Posted on 10/22/2009 8:16:15 AM PDT by bcsco
Through its XP Mode, Microsoft Windows 7 can extend the useful life of legacy applications and peripherals.
With a feature called XP Mode in Windows 7, Microsoft hopes to make it easier to use legacy applications and equipment. In this video, ZDNet’s Ed Bott, blogger of Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report, shows you how the new XP Mode works and suggests a few possible uses for the feature.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.techrepublic.com.com ...
I think I’ll run XP mode in XP instead.
What I don’t understand is why they didn’t build into the install to “move” your previous XP install into the “XP mode”, that would be such an easy upgrade for the users. Oh well, if they did all the stuff with software they should we geeks wouldn’t be able to show off.
Thank you. Why fix what ain’t broke? Win 7 is just a ploy to get us to shell out more cash. XP is just fine the way it has been, for years. Win 7 just breaks the software I use every day! Useless!
Windows 7 is intended as an upgrade to Vista; not XP. In fact you can't upgrade to Windows 7 from a Windows XP installation. I would suspect that's the overriding answer to your question.
Myself as well. But there have been a number of threads on Windows 7 these past few days, so I thought this would be of benefit.
Gulp - I'm terrified; need to find teenage geek kid.
That being said, the XP mode is awesome as it can run any thing that XP can from within Win 7. Who needs to dual boot.
I never went down the Vista path, but I really believe that Windows 7 is Worth upgrading too.
But hey, I will likely run XP on a couple of my machines until they die
I know, and that’s stupid. Especially when they put XP mode in the OS in the first place. They SHOULD have made it so if you installed 7 on a machine with XP it would put your existing XP in as the XP mode. The overriding answer is that they screwed up and missed a good opportunity to do something easy (given how close 7 is to Vista if Vista could upgrade from XP 7 could also if they’d bothered to port the code).
I’ll be waiting to hear if this works like it should. I have a MacBookPro with parallels and it’s important for my embroidery software to be able to run and be able to communicate with the embroidery machine. If it runs good I’ll make sure to update Parallels and buy 7 to load onto it, if not I’ll stay with what I have now.
I already know the answer: MS screwed up. They decided to ignore the fact that lots of people still are on XP and do a one version upgrade instead of the industry standard 2 versions. It’s not complicated, MS has a long history of screwing things up, if we’re lucky the lack of XP upgrade will be the biggest screw up in 7.
I understand. My wife has an embroidery machine, although a PC isn’t directly linked to it. She has a hub she attaches via USB with which she can transfer patterns to a machine data card. I just bought her one of those small Dell Netbooks. Now, instead of using my laptop, she can use her own PC. Yeah!
I installed XP mode earlier this week on my W7 Ultimate x64. It works. It doesn’t have video acceleration and I’m having some trouble with some device drivers. I’ll give it a full go this weekend.
It may be more basic than that. There’s more $ in buying a boxed operating system than in buying an ‘upgrade’. They felt ‘compelled’ to do something about the Vista issue. They didn’t feel compelled to do something about other legacy systems.
Per some version comparison charts, the XP Mode is NOT available in the Home edition of Win7.
FYI
I’m sure money plays into it. We know it’s not technical because 2008R2 (Windows 7 server) CAN upgrade from 2003 (XP server). They simply chose not to, for internal reason which I’m sure seem perfectly valid from Redmond, but from down here in Tucson it’s exactly the kind of short sightedness I get paid to rail against.
Well, that's an interesting point. So Microsoft will ignore the needs of all those home XP users who can't/won't upgrade their software? Sheesh.
Thanks for the info.
Thank you....going there soon to continue my education!
Actually, you can upgrade XP to Win 7. I posted a “how to” a few months ago. If you’d like I can find it, and repost, or pm it to you and you can post it.
You can also upgrade Win 7 beta and RC almost the same way.
Unless they want to go to Ultimate, which is basically Pro for home. Good old MS. I was starting to worry, so much good news coming about 7, maybe MS was turning into a pleasant company to deal with.
They didn’t put it into Win 7, it’s an additional installed item.
Your idea to use an existing XP install is great. In most VM’s (virtual machines, which is what XP mode uses) you can do that, it’s called raw partition access, and let’s you use an existing install. But, like you said, though, it’s too bad MS didn’t.
If you know someone with an .edu email address, you can get Win 7 Professional for $30.
Please repost how to upgrade XP and Win 7 RC, unless you are referring to a clean install (what MS calls a “Custom” install). I have done “clean installs” on two machines, and have a few more to do. It will be a lot easier if I can do an “in place” upgrade.
