Create an XP Mode for Windows 7 Home Versions & Vista
One of the cool features in Windows 7 is XP Mode. However, it’s only available for Windows 7 Professional and above, leaving Home Edition and Vista users out of luck. Today we’ll show you how to create your own XP Mode to run on Vista or Windows 7 Home Premium.
How does this work?
Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows Vista are not licensed to run the free XP Mode download from Microsoft. In fact, if you select Home Premium on the XP Mode download site, you will see the following message:
Last week we showed you how VMware Player could help you run XP Mode without hardware virtualization. Even VMware Player doesn’t have a link to import XP Mode if you’re computer is running 7 Home Premium or Vista.
However, if you have a legal copy of Windows XP, then you can easily recreate XP Mode with the free VMware Player. This article will show you how quick and easy it is to get a virtual copy of XP running on any computer, even if it’s running 7 Home Premium or Windows Vista.
Getting Started
First, download and install VMware Player (link below). It is a free download, but requires registration.
You may see some prompts about installing drivers; simply approve them. We didn’t see them on our latest test, but have in the past. When you are finished installing VMware Player, you will have to restart your computer.
![sshot-2010-02-16-[19-14-34]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sshot20100216191434.png)
Create your own XP Mode
Once your computer is rebooted, start up VMware Player and insert your Windows XP CD in your CD drive. In this example we used a copy of Windows XP Professional, but it would work the same with any edition of XP.
In VMware Player, click the link at the top that says “Create a New Virtual Machine.”
VMware automatically detects your Windows XP CD, and says it will install it with Easy install. This will let you install XP with only 5 clicks! Click Next to continue.
Now enter your XP product key, and name and password of your choice. We named it XP Mode to make it obvious what this virtual machine is for!
Here VMware will automatically enter your operating system’s name and the default location to save the files. Simply press next to accept the defaults, or change them if you wish.
You can choose how large you want your virtual hard drive to be; the default is 40Gb, but you can choose a different size if you wish. Please note that the entire 40Gb will not be taken up on your hard drive. Our clean install only took up 1.4Gb on the computer.
That’s all the settings. You can review and make changes here, or simply press Finish to start installing XP.
From here on, VMware will take over. You do not need to click anything else until XP is fully installed! It will automatically run the installer, format the virtual hard drive,
Copies XP files to the hard drive,
And finishes the install.
Everything will work automatically, so you can literally leave it unattended while it’s installing. In our tests it took about 20 minutes to install. When it’s done, you’ll be presented with the Windows XP desktop ready for use!
VMware Player will automatically launch the VMware Tools installer to integrate your virtual XP with your computer. It may have to download or update the tools, so if you see the yellow banner at the bottom of your window simply click Update Tools or Install Tools depending on you situation.
The tools will automatically download and install, though you may have to approve an UAC prompt.
Once the tools are downloaded or updated, they should automatically run in XP. If not, click Start, then My Computer, and finally double-click on the CD drive which should say VMware Tools.
![sshot-2010-02-16-[20-02-36]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sshot20100216200236.png)
Now, simply run the Tools installer with the Typical setup type, and reboot XP when it’s finished.
Now your XP is fully installed and setup, so you can proceed to integrate with your computer just like XP Mode!
Integrate XP Mode in VMware Player with Windows 7 or Vista
The real advantage of the default XP Mode in Windows 7 is that the XP programs are fully integrated with their Windows 7 counterparts. You can run them seamlessly with other programs, copy between them, and even open and save files to the same folders.
Let’s set this up in VMware. Copy and paste from Windows 7 or Vista to XP in VMware is activated by default. To use your XP programs seamlessly with Windows 7, click VM on the top of the VMware window, and click “Enter Unity.”
You can easily access any program or file in XP mode through a dedicated XP Mode Start Menu. When you hover over your Windows 7 Start button, a new button called “Windows XP Mode” will above it. Click there to access a full start menu from XP Mode right in Windows 7.
And it works the exact same in Windows Vista.
Here is an IE 6 window from XP running side-by-side with IE 8 in Windows 7, thanks to VMware Player!
And notice, this is guaranteed to work on any edition of Windows 7 or Vista, including Home versions.
By default, the virtualized windows will have a border and the VMware logo on their edge.
![sshot-2010-02-16-[20-21-39]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sshot20100216202139.png)
To remove this logo, click VM in the VMware player window, then settings. Click on the Options tab, and choose Unity on the left. Now uncheck the boxes that say “Show borders” and “Show badges.”
