Run 16 bit apps in 64bit Windows 7?

[Muse]

Looks like I got it working. Haven't done anything with it yet. I was informed that the machine wasn't set up for hardware virtualization and it suggested I go into the BIOS and enable it. I thought this might mean that it detected that the computer has the feature. I went in there, found it and enabled it. It's running, but I haven't installed anything into it yet.

I'm wondering. I have a few programs that I don't normally install, I just drop them into XP and they work. Can I do that with XP Mode or do I have to figure out how to install them from media? That wouldn't be easy. One application in particular requires a tremendous amount of configuration. The plain vanilla install doesn't do anything. So, I just copy the whole thing over from one machine to another, make a little change or two, if necessary, and it works. Can I point XP Mode to the executable and have it work? Maybe I could install from media and then copy over the installation? What do you think?

 

[mechBgon]

The typical thing to do, would be to install the program into the XP Mode virtual machine, and then you can simply call up the program from Windows 7's Start menu, instead of having to run the entire XP Mode virtual machine in your face.

To import the settings on your high-setup program, you might try using Windows XP's account-transfer utility, called the Files And Settings Transfer Wizard. Run the FAST wizard on the system that has the program all configured, and save the file to a flash drive or whatever. Then run the FAST wizard in your virtual WinXP Mode virtual machine, and import the settings and files. Before doing that, you'd want to get all the programs installed into the virtual machine, so the setup has relevance.

 

[Muse]

The typical thing to do, would be to install the program into the XP Mode virtual machine, and then you can simply call up the program from Windows 7's Start menu, instead of having to run the entire XP Mode virtual machine in your face.

I just installed a 16 bit program from the XP Mode (running full screen), and it installed. I see the program in XP Mode's start menu but not in Win7_64's start menu. Is this normal?

I have zero experience with virtual machines. Is it basically an either/or scenario? I saw a warning immediately saying I had no virus protection so I opened IE (got a message that it wasn't the latest install, which I ignored), installed Firefox from the internet, then installed Avira Personal Free, again from the internet. Am I going to be running Firefox from the XP Mode window or can I run the one in the Windows 7 window? Does it matter? Of course, I have the one in my Windows 7 configured with 1/2 dozen add-ons, has ~10 pages open and a couple hundred tabs open. I could maybe import everything from that into the one under XP Mode, but I'm wondering how seemlessly the two modes work. Is it possible to use both simultaneously or is the idea pretty much to use one or the other?

I have one utility I've been using since Windows 95 days, even at the point when Windows 95 was just on the horizon, and I used the 16 bit version. I use the 32 bit version now and it's continued to be very useful to me and I've used it in Win95, NT 4, Win2000, WinXP, Vista 32 bit. I installed it in Win7_64, and I put a shortcut to it in my startup folder and it worked a couple of times (IIRC) but now it doesn't start automatically as it should and when I go to start it I always get a security screen asking me if I want to let this program make changes to Windows. If I go "Yes" it starts. In each successive Windows release the program gets a little tougher to run and with Windows 7 it's the worst so far by far. A lot of its functionality is screwed up, apparently to the point now where it's close to useless. Its configuration program isn't working particularly.
Now, I'm seeing that in XP Mode, my pathing is going to be different. Maybe I can reassign drive letters and get the same pathing, don't know, haven't tried that yet. For instance, I have two partitions on the HD, and there's C and D, and the optical drive is E. In XP Mode, the optical drive is D and the D drive is shown as a folder "C on PASSION" (the machine's name is PASSION). I can probably work around the pathing issues but it would be easier if I could have the same pathing as the Windows 7 installation.

I'm wondering if it wouldn't be best to go back to the Vista 32 bit Business the machine had originally. I have the 100GB HD with that installation on it set aside. :\ Maybe things will work OK if I run in XP Mode all the time, but what's the point of doing that?

 

[mechBgon]

I just installed a 16 bit program from the XP Mode (running full screen), and it installed. I see the program in XP Mode's start menu but not in Win7_64's start menu. Is this normal?

In your Win7 Start menu, you'll find the Virtual PC folder. Look around in its menu for the virtual apps. I'm not on my Win7 system here or I'd double-check that for the exact menu names, but have a look and you should find it. Anyway, you can copy those shortcuts to wherever you want, and simply run that program, not the entire WinXP Mode.

I have zero experience with virtual machines. Is it basically an either/or scenario? I saw a warning immediately saying I had no virus protection so I opened IE (got a message that it wasn't the latest install, which I ignored), installed Firefox from the internet, then installed Avira Personal Free, again from the internet.

Your WinXP Mode should be secured just like a physical computer, so as a best practice, make sure you do update its IE to IE8 even if you don't intend to use IE on the virtual machine at all.

Am I going to be running Firefox from the XP Mode window or can I run the one in the Windows 7 window? Does it matter?

Your choice, but I would really advise not running anything in WinXP Mode unless that's the only way you can get it to run. Why? (1) because WinXP isn't as secure as Win7, and (2) especially when you cannot run your WinXP Mode as a non-Administrator (unless joined to a domain). It's like driving a vintage car that has no seatbelts, when you've got a perfectly good Honda Accord you could be using instead.

Of course, I have the one in my Windows 7 configured with 1/2 dozen add-ons, has ~10 pages open and a couple hundred tabs open. I could maybe import everything from that into the one under XP Mode, but I'm wondering how seemlessly the two modes work. Is it possible to use both simultaneously or is the idea pretty much to use one or the other?

In my view, WinXP Mode is a crutch that you use only when there's no other option. So use it to run your 16-bit program, and use Win7 for everything else.

Maybe things will work OK if I run in XP Mode all the time, but what's the point of doing that?

The idea is that you can have the security enhancements of Win7 for 99% of your normal uses (web browsing, gaming, music, videos, etc etc), and still have a way to run a WinXP-only program if necessary.