That would be appreciated. Also, does it include the ability in Windows 7 Home edition?
I really don’t know. I have only done it with the RC (Build 7100), which is Ultimate.
An earlier poster mentioned that XP mode wasn’t available in Home Edition. That’s what made me wonder whether a path to upgrade would also exist.
Mine is a little older but does run by direct link via usb. I can either save to memory or save to the PCMCIA card. Does she like her netbook because I was thinking that it would be nice to have one of those because of the XP and if I drop it it is only a $400 loss and not thousands!
Started work at 7 this morning and got the "Grey Screen of Death" with its Startup Repair program.
Every damn time an upgrade for ANY program calls for a restart this stupid crap pops up and disables my machine for 30-60 minutes, but not today. Not when I need to work from the get-go. No sir!
Today was a two hour FUBAR waiting for that crap to figure out it was an OS and not a permanent screensaver.
But, I also mentioned that she could watch the previous night's NCIS episode online by going to the CBS website. After dinner, she sat down in her chair, booted up CBS, and spent an enjoyable hour watching the show. She then checked her email and remarked "Hey, this is fun".
I bought it because she's moved to a much larger store which she manages (a craft/fabric chain...), and thought she'd need the help of her own PC. I installed OpenOffice, and the conduits to an old Palm Tungsten E2 I gave her for her schedules and such. Now, she's getting into 'computing'.
Forget the $400 price tag. This is a Dell Mini Notebook and sells for $299. I bought it without any add-ons at all. It doesn't have a CD/DVD drive but that's nothing she needs. I have a USB backup drive so all the original CD software can be stored there. I make backups to a USB flash drive.
I had an acquaintance ask my advice on buying a new laptop to link up with an old tower they had (I did the network setup for them). I advised them to buy one that still had XP installed; not Vista (This was shortly after Vista came out and the horror stories were just beginning). What did they do, they went to Best Buy and bought a Vista laptop because it looked like such a good deal.
Uh, huh. He’s still complaining about problems he’s having. I just kind of smile...
The final version of Windows 7 was released yesterday for MS Technet subscribers, but you can’t upgrade directly from a pre-release version—at least, not without a quick and easy workaround, and we’ve got you covered.
The Problem
Windows 7 checks whether or not the current version you are running is a pre-release copy, and prevents you from upgrading further. For reference purposes, this is the error you’ll see when you try and upgrade.
The Solution
The solution is to edit a file inside the Windows 7 DVD—which you’ll have to extract to the hard drive to proceed.
Once you’ve extract the files, browse down into the “sources” folder to find the cversion.ini file.
Once you’ve opened up the cversion.ini file, you’ll notice that the MinClient line has a value of 7233.0, and since the Windows 7 RC release is build 7100, you can understand why it’s not working.
All you need to do is change the MinClient value to something less than the current build you are using. For the RC release, you can change it to 7000.
Now you can simply launch the setup.exe file from within the folder, and do the upgrade directly from the hard drive. Once you’ve started the setup, click Install now.
Once you get to the type of installation screen, choose to Upgrade the existing install.
Once you reach the Compatibility Report screen (if it doesn’t show up at all, be happy about it), you’ll see the list of applications that probably won’t work once you upgrade. Realistically most of these apps will work just fine, but the important thing is that you’ll be able to upgrade.
Note: You could always smooth the upgrade process by removing any apps that have compatibility problems, before you do the upgrade.
At this point, the upgrade should start working, and will take a rather long time.
Important Notes
There are a few important things to keep in mind when you are upgrading to the final version:
Happy upgrading!
originally from HowToGeek.com
Thanks, papasmurf, that’s good stuff!
You’re welcome.
NOTE: The actual name of the XP to 7 product is PC Mover UPGRADE ASSISTANT. PC Mover itself, is an entirely different product.
My bad. ;(
I have a Windows 7 Ultimate Steve Ballmer autographed copy that I got about a week ago, for doing one of those lame Launch Parties. I was running the beta for the past 6 months. I also have Leopard running on the same machine. I ordered a copy of Win 7 Pro a few months back, and downloaded it last night. So I have two licenses to use.
Thanks for the link, I will check it out. I used Laplink around 1991, if I recall correctly. I think it cost like $150 back then, and let you use a 14 baud modem to transfer files over the phone or by direct connections. I'm amazed they are still around.
You’re welcome. Be sure to download and read the user guide on their website before your upgrade.
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