Without having the VMWare borders and badges give everything a more authentic XP Mode look and feel.
![sshot-2010-02-16-[20-23-15]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/sshot20100216202315.png)
You can even use removable devices, such as flash drives, in XP in VMware Player. Whenever you connect a new device to your computer, VMware will remind you that you can add it to XP.
Simply click VM, then Removable Devices. Select your device name, and click Connect.
Save Files in XP Mode to My Documents in Windows 7 or Vista
By default, files created in XP in VMware Player will be saved inside the virtual machine. It’s more convenient if they’re saved directly to the My Documents folder in Windows 7 (or the Documents folder in Vista), so let’s change this. Click VM, then Settings. Click the Options tab, and then choose Shared Folders on the left. Now click the bullet for “Always enabled” and check the box for “Map as a network drive in Windows guests.”
Now click Add at the bottom of that window. This will let us add a shared folder.
Let’s add the My Documents folder from Windows 7 (or the Documents folder in Vista). Click Browse, and then select your My Documents folder. Click Ok, and then click Next.
Make sure the box is checked that says “Enable this share” and then click Finish. You can now close the settings window as well.
Back in XP, click Start, then right click on My Documents, and select Properties.
Click Move to find the new My Documents folder.
Find the folder we just shared from Windows 7 or Vista by clicking My Computer, then the drive that says “Shared Folders on ‘vmware-host’” or something similar. Now select the folder we shared, Documents, and click Ok.
Click Ok in the main properties window. It may offer to copy the files from your old My Documents folder to the new one; choose Yes to make sure you have all of your documents in Windows 7.
Now, whenever you go to save a file in XP, it will automatically save in your My Documents folder on Windows 7 or Vista, depending on your circumstance. You can repeat the same process for any folder you wish, such as your My Pictures and My Music folders.
Conclusion
And that’s all there is to it! You now have a fully functioning copy of XP running right inside your 7 or Vista computer. Almost everything works the same as XP Mode in 7 Professional or Ultimate. The only difference is that you used your own copy of XP, but if you have an old copy already then it doesn’t cost you any more than XP Mode would. And, even if your computer is running Windows 7 Professional, you may find it easier to use a copy of XP you already own instead of importing XP Mode. VMware Player does a great job at integrating XP with your computer, and in our tests it worked as good or better than the actual XP Mode.
You can actually run Windows Virtual PC on any Windows 7 computer, even ones running Home Premium that aren’t eligible for XP Mode. You could install XP in it, then install Virtual PC’s integration components, and it will work exactly like the default XP Mode. However, we’ve found VMware’s solution easier to use and much faster to setup. If you would like to try this out, download Virtual PC at the link below (be sure to select Professional as your edition of Windows … even though Home Premium is licensed to run Virtual PC and can run it fine, the download isn’t offered by default).
Links
Great detailed article like always. I’ve been looking for this especially after last week’s article using the Pro version. I’d love to see something like Wine get ported to Windows 7 to help easily overcome these compatibility issues rather than installing a whole “XP Mode”, but for now, I’ll try the above. Thanks!
Why VM Ware instead of VirtualBox?
I seem to be missing the point of all this. My previous computer was XP and my latest is Vista. OK. Why would I want, or what would be the reason, to install an XP Mode? Think I’ll pass on this one.
There are some things that will not run in Vista or 7 even in compatibility mode.
@ Jon Galloway
Perhaps because VMWare has “Unity” which pretty much acts like XP Mode for Windows 7? Besides, seamlessrdp seems rather annoying to set up so I’m thinking that they chose VMWare for it’s ease of setting up.
@ John
It would not seem you need it anyway. XP Mode is mainly for old software that people no longer will update to work well with Windows 7. Although it is rare, there are certain programs that won’t run nicely with Vista or 7 and thus XP Mode helps in that case. Applications that run in XP Mode in a way, look as if they are a native app on Vista or 7 but in fact, are virtualized. It’s nice because you won’t need a whole separate XP Desktop inside of Vista or 7 to run it.
will i be able to run games in it? I know some virtual machines have trouble utilizing the graphics
I have VMware installed, and I have used it to install XP Pro, but it is asking me for administrator login and password. Where/when did I set this password? Can I get around it or find out what that password is? It won’t let me into XP. So close, and yet, so far….
Thanks!
Virtualbox is another software that can also help in these cases. greetings!
Do we need to re-activate it?
@Jaxsen Yes, you should always need to activate XP after doing a clean install in VMware Player. If you have a legal full copy of XP, this should not be a problem.
