Windows XP Mode,Windows Virtual PC on Win7 PRO, can I use OFFICE XP PRO?

Hi,

Well, I did it. I will be switching over to Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit, (8GB DDR2) from XP Home 32 Bit.(4GB DDR2)

Now the fun stuff....downloading all the 64 bit drivers that support the new Win7 OS.
I have a Microsoft XP PRO Office disc that I used with XP, and wondered instead of going out and buying a new HOME & OFFICE 2010 title, if I could use this in the new WIN7 Windows XP Mode,Windows Virtual PC mode.

Microsoft says I can use XP programs in this mode on Win7 Pro, but is this one of them? Or is it highly advised to buy the newest copy? ( Amazon- $110.00+ Shipping.

What other older programs are they talking about working on Win7 Virtual?
Does the Virtual Win7 or XP Vurtual cost any additional money, or is it included on the Disc?

**Whilest I'm here. I will be soon changing from XP Home 32 Bit, to the WINDOWS 7 64 Bit O.S. and wondered if I should know anything CRUCIAL before the install.

I already downloaded a few 64 bit drivers for my Epson scanner/printer, (I have a MSI P-35 Platinum Mobo) Viewsonic Monitor, (just in case), and the Realtek High def audio Driver, INTEL INF drivers, MSI chipset drivers,Realtek PCI-E drivers,and my Nvidia GeForce 8600GT driver.

What about the CD DVD Roms?? Do they also need the updated 64 bit drivers?

Thank you!

Microsoft will be ending all support for Office XP in the near future. So it would be best to go to Office 2007 or 2010, both run very well on Windows 7.

Glad to see you're in the groove so to speak with your move to the Windows 7 X64 OS. It appears from what you listed that you have all the correct drivers, make sure they're the latest ones for the various chipsets, etc. Always install the Intel INF drivers first, no matter what, then the Intel RST drivers if your drive is in AHCI mode. Then your graphics driver, monitor driver and then the LAN or ethernet drivers and so on.

The virtual mode for XP is a download from Microsoft and quite large. You'll have to have either the Pro or Ultimate versions of Windows 7 to do a virtual mode though.

Regarding DVD/CD ROM and/or burner drives, some folks are under the impression that they need a "special" or "brand specific" driver for those drives. You don't, Microsoft supplies those drivers through the operating system install, they're dated 2006. Just don't freak out they're just generic drivers. In the days of Windows 95 and 98, special drivers were needed, but not any longer.

With your W7 Professional version, Virtual PC - XP mode is a free download from Microsoft. You can find a link to Virtual PC - XP mode in our Freeware DB.

You could probably run your old PRO Office in the XP mode but the time it takes for Virtual PC to open may become frustrating. Plus, the further behind you get in versions, the more drastic the changes will seem.

Thank you, and happy fourth to you!

So, After I wipe the HDD, then I install the Intel INF drivers,...then the Intel RST drivers, then go into BIOS and enable the AHCI mode?

I went into my BIOS and looked for the AHC1 in all of my catagories,and did not see this. Just curious, If Win7 and Vista first came out with this, why would MSI MS-7345 Platinum, (my Mobo maker) (My BIOS is American Megatrends) have this installed four years ago on their boards?

And while I was there, here are a few other things I'm curious when it comes to the new WIN7, and my mainboard. In Bios, I saw the following and wondered if they were set wrong originally.

Chipset feature folder > The HPET is DISABLED.
CPU Feature > both the Execute Bit Support and Set Limit CPUID were DISABLED.
Integrated Peripherals > The Lan Option Rom - is DISABLED.

"Since Vista was the first [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue ! important]Windows [COLOR=blue ! important]OS[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] to support AHCI out of the box, where as Windows 7 does the same, If I install the OS without enabling AHCI in the BIOS, enabling it after installation will render your OS unusable. This is because Windows disable the AHCI driver since it is not needed during the installation."

