Best Virtual Machine Program for Running XP?

[Duke.Togo]

I've setup and used the Virtual PC setup in Win 7 Pro to run programs in XP mode. It work fairly well, but is kind of a pain if you want to use any USB peripherals.

[InvadErGII]

I've setup and used the Virtual PC setup in Win 7 Pro to run programs in XP mode. It work fairly well, but is kind of a pain if you want to use any USB peripherals.

It is probably worth mentioning that you can't do this in W7 Home Premium (or whatever it's called)...it has to be Pro or higher. I've had good luck with this as well.

[bombatomba]

For pure speed I would say VB, but if you want to game anything past Mechwarrior 3 graphics I would follow Izret's suggestion.  Unless you are using a business-class machine (that has hardware virtualization), >4GB RAM, and a dedicated video card (very important) virtualization is not the answer for gaming after 2003.  Windows Virtual PC is good, but isn't great for gaming post 2003 (remember that for virtualization you are sharing all the hardware on the main box with the virtualized one).

Also, unless you feel extremely comfortable I would also avoid dual-booting Windows on different hard drives, as well as anything to do with Linux.  Not knocking it, as I am a dedicated PC/Computer gamer, but unless you have patience and tolerence it is nothing but a dark road.

My two cents would be to find a used PC on Craigslist for ~$80 that has a valid XP COA on it.  Install, enjoy.  Much easier and cleaner, with no messy, ickyness.  Plus, you get to avoid the crap with getting USB and shared folders to work properly.  Ick!

[techwizard]

For pure speed I would say VB, but if you want to game anything past Mechwarrior 3 graphics I would follow Izret's suggestion.  Unless you are using a business-class machine (that has hardware virtualization), >4GB RAM, and a dedicated video card (very important) virtualization is not the answer for gaming after 2003.  Windows Virtual PC is good, but isn't great for gaming post 2003 (remember that for virtualization you are sharing all the hardware on the main box with the virtualized one).

Also, unless you feel extremely comfortable I would also avoid dual-booting Windows on different hard drives, as well as anything to do with Linux.  Not knocking it, as I am a dedicated PC/Computer gamer, but unless you have patience and tolerence it is nothing but a dark road.

My two cents would be to find a used PC on Craigslist for ~$80 that has a valid XP COA on it.  Install, enjoy.  Much easier and cleaner, with no messy, ickyness.  Plus, you get to avoid the crap with getting USB and shared folders to work properly.  Ick!

i haven't had issues running any games (except the original call of duty) made after 2003 on windows 7 home premium, so in most cases you wouldn't need a VM or xp. for anything older, it's definitely easiest to just use an old machine imo, that's what i do. i've had a few games that don't work on my new pc because of issues with the newer hardware, not windows.

[bombatomba]

i haven't had issues running any games (except the original call of duty) made after 2003 on windows 7 home premium, so in most cases you wouldn't need a VM or xp. for anything older, it's definitely easiest to just use an old machine imo, that's what i do. i've had a few games that don't work on my new pc because of issues with the newer hardware, not windows.

He may have problems running things that require 16-bit (especially if he has a 64-bit copy of Windows 7).

[Izret101]

Everyone seems to have lost site of his original specs:

Hey guys, I need to set up XP on a virtual machine to run old games, which program is the best for running a WinXP VM?

Here's my specs:

Here's my setup:

Intel Pentuim B960 2.2GHz
Intel HD Graphics(128MB/1632MB)
4GB RAM
Windows 8 64-Bit
Dolby Surround Sound

[bombatomba]

Everyone seems to have lost site of his original specs:

Just go old, bro.  Don't mess around with virtual machines and compatibility modes.  Get something ~2007 with a valid XP Pro COA and have fun.