Three years ago I used VMWare Converter to ‘import’ my old XP PC into my new one instead of installing a fresh version of XP.
Why? Because the new one is 64bit Vista and back then there were a lot programs that did not run on 64bit sysems. (I’m looking @ you, Palm).
Fire up the VM, plug in the Palm, and sync away.
@Jon Galloway
@Paginas web Guatemala
I’m not sure about the latest versions but there where some issues with USB support in Virtual Box. Or better the lack of support for USB.
I use VirualBox on myLinux PC and I am very sattisfied. Use it if it works!
My work requires that we continue to use XP and IE 7. We work completely online. I would like to buy a Windows 7 computer but am stuck on XP/IE 7. Is this my solution? When you say full copy of XP, does that also mean the XP disk that came with the computer I am presently using?
I could not get Adobe CS2 to install on my Windows 7 home premium 64 bit machine. I would get an annoying message that the main.ini file and it would not even start the install. Looked at the Adobe web site and they will not support CS2 on Vista or Window 7. I installed an XP Pro VM as detailed above and CS2 installed without a hitch. I was about to pay Adobe to upgrade to CS4, but not anymore. Thanks!
I’ve got win 7 Home Premium:
Does this mean that I can run my 3 yr old HP printer NOW? Because HP doesn’t make any drivers for Vista or win 7 Home premium.
When it says ‘legal’ copy of XP, does that mean I can install the legal copy I have for my desktop onto my laptop as well? They will allow that? What I mean is, I’m not going to get some popup telling me – sorry, a copy of Windows with this serial number is already installed?
didn’t know that windows 7 home premium can’t run xp mode…. anyways good information..
Exactly Sellnout. When I was recently making my buying decisions for a computer rebuild and Win 7, I immediately thought about photoshop CS. I paid about $35 extra for Win 7 pro OEM than for premium, just to make sure my other expensive software would still be operable on my new build.
From the comments I get that this will work for 64-bit Windows 7 Home edition. But can I install 32-bit Windows XP using VMware on a 64-bit Win7 OS?
My problem is that I want to run an application which is not (and will not be) available for 64-bit.
@Kb – Yes, you can run the 32 bit version of XP in VMware on Win7 x64 just fine. No problems at all!
i just buy new laptop operate with win 7 home premium and i dont have any legal copy of win xp. Any alternative way in order to make a virtual win xp? Thank You.
In installing XP, I have a legal copy of XP Professional SP1. After installing it along side W7 64 bit Home Premium will I be able to easily bring it up to SP3?
@George – Yes, you can easily bring it up to SP3. Simply download the service pack, and run it inside the XP mode. For more information, check out our recent post about upgrading Windows to the latest service pack – http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....is-ending/
hell i bought a windows vista Dell laptop with windows xp3 downgrade already installed. Currently i have a duel boot system on start up with xp3 and windows 7 home premium. When in the past i did a complete reistall of my xp3 OS windows never asked me for product key, but still verified to be official genuine for updates. Could this still work for the VM ware since it is the same computer that was licensed for the use of xp without the legal copy of xp? i have a copy just no product key! thanks
ok just adding on to the question above i have reinstallation disk of xp, and a reistallation disk of vista could i use the same product key that is on the computer? Vista has asked for it before. THANKS AGAIN
@Chad – if you are licensed to run XP on that computer already, then you should be fine to remove your dual-boot XP and then install that XP in VMware. Just note, you should only have the copy installed in one place, so be sure to only have it either installed normally OR installed in the virtual machine.
Another option: Since you already have XP installed, you can simply turn that XP into a virtual machine and then copy it over to your vista. Check out a tutorial on doing this at http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....-disk2vhd/
Is it possible to run big softwares in XP mode? say like visual studio 2005?
@Vicky – Sure, it should work with no problem. I’ve heard of lots of people running older versions of Adobe’s Creative Suite in XP Mode, and Visual Studio should work fine too. The only limitation is that software may run slower in a virtual machine than it would if it was installed directly on your computer.
can I install windows xp in virtualization mode from a stick? ( netbooks do not usualy had a cd-player)
@sandu c – There would be a couple options here. You could copy an ISO of your XP cd to your netbook, and then install a virtual copy from there. Or, you could create a virtualized XP install on your main computer, and then copy it over to your netbook. However, most netbooks will not handle virtualization very good. Virtualization is very intensive, and while most laptops and desktops today can handle it fine, I think the average Atom @1.6Ghz and 1Gb of ram would run a virtual copy of XP farily slow. Another option, if you have enought disk space, would be to install XP in a separate partition. This is more complicated, but then you could dual-boot in 7 and XP.
