Windows 7: XP Mode

Windows 7

Time for a geeky post – it’s been a while. I was tinkering with the beta version of Windows 7 for a while before it expired and was… well, I’d not say “impressed”, as it had problems with basic graphic drivers on my Acer TravelMate 2410. Otherwise it looked like it had the nice stuff from Vista without running like a two legged dog that’s been shot in the back of the head, then buried in concrete. As Vista does.

One feature I couldn’t check out is the XP Mode, which uses the virtualisation (I’m Anglicising that) of a copy of XP SP3 because my PC won’t support it. The idea is that anything you can run on XP should run on 7 using this feature… as long as your PC is beefy enough to handle it. The thing is, it’s not just beef – it’s functionality of your processor that actually comes into it.

The core requirements for XP Mode to run are:

• Minimum 2GB RAM
• Chip-level virtualisation in your CPU

Do you know if your CPU supports chip-level virtualisation? No, neither do I. I’d assume anything made in the last 6 months or so has a good chance of doing so but there’s no guarantee. Thankfully, Intel and AMD both supply free downloads that will give you a ton of information on the magic box within your PC including whether or not you have this level of functionality:

• Intel
• AMD

Download the relevant one and run it. You’re looking for confirmation that you have some kind of virtualization (American spelling, ick) technology. If you don’t have it, then you won’t be running XP under Windows 7 without upgrading your PC – and possibly having to get a new Windows 7 license if it works like the old XP ones did!

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