I got the above link here>
http://www.ithinkdiff.com/how-to-ena...-installation/

"Intel® Rapid Storage Technology 10.1.0.1008 files for 64-bit OS - used to preinstall RAID driver (F6 during Windows* setup)
OS: Windows 7, 64-bit*"


Since I'm so used to XP over the years, I assumed I would like the Virtual mode for XP much better, but is the regular WIN7 Platform too confusing to use and is that why peeps like the VM better? Does it cut down on performance?

In OFFICE, All I use mostly, is WORD, EXCEL,and from time to time use POWERPOINT, I do not use Outlook or Express, just my regular ATT/YAHOO mail, so is it really worth spending $150.00 on a Office Home and Student 2010 Edition, or as you said, stay above the curve and not wait for drastic new future editions of office. I thought the foremost reason for me to use the VM is so I can actually use the XP OFFICE, and not to mention the familiarity of the XP Platform.
is a download from Microsoft and quite large.

Thanks again!

HI Bozobytes

I think I would try installing Office XP normally before resorting to XP Mode.

Office XP and Windows 7 Compatibility?

For the Intel RST drivers, do I go to the Intel site and download this or something else>

Intel® RST Driver Files (for version 10.1) - F6 Install (64-bit)


Ok, I got the Realtek INF,PCI-E,HD Audio drivers, and this RST from Intel, are there any more drivers I should be concerned with?

Download from MSI Website - Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver

Thanks again!
Ok, I'm downloading these Zip files onto the flash drive to use when installing WIN7. Should I unzip them first? or let Win7 Unzip them?

I also went back into the BIOS, and under Integrated Peripherals I noticed in the ON-Chip ATA Devices, I have the IDE and also the On-Chip SATA Controller ENABLED.

They DO have the RAID, or AHC1 option too. I do not think I ever enabled the RAID setting for my eSata drives when I put this build together four years ago, but am I supposed to change this setting to AHC1 BEFORE I install windows7? If so, is this the only change in the BIOS right after formatting the hard drive,or install when the WINDOWS 7 Install CD asks for the SATA drivers?

For the INTEL CHIPSET, Can I use the MSI DRIVER & UTILITY CD for the VISTA O.S., ( I originally used the other XP disc.) Or just used the downloaded MSI/Intel drivers ?

I do apologize for all these newbie questions, but as long as it takes to install all the software,hardware,I don't want to screw anything up. I know I just need to get the sequence down on what drivers to install before inserting the WIN7 CD,or whether to unzip the driver files on the flash drive before installing the new O.S.

Thanks for your patience.

No Win 7 is not that hard if you used the new XP start menu but if, in XP, you used the classic option (which is actually Win98's style) then you will notice a bigger change because classic is no longer supported with W7.

The main purpose of Virtual XP is to make old incompatible software function. This was done primarily for businesses because these are the biggest customers and many had held out when Vista was such a bust and Microsoft needed W7 to be a success (which it is). VM's biggest advantage that I see is that if you install the 64-bit W7 OS then very old 16-bit programs can not be run natively but they run fine in a 32-bit virtual environment.

But most 32-bit apps still run perfectly fine in native W7. It doesn't say whether the lady had W7-32 or 64 in the article Clifford found but it would well be worth a try to see if you can install it in native W7 rather than using the overhead of a Virtual environment. If you are perfectly happy with your Office XP then that's up to you whether to upgrade or not. The issue would likely be how often do you receive documents from people with a newer version because they would have to deliberately save in the old format.

Someone else can better answer but I do not have RAID enabled. I would turn on ACPI (this is for sleep/hibernation settings) before installing although I think it can still be enabled later if you don't.

If you haven't erased XP yet then I encourage you to turn on all your peripheral devices and run the W7 upgrade advisor.

Also you will want to back up your settings and data and this is most easily accomplished using WET (Windows Easy Transfer); be sure to select the advanced option and select any folders you may have hung right off C:\ because by default it only gets the ones under Documents and Settings.

Plus you will need all your program disks because each program needs reinstalled. If your computer came with software preinstalled and you do not have a manufacturers CD/DVD then you may need to download them from the manufacturer or find replacements.