quite happily with 640MB allocated to it.

For games using a VM is not always a good solution as the Virtual Video adapter won't have all the modern features of the real modern graphics cards / gpu's.

vmware Workstation version 7 (commercial) and vmware player (free) both support guests VM's with 3D graphics.

However using a vm as I've said for games isn't really a good idea unless the game is quite simple and doesn't need extensive use of graphics.

If you DO want to use a VM then XP mode is HOPELESS for this type of activity - install vmware or Virtual box and create a dedicated XP VM.

Cheers
jimbo

I have given up the idea of using any virtual machine for gaming at the moment, I can do without for now. Also, I have uninstalled Virtual PC and deleted any other file associated with it, I guess i didn't clarify that earlier.

My issue is there is a extreme drop in performance from my computer after I started all this mess. Most simple functions are fine, web browsing and the like, but once I start a intensive application like MW2 it goes at such a snails pace for no apparent reason. I am just wondering what I could have done to make this happen. All I know is that prior to trying virtualization, I had no performance issues with anything I ran on this machine. Now I cannot even load up games.

As it is now, I am thinking of reinstalling Win 7 to get back to the point that I was. A pain, but it is isolated on a partition so I won't lose much data. I plan on doing this late tonight, so if anyone has a fix or thinks they know what I did wrong I would appreciate input. If reinstalling doesn't work I have to figure out if I have a hardware issue. But I CANNOT see why merely installing Virtual PC and running XP mode for 15 minutes would catalyze this drastic of a change.

Problem Fixed!

Ended up that I needed to flash my BIOS coincidentally right after starting up and trying Virtual PC. I dont know if they are related issues or not but my comp runs fine after the flash.