Win XP mode not working on a Win & box

[The Doctor]

I got a 4GBiRAM machine running Win 7 Pro on an AMD A4 6300 CPU.

Win XP mode chokes at the end of installation.

The video card is an Asus GeFroce GT610 1GB Low PRofile HDMI capable Video Card

Why is this happening?

[Paul]

Post by The Doctor
I got a 4GBiRAM machine running Win 7 Pro on an AMD A4 6300 CPU.
Win XP mode chokes at the end of installation.
The video card is an Asus GeFroce GT610 1GB Low PRofile HDMI capable Video Card
Why is this happening?

"WinXP mode" uses Terminal Services, in order to be able to
display individual programs from the WinXP VM, in the
native Windows 7 screen. That's a difference between
regular Windows Virtual PC modes of operation (rooted,
entire guest desktop showing, versus just rootless Notepad
window showing from inside WinXP machine).

You can burrow inside the download of the machine itself,
using 7ZIP. You can go all the way inside
\sources\xpm\VirtualXPVHD\Sysprep if you want.
The license key for WinXP mode is in there
in an INI file.

WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe 492,597,008 bytes

While it's installing, you could run Wireshark and
capture any attempted communication.

The installation process should set up both a .vhd
file (the WinXP virtual disk) and a .vmc file. The
VMC file is likely to be XML and editable with a text
editor. The hardware definition stored in the VMC,
must match the particulars of Windows Virtual PC.
If you, for example, try to run a VM from VPC2007
in Windows Virtual PC, there will be a warning dialog
of some hardware definition differences. And I don't
see any obvious file in the installer, that has the
VMC contents. It would have to be outside of the
VirtualXPVHD section, and there aren't many places to
hide it.

The VHD file itself, can be examined with 7ZIP as well.
If you need to pull a log file, like setupapi.log
from the guest C: drive, you can.

If the Terminal Services (whatever service that is called)
in Win7 isn't operating, I could see the installer
getting upset about that. You need to be a bit clearer
in your description, as to what logs you extracted
from the (broken) VHD file, or what logs the actual
WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe left behind.

I have the capability to try such an install now,
but not the need. So I'm not familiar with what
to watch for. I can only suggest general ideas.

*******

The overall recipe is described here.

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-Xp-Mode-in-Windows-7

First you install the hosting software, which is generally
a 20MB file. There might be different versions of that,
so you could check out that detail. For example, the
equivalent software VPC2007, there might have been
three versions of that, the original, and two cumulative
updates. Generally, each file for the purpose, is
20MB in size, suggesting each one is self-sufficient.
I don't know how many releases of Windows Virtual PC
for Windows 7 there were, but since they are similar,
it should involve more of those 20MB approximate sized
files.

Paul

[The Doctor]

Post by Paul

Post by The Doctor
I got a 4GBiRAM machine running Win 7 Pro on an AMD A4 6300 CPU.
Win XP mode chokes at the end of installation.
The video card is an Asus GeFroce GT610 1GB Low PRofile HDMI capable Video Card
Why is this happening?

"WinXP mode" uses Terminal Services, in order to be able to
display individual programs from the WinXP VM, in the
native Windows 7 screen. That's a difference between
regular Windows Virtual PC modes of operation (rooted,
entire guest desktop showing, versus just rootless Notepad
window showing from inside WinXP machine).
You can burrow inside the download of the machine itself,
using 7ZIP. You can go all the way inside
\sources\xpm\VirtualXPVHD\Sysprep if you want.
The license key for WinXP mode is in there
in an INI file.
WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe 492,597,008 bytes
While it's installing, you could run Wireshark and
capture any attempted communication.
The installation process should set up both a .vhd
file (the WinXP virtual disk) and a .vmc file. The
VMC file is likely to be XML and editable with a text
editor. The hardware definition stored in the VMC,
must match the particulars of Windows Virtual PC.
If you, for example, try to run a VM from VPC2007
in Windows Virtual PC, there will be a warning dialog
of some hardware definition differences. And I don't
see any obvious file in the installer, that has the
VMC contents. It would have to be outside of the
VirtualXPVHD section, and there aren't many places to
hide it.
The VHD file itself, can be examined with 7ZIP as well.
If you need to pull a log file, like setupapi.log
from the guest C: drive, you can.
If the Terminal Services (whatever service that is called)
in Win7 isn't operating, I could see the installer
getting upset about that. You need to be a bit clearer
in your description, as to what logs you extracted
from the (broken) VHD file, or what logs the actual
WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe left behind.
I have the capability to try such an install now,
but not the need. So I'm not familiar with what
to watch for. I can only suggest general ideas.
*******
The overall recipe is described here.
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-Xp-Mode-in-Windows-7
First you install the hosting software, which is generally
a 20MB file. There might be different versions of that,
so you could check out that detail. For example, the
equivalent software VPC2007, there might have been
three versions of that, the original, and two cumulative
updates. Generally, each file for the purpose, is
20MB in size, suggesting each one is self-sufficient.
I don't know how many releases of Windows Virtual PC
for Windows 7 there were, but since they are similar,
it should involve more of those 20MB approximate sized
files.
Paul

What does Terminal Services have to do with Win XP Mode?

