Windows 7 & XP Mode

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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BrutaLMoose
Posts: 2
Joined: 12. Sep 2021, 04:44

Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by BrutaLMoose »

Thanks for reading this, I need help to complete a project. I am using AutoCad 2006, and it only runs on Windows XP. I run Windows XP Mode aka Windows Virtual PC inside of Windows 7 Pro. I run Windows 7 Pro inside of a physical Windows 10 host, through VirtualBox. When I start VirtualBox, and start my Windows 7 guest, then it goes to the desktop, and then I start Virtual PC, but it says there is an error, "windows xp mode could not be restored because of either host processor type mismatch or lack of hardware assisted virtualization support in the system."

I have started physical host pc in UEFI mode with Virtualization enabled on the 2017 i7 CPU, I have manually performed all updates on host Windows 10. All updates on guest Windows 7 I read on another website some people resolve this by removing the hibernation file of XP Mode, but after I did that, it never even starts up again, even after I restored that file. I reinstalled XP Mode, but after I complete setup, it crashes and disappears. I made sure to enable virtualization in the VirtualBox settings. I have read about using the VHD file directly in VirtualBox, but it is very difficult to get around the Activation, I have tried. Unless someone here has personally done that themselves in 2021, and could explain how. Suggestions?
scottgus1
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Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by scottgus1 »

BrutaLMoose wrote:I have read about using the VHD file directly in VirtualBox, but it is very difficult to get around the Activation
The forum can't help with this, unfortunately. It breaks Microsoft's EULA, and the lawyers would eat us alive.
BrutaLMoose wrote:"windows xp mode could not be restored because of either host processor type mismatch or lack of hardware assisted virtualization support in the system."
"not be restored" implies that the XP Mode OS was 'hibernated', similar to Virtualbox's Save State. Save State requires all the VM's hardware to be the same, and I strongly suspect that XP Mode hibernation requires the same. Virtualbox is different 'hardware' than the original Windows 7 computer, so that would kill restoring from hibernation.

"lack of hardware assisted virtualization support" is from the nested virtualization you're trying:
10 host > Virtualbox > 7 VM > XP mode VM > XP
Virtualbox only supports nested virtualization with Virtualbox (or KVM, if I remember correctly).

Your XP VM's performance will be better, or at least start, if you got an XP CD from a friend or eBay, and install XP fresh into Virtualbox without going through XP Mode.
BrutaLMoose
Posts: 2
Joined: 12. Sep 2021, 04:44

Re: Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by BrutaLMoose »

Scottgus, I did not mean to get you in any trouble, I am here for legal solutions only. Have you ¨personally¨ , legally, in 2021, acivated Windows XP Mode? There are many websites and videos of people talking about how to do this, but 100% of them are murky, and Microsoft has been evolving these methods, and it seems like a fluid situation.

I cannot create a VM from scratch, because the sole reason I am using a VM is to preserve an application. I have a very old application that has been legally and properly activated through it's developer, and I contacted them to activate a new installation of this application on a new PC, but they said they had discontinued it, and they were not activating any more installations. I must use a partition image, which I converted into A VHD file, and get that to fully work. How should I do that? Thanks
BillG
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Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Guest OSses: Windows 10,7 and earlier
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by BillG »

The problem with activating XPMode is that you should not need to. XPMode was a stop-gap measure to allow you to run XP in a vm on a Windows 7 host, and it did not need to be activated - legally it was part and parcel of Windows 7 and ran under its licence. Microsoft did not plan to extend it beyond Windows 7, and discontinued Virtual PC as well - Virtual PC 2007 was the last.

The only legal way to run XP Mode in a vm is the method you tried. Your problem now is not activation. Your problem is that your Windows 10 host does not pass through to the vm some of the CPU features required to run XP Mode, as Scott pointed out.
Bill
scottgus1
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Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by scottgus1 »

Let's see if your host has the capabilities for nested virtualization.

Start the VM from full normal shutdown, not save-state. Don't bother trying to run XP mpde, just get Windows 7 logged in to the desktop. Then shut down the VM from within the VM's OS.

Right-click the VM in the main Virtualbox window's VM list, choose Show Log. Save the far left tab's log, zip it, and post the zip file, using the forum's Upload Attachment tab.
mpack
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Re: Windows 7 & XP Mode

Post by mpack »

Since you seem to be reinstalling XP I don't really see why you are messing with XP mode. If your time is worth any money at all then by now you could easily have bought a cheap XP Pro license on eBay (just be sure not to buy an upgrade, evaluation, or branded (e.g. HP/Dell) CD), enabling you to install XP directly in VirtualBox on the host. No more XP mode restrictions, and no baggage from it either. Also no need for nested VMs, which themselves can be a bit of an ordeal.
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