XP Mode image to an actual Xp install desktop?

[slackerinabox]

Our COO uses a very important and discontinued accounting app in XP mode, and it's slow as a dog and bogs down his computer. He only runs reports occasionally but likes having it run in the background, mostly because it takes so long to launch, and I thought it would be better to install that particular app (and XP) on an old laptop. Since the former IT guy left absolutely no trace of the software in question anywhere I can't just install the software.

Is there any way to make an xp mode image into a bootable install of XP? I know there will be drivers that need updating and all that but any advice would be great. Thanks!

 

[Dahak]

Nope

What are the specs of the computer, I have done that with old accounting software and does not seem to be any troubles. From the sound of it could be either the amount of ram allocated to the XP mode vm is too little (default is 512mb)

If he uses it only occasionally, then its is doing what is suppose to, when not in use it will hibernate the vm and will only started it when needed. I have experienced it where if they reboot/shutdown the computer then it will take longer again to do the initial launch but will be fine after for other times it launches

 

[MiniDoom]

yes, but probably not worth the trouble. Sysprep and shutdown xp mode and then boot your xp mode vm to winpe and capture an image using imagex and reapply it to a laptop. You would need to install device drivers and could have issues with the hal changing. it's what i call a v2p (virtual to physical) as opposed to p2v.

 

[sourceninja]

You have a very important application and you don't have a copy of it anywhere in case of critical failure?

You're already fucked.

 

[Engineer]

yes, but probably not worth the trouble. Sysprep and shutdown xp mode and then boot your xp mode vm to winpe and capture an image using imagex and reapply it to a laptop. You would need to install device drivers and could have issues with the hal changing. it's what i call a v2p (virtual to physical) as opposed to p2v.

Before doing this, I would backup EVERYTHING!

Oh, and thanks rdubbz for the tips. I use VMWARE Player images of my work laptop at home (on 2 of my home PC's) and have often wondered if I could REVERSE them. Does this only work with the XP Mode images or does it work with VMWARE images as well?

 

[Ketchup]

I would recommend what is making the VM run so slow, instead of going through the effort to make it work on a hard drive.

Even if you get it to work, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft marks it non genuine. That's just a guess though.

There are a few things I would recommend if you want to try and make the VM work, such as allocating more RAM, turning off the eye candy, turning off system restore, and putting the VM on its own partition.

 

[slackerinabox]

I would recommend what is making the VM run so slow, instead of going through the effort to make it work on a hard drive.

Even if you get it to work, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft marks it non genuine. That's just a guess though.

There are a few things I would recommend if you want to try and make the VM work, such as allocating more RAM, turning off the eye candy, turning off system restore, and putting the VM on its own partition.

Well, he's maxed out on ram already (and allocated quite a bit to XP Mode) and his core 2 lenovo adequate for everything else. I'm going to try your suggestion to shut off system restore and digging through eye candy settings as well. Thanks!

 

[rsutoratosu]

Whats the software called ?

 

[JackMDS]

The best chance is to get a very fast small desktop (or gaming Laptop) with a lot of memory.

Win XP sweet point per-se is about 1 GB RAM so th3e amount of memory should be taken in the considerations that 1GB is allocated to the XP Mode.

Install Win 7 and transfer the image of the current VM to the new computer.

Before anyone is "Drama Queening" about cost!!!

It always befuddles me when something is important for Business/Professional use.

Quote from OP: "Our COO uses a very important and discontinued accounting app in XP mode, and it's slow as a dog and bogs down his computer".

"Winning" about $600 to $1200 is in contradiction to the Quote.

 

[MiniDoom]

Before doing this, I would backup EVERYTHING!

Oh, and thanks rdubbz for the tips. I use VMWARE Player images of my work laptop at home (on 2 of my home PC's) and have often wondered if I could REVERSE them. Does this only work with the XP Mode images or does it work with VMWARE images as well?

yes! make a copy of the virtual disk before doing this. As long as you can boot your vm to winpe/imagex it doesn't matter if it's vmware or hyperv format.
another thing to take into consideration is licensing. just make sure that vm is volume licensed and not oem/retail.

 

[WinOutreach6]

Freedomsbeat212,

Sourceninja makes a valid point. It would be a disaster if the COO's computer were to crash and a copy of the installation media not be available. Even if his computer is being backed up regularly to an external source, you won’t be able to rely on restoring the computer forever as a fix.

I strongly suggest finding a new application that your COO can use. At least this way you’ll be able to use it on Windows 7 and up while also having support available for the application, which I assume is not available for the discontinued version currently in use.

Something else to keep in mind is the Windows XP End of Support date that is coming up on April 8, 2014. After this date, support will not be available. This also applies to Windows XP mode.

Mike
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro
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Windows XP End of Support