Vwmare Player many differernet
Well you guys are GREAT! This worked quickly and painlessly for me. I have a NEW HP with WIN7 HOME. I had already purchased a clean copy of xp Home on ebay with every intention of getting rid of WIN7. Thanks to you now I installed VMPlayer. Then XP Home. Wallah. A couple tweeks on the VM Player setting to get UNITY and be able to manipulate my files and recognize my CD. Loaded my programs into it last night and they all work. So from here on out, it’s manipulate folders and search on xp mode, and visit the internet on WIN7. Maybe use libraries – maybe NOT.
I do use Photoshop. And one problem with WIN7 is that the icons for their files no longer display the ‘photo’ only a stupid icon. So, Photoshop is now running in xpmode also.
I Can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am 1st that my blood pressure is lowering and 2nd that my husband can stand to be in the same room with me when I’m on the computer. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you and God Bless you for thinking of others and for GREAT Documentation.
Thank you very much Matthew…I will check virtualization method . It seems to be quicker to swap from win7 to win xp !
well, my install didn’t go well. i know it was probably me as i am not very computer savey. can i uninstall and start again? how? i am unable to install the VM tools
thanks
Can I use Outlook Express with this virtual installation please?
Your readme notes on how to install look excellent, thank you. I belong to a worldwide gaming club who still play Panzer General 2, which is about as old as I am:)
I have managed to get Panzer General 2 working in Windows 7 but it has certain limitations, I know that it works ok using XP and to be able to use Outlook Express as my mail service again would be the icing on the cake. Thank you.
Will Microsoft automatic updates automatically update both operating systems XP & win 7?
@Chris – If you chose the default security option, then yes, Windows XP Mode along with your main Windows will automatically update. However, note that these updates will be separate and done by each OS themselves. If you haven’t run your XP mode in a while, it will not be updated but will automatically update the next time you have it open and are online.
Hi,,, i have a dell studio 1558 laptop with Windows 7 home Premium 64bit, in which windows XP can’t be installed at all…so i have installed this vmware player and installed windows xp in it.. everything is fine, only the thing being that my net is slow.. the “Vmware tools for windows 2000 or later’ r taking a hell out of time to download directly through vmware, is there anyways i can download it directly through a download link.. like can i download it in my Download manager???
Please Help
@Mandar – Unfortunately, I don’t believe you can download the VMware Tools individually for VMware Player. One option would be to start it it downloading the tools at night when you don’t need to use the internet … should easily be done by morning
Sorry about the troubles!
Hi,
you talk about installing XP from a CD we already have and then activating it. What if one do this on a different computer than the one already running the activated copy of XP ? I guess that will be not be accepted since that copy of XP is already activated. Then, yoy may have to buy a new key, if at all possible now, or upgrade the Windows 7 to at least Pro.
@Gilles – Ok, here’s a couple things about licensing. If you have bought a boxed copy of XP, installed it on your computer, but now want to remove it from the computer and install it in a virtual machine, you can legally do this. If it doesn’t activate, call Microsoft support, explain what you’re doing, and they should be able to help you. But, if you want to keep the XP on the other computer, then no, you can’t legally put it on your virtual machine. Also, if your computer came with XP when you bought it, then it is an OEM edition and is licensed only for that one computer, so you can’t move the license for XP either.
Hope that helps!
great work
I will try this as MSFT still can’t correct the loss of intranet connectivity to XP machines when returning from hibernation. My new laptop has Win7 – not my choice.
Amazingly useful article. I have been struggling with Win7 HomePro version since I got the new computer and couldnt believe Microsoftinthehead immediately expect us to pay for an upgrade just to get back access to old programmes, printers, the lot. I used Windows Virtual Machine before VMware but ended up with a blank screen after loading XP, so removed it , loaded VMware and followed the instructions in your article – perfect result.
Now, if only I could resolve the multiple reboots at Win7(64) power-up then I maybe would have a good word to say about Win7.
I have installed everything smoothly, then i was unable to connect my USB broadband (always found not connected) and unable to shutdown properly (took extremely long time). when I start the computer, blue screen popped up. FYI, my laptop is running i3 processor with 2mb RAM. Other than that, the windows XP runs prefectly in windows 7. Did i missed out any steps? Appreciated if someone could help. Many thanks
This is fabulous so thank you. In my home network I am the only one running windows 7 and it really doesn’t like giving access to computers running other OS; this has caused all kinds of problems with sharing files and printing documents from around the house. Now problem solved.
