Simple help for older noobie

[Meep]

Hello guys,

I'm somebody that really isn't au fait with computer terminology. What I'm asking is, I presume, incredibly basic and simple for the likes of yourselves, but I hope you will have the patience to reply and help me out, even if you have answered it in different ways many times. I've tried reading the FAQ, searching on Google, etc, but I honestly don't understand the terms used, and it confuses me which is why I wanted a more 'personal' approach.

I use Windows 7, and it is 64-bit (I know this much!). I want to run an old program that is not compatible with these 64... bits. It does not install at all. I actually do have an old copy of XP that somebody very kindly helped make an 'image' (I believe?) a long, long time ago, so that is set. What I really want is to be able to 'communicate' with this edition of XP with my current computer (that is, copy files back and forth between the two systems) but not allow XP to have any communication with the internet whatsoever. I simply do not trust such an old operating system and I have zero reason to use the internet on there in any capacity.

Is this possible? That is all. One user, allow files but no internet. Nothing more. Again, I have tried to look and I know it will be a piece of cake for most people, but there does not seem to be a simple "Yes, press this button" answer. I have DSL broadband via a router, if that is relevant. Many thanks to those that take pity. I have not yet installed Virtualbox for fear of selecting something I (possibly) do not need.

[Perryg]

Install VirtualBox, then install the XP guest. Before you start the guest go into the settings under networking and select the host-only adapter.

While you are in there since this is before you start the guest for the first time, you will need to go to the storage section and attach the install media manually in the CD/DVD drive. Basic pull down and find works there.

[Meep]

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer. One more question: What do I need to select to install when I first try? There is a list of features; do I need all of them if I don't want the internet? I will not be using a USB device in the XP 'image', so I was wondering if 'USB Support' is needed. Presumably in the 'Networking' section of the installer I can also deselect 'Bridged Networking' as you state about this "host-only adapter" option later on in the program itself. I've no idea what Python 2.x Support is, or if I need it.

Many thanks once again.

(Oh, it states my network connection will be temporarily disabled when I go through the motions, but I presume this is needed for sharing files as opposed to the internet.)

[Perryg]

All default settings would be enough to start with and is usually the best way to go.

With the exception of the RAM and disk size. These are changeable on creation. I would make sure you give the guest at least 1GB of RAM (1024MB) and no less than 25GB drive space.
Then after creation and before you start the guest change to host-only.

One other thing though. It may be better to leave the network set to default ( NAT ) to be able to download all of the updates that were available and to authenticate the Windows guest then switch to host-only. But that is your call.

[Meep]

Thanks. I'll have a play around now I have all the info. It's funny to think of using XP on Virtualbox just for one (very, very small!) program, but I haven't found another like it and so it seems the best bet to get it running. That's why I wanted as little as possible installed/activated.

[mpack]

Before you go too far down this road, can you tell me more about this program that you want to get working?

I'm a programmer by trade: I have programs that I started in the Win95 era that still run on Win8.x today (64bit), that's because Win8 still supports the full "Win32" program interface that Win95 provided, and even the 64bit OS can run 32bit apps.

However if your app was even older than that - from the 16bit Win3.x era - then I believe support for that (Win16) was indeed dropped in Win8.

Tip: some apps from the Win32 era continued to use Win16 install programs for a surprisingly long time. Why not? They still worked .. until Win16 was dropped. So if you had one of these it may be possible to install the app in a guest VM, and then copy the installed program to the host.

[dlharper]

One other thing to note, if you give your XP machine no Internet access at all, then you will have to activate it with a phone call to Microsoft, otherwise it will die after a month.

Microsoft's well-publicized "end of support for Windows XP" does not apply to activation over the Internet (or to downloading already-existing updates). This still works. Whether they will still let you activate by phone, however, I do not know.