Windows 10: Import Windows XP Mode from Windows 7 to Windows 10

How to: Import Windows XP Mode from Windows 7 to Windows 10


Information Quite a number of Windows 7 private and even business users are postponing the Windows 10 upgrade simply because they still have some legacy software installed on Windows XP Mode virtual machine running in Windows 7. Getting the important software working on a Windows 10 XP virtual machine would require an XP license, which can be quite difficult to acquire today, in addition to requiring all software being reinstalled.

Importing the existing XP Mode VM from Windows 7 to Hyper-V in Windows 10 is a viable option for these users. However, you cannot simply copy the XP Mode VHD and use it in Hyper-V. Moving XP Mode from Windows 7 as a virtual machine to Windows 10 as such is relatively difficult because it uses differencing disks and consists of multiple files:



(Click to enlarge.)

Screenshot is from a tutorial on our sister site Seven Forums: Virtual XP Machine - Copy - Windows 7 Help Forums

This tutorial will show an easy workaround, whole process taking less than 10 minutes.
1.) Capture existing XP Mode to a new VHD
1.1) In Windows 7, start XP Mode virtual machine. On XP Mode virtual machine, download and run Disk2VHD (tutorial).

1.2) Be sure to select Prepare for use in Virtual PC, and unselect Use VHDX:




1.3) When Disk2VHD has created the new virtual hard disk (VHD) file, copy it to your Windows 7 host.
2.) Setup XP Mode in Hyper-V
2.1) Upgrade to Windows 10, alternatively copy the new Disk2VHD virtual hard disk to another Windows 10 computer

2.2) Setup Hyper-V (tutorial).

2.3) Setup a Hyper-V Windows XP Mode virtual machine as told in Part Five in Hyper-V tutorial.

2.4) When creating the XP Mode VM, remember that it must be Generation 1:




2.5) Instead of creating a new VHD, select Use existing virtual hard disk, browse to and select your XP Mode VHD made with Disk2VHD:




2.6) Start Windows XP Mode VM

2.7) Boot menu will be presented. Select Disk2VHD Microsoft Windows XP Professional:




2.8) If you get a notification about Windows needing to be activated, click Yes and select option to activate by phone. You will receive a code to activate your XP Mode VM.




2.9) XP Mode VM will be started. You can sign in with your old, familiar credentials.



That's it. Your Windows XP Mode is now transferred from Windows 7 to Windows 10, its settings, user data and activation status intact.


Kari


Related Tutorials

• How to Create Hyper-V virtual machine using free Windows XP Mode in Windows 10

:)

 

windows xp installation and dual core am

could someone please list the steps they follow to install windows with a dual core processor and windows xp service pack to. I'm reletively new to amd dual core and i feel i'm missing a step. All help will be appreciated. thanx

 

Windows 7 to Pack Virtual Windows XP

You missed this part out it dosent come with the os its a free download

Paul Thurrott provides an in depth description of the feature:

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today’s Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

 

Installing Windows 10 using Windows 7 key

Nope, you need to install Windows 10 first and make sure the Windows 7 key is transferred to your Windows account after you've installed Windows 10 (not quite sure how that works). I missed the last step and I could not activate Windows 10 after a re-install... Microsoft seem to have done everything they can to make it a PITA. Also, it's technically too late to do this now anyhow, as the upgrade offer has expired. But KMSPico works quite well...

As for getting rid of Windows, delete the Windows folder.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

Windows 7 to Pack Virtual Windows XP

Across generations of its Windows operating systems based on the NT architecture, Microsoft has been courteous enough to pack application compatibility layers that let users run applications in compatibility modes for older versions of the OS. The company seems to be taking this to the next level with Windows 7. The release candidate of the OS slated for April 30, will pack an "XP mode" virtualization feature. The feature quite literally runs a Windows XP environment inside a sandbox complete with support for applications such as Internet Explorer 6, etc.

The environment will work on a virtual machine created by Windows 7. Native Windows XP applications you install in the environment, along with your documents and settings will further be accessible from the host OS. Client variants of Windows 7 may feature a Hyper-V hypervisor that handles applications such as these. The feature makes Windows 7 especially something to look forward to, for those complaining lack of Windows XP features. In short, it's the OS some probably clung onto, and refused to move to Vista, running as an application.





Sources: CrunchGear, betanews