Can I install a copy of windows ME in the same manner to enable me to play some of my older games that wont run on xp or 7?
@Karen – You absolutely could! If you have an installer CD and key, it should be fairly easy. Let us know how it goes!
Thanks for this great solution.
1) Will this work if I have an upgrade version of XP that I have to unlock with my Win 98 cd? (Yes, I still have the cd. I originally loaded XP onto a new second hard drive with no os.)
2) I want to use XP Mode with an HP scanner that has an XP driver. There are no driver updates available. Will my Win 7 64bit notebook recognize the scanner, assuming I get all the above steps right?
what if you want to “export” your current xp installation to be used in this manner….ie: not actually having to reinstall
So I’ve put W7 Pro on my 3 yr old Alienware ALX. It loaded up COD4 and COD MW2. But it won’t load up some of my oldere XP games..Gears of War and Medal of Honor/Pacific assult. If I do the XP thing will these games load up?
I do have a good XP os, but did I read to get the download since I have w7 pro? What would run the games best.
This pc is just used for games.
Thanks! and you all rock with the help!
@Joe – Sounds like your best solution would be to dual boot with XP and Windows 7, as that would give you the best performance in your games. Then, you’d normally use Windows 7, but could reboot and go to XP when you want to play the older XP games. Here’s a couple tutorials that may be helpful with this:
- http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....r-with-xp/
- http://www.howtogeek.com/howto.....oot-setup/
Let us know how it goes!
Thanks Matt! More Q?s
Can I do this on my ‘E’ drive instead of my C drive?
C is two 1TBs drives ’striped raid 0′ what ever that means-geek friend set it up. Drive E is another TB that I could partition a good 250gigs.
Can you ’switch on the fly’ between 7 & XP? or have to re- boot
When I load XP, do I have to do all the drivers again? There’s dual
NV8800 SLI and a sound card, 4g ram, the 2 1tb C drive and 2 other 1 tb drives in this thing.
Do you answer these typse of q?s
I’ve got a Logitech G15 kb and updated the drivers, I think. If I go looking, it say MSoft driver is running it.(or isn’t it)
Think it says there’s more that one keyboard & mouse.
Same things with my lacesis mouse.
They both are working but can’t seem to get into the cool setup menus, more so on the mouse.
And stupid me doesn’t know enough to figure this out.
By the way, I just moved to Europe and my geek friend is back in the US.
All the local geeks here are afraid of my English Alien and have never seen anything like this before.
You all have some great read here. And happy to read more.
Thanks again!
@Joe – Installing on your E drive should work fine, just make sure to select it when you’re installing XP. If it’s that much smaller, should be easy to notice. Sounds like you’ve got a pretty tweaked out setup there
You’ll have to reboot to access XP, and the second link I gave in my last comment should help you get the dual-booting all setup. It’s not too hard, really.
And yes, you’ll need to reinstall everything, including drivers and all, inside XP. It’ll basically be like a 2nd computer, except it’s in the same box. Make sure you’ve got all your stuff backed up before you start, and it should go great. Hope this helps!
I get this message when i try to install the app:The MSI C\users\loga\appdata\temp\vmware\_1281538690\vmvareplayer.msi´failed… Does anybody know what this means. I can nor install the app Thanks
I have some DW software which need either server (Win2003 or WInXP) to run.But when i bought a new laptop it came with Windows 7 and when i tried installing XP on that its didn’t work and didn’t detect many drivers.So my question here is since i have winxp legal version whether installing VM ware and XP in my laptop will do the trick .And also whether VM ware will work like a remote desktop concept and how do i install my SW’ which will be running only in XP.
@Gopu – Yes, that should work fine. Just install VMware Player, then install XP in it as shown above. It shouldn’t need any extra drivers; VMware will take care of that for you. Then, just install your software inside XP like you normally would. Hope it works out!
I am downloading VM player just bcuz i want to able some of my old pc games like Far Cry on it as i m having some compatibility problems on my win 7 64bit Acer laptop.So i just want to ask if i can actually play graphics intensive games using VM player?
Thank you so much. You just saved me a small fortune. My very expensive scanner would only run on windows XP and there was no driver available for Windows 7. Now I can run both.
xxxxx !!!!!!!
Absolutely fantastic.
I can now test software that doesn’t run with 64 bit win 7.