I am following http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-Xp-Mode-in-Windows-7

yet at the very end the installation chokes?

I was ondering if the AMD CPU was the issue?

[Paul]

Post by The Doctor

Post by Paul

Post by The Doctor
I got a 4GBiRAM machine running Win 7 Pro on an AMD A4 6300 CPU.
Win XP mode chokes at the end of installation.
The video card is an Asus GeFroce GT610 1GB Low PRofile HDMI capable Video Card
Why is this happening?

"WinXP mode" uses Terminal Services, in order to be able to
display individual programs from the WinXP VM, in the
native Windows 7 screen. That's a difference between
regular Windows Virtual PC modes of operation (rooted,
entire guest desktop showing, versus just rootless Notepad
window showing from inside WinXP machine).
You can burrow inside the download of the machine itself,
using 7ZIP. You can go all the way inside
\sources\xpm\VirtualXPVHD\Sysprep if you want.
The license key for WinXP mode is in there
in an INI file.
WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe 492,597,008 bytes
While it's installing, you could run Wireshark and
capture any attempted communication.
The installation process should set up both a .vhd
file (the WinXP virtual disk) and a .vmc file. The
VMC file is likely to be XML and editable with a text
editor. The hardware definition stored in the VMC,
must match the particulars of Windows Virtual PC.
If you, for example, try to run a VM from VPC2007
in Windows Virtual PC, there will be a warning dialog
of some hardware definition differences. And I don't
see any obvious file in the installer, that has the
VMC contents. It would have to be outside of the
VirtualXPVHD section, and there aren't many places to
hide it.
The VHD file itself, can be examined with 7ZIP as well.
If you need to pull a log file, like setupapi.log
from the guest C: drive, you can.
If the Terminal Services (whatever service that is called)
in Win7 isn't operating, I could see the installer
getting upset about that. You need to be a bit clearer
in your description, as to what logs you extracted
from the (broken) VHD file, or what logs the actual
WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe left behind.
I have the capability to try such an install now,
but not the need. So I'm not familiar with what
to watch for. I can only suggest general ideas.
*******
The overall recipe is described here.
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-Xp-Mode-in-Windows-7
First you install the hosting software, which is generally
a 20MB file. There might be different versions of that,
so you could check out that detail. For example, the
equivalent software VPC2007, there might have been
three versions of that, the original, and two cumulative
updates. Generally, each file for the purpose, is
20MB in size, suggesting each one is self-sufficient.
I don't know how many releases of Windows Virtual PC
for Windows 7 there were, but since they are similar,
it should involve more of those 20MB approximate sized
files.
Paul

What does Terminal Services have to do with Win XP Mode?
I am following http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-Xp-Mode-in-Windows-7
yet at the very end the installation chokes?
I was ondering if the AMD CPU was the issue?

Windows Virtual PC has two ways to display information on the screen.

1) For a conventional guest OS and VHD, the tool runs in "rooted"
mode. It draws a rectangle on the screen, and the entire OS
desktop is rendered in there.

2) The newer mode of operation is "rootless". If you start a copy
of Notepad in WinXP Mode OS (the guest), it draws the rectangle
for just the Notepad window. It uses Terminal Services, and asks
the host, to accept the picture it is drawing from inside the
guest. This wasn't supported in VPC2007, to my knowledge. It would
require Terminal Services to be running, to work.

At one time, VPC2007 was supposed to have a VT-X dependency.
Then, a later service pack to the program (another 20MB download),
removed the requirement, and CPUs without VT-X or Pacifica could
run.

If you've installed Windows Virtual PC (the first part of the
WinXP Mode installation process), you should be able to
declare a new guest OS, using the "spartan" useless interface
Microsoft provided. For example, you could install a Linux
OS in a new VHD file, for test purposes. That would prove
there is no issue with getting a guest to run. And your test
case doesn't have to be that fancy at all. You could declare
a new VM, and boot a MSDOS floppy if you wanted (selecting
the floppy in the interface as a media source). You should
be able to cook up a test case, that proves the Windows Virtual PC
infrastructure finds your CPU to be acceptable. Then, if the
WinXP Mode (500MB install) portion is failing, the issue is
with that part.

HTH,
Paul