Hardware & Technical Windows 8- using hyperV XP

[Count Iblis]

I'm reciting this from another thread here- because I need the help of all you IT focused peeps.

The computer I recently got is

an
Asus G55V gaming laptop, with Intel core I7 processor, 2.4 GHz, 8 GB memory, 500GB HD, it has an Nvidia graphics card but I cant remember which now.

Unfortunately it has Windows 8 and a lot of my automotive diagnostics stuff, CAD and virtual engine modeling stuff only runs on Windows XP. I really cant stand WIN 8 and need to find a way to run XP somehow.

I was thinking of doing a hyper V terminal emulator such that I could still use the benefits of this 64 bit machine and the full 8GB memory. Any suggestions from you experts would be welcome

Ifyou have Windows 8 you have HyperV built in, which is an excellent hypervisor (virtualisation engine). Setup HyperV and then install XP.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/olivnie/arch...ows-8-pro.aspx

To be fair, with XP end of life, those software vendors you use should have released versions that do not rely on XP, they are well out of date, we can't blame MS for that.

Also, have you tried running the apps in XP Compatibility Mode on Win8 itself?

Thanks for your suggestions.
I have tried using the compatibility mode to no avail.
The software i'm talking about cost me $4000-$19,000 and there is absolutely no benefit to me to "upgrade" and pay again. Some of the software was written by former employees themselves- and are state of the art/propriety in my field. The latest versions of the purchasable software released offer nothing to me- but more complexity.

And thanks for the suggestion of 'upgrading to Win7' I haven't ruled that out. I just need to understand a bit more.

As much as computers are useful to me - ultimately they serve the purpose and I buy for function- so envisage me as the equivalent of a Toyota or Hyundai buyer- to get my function out of it.

It's true I can't blame MS for Win8 lack of compatibility but I can blame them for a very non intuitive interface that is costing me time/money

If you have a significant financial investment in the apps and the vendors are not offering a reasonable\desirable upgrade path, then the HyperV virtual machine with a WinXP install is definitely the way to go. This is one of the reasons MS have shipped HyperV - their commercial hypervisor engine - with Win8, as they realise there are people with such app investments. It's very easy to do, follow the blog, mount your Windows XP CD and off you go. If you get stuck, I could even set XP up for you and give you a link to the HyperV machine to download (not being patronising, but you seemed unfamiliar with Win8).

As a Microsoft partner, I received Windows 8 in August last year and immediately hated the interface so set about installing a start button, as per Windows 7. Then, I rebuilt my desktop and laptop and thought, "why am I, as an MS partner, being such a Luddite over the Start button?!". So left it off on the re-installs. Probably two weeks later and I was far more efficient and productive with just the Start Screen on Win8 than I had been on Win7. The excellent Start Screen Fast Search alone made me faster, then with all the better\improved Win8 features (HyperV onboard being one of them) I'd not go back to Windows 7, it just feels clunky, old and unintuitive and is most definitely slower for the majority of my activities.

Win7 is less secure, less robust and quite simply less refined in terms of core OS than Win8. And most likely both Win7 and Win8 would have compatibility issues with legacy apps such as you speak of. I am not just saying that as an MS partner, I don't make my money from client OS, it's just a factual observation from my analysis of Win8.

So yes, it's a change, but people took three years before they'd accept Windows XP over Win 2000. They HATED it and the press absolutely pilloried XP on release. And now, huge enterprises don't want to get rid of it. It'll be the same with Win8, Blue, Win9.

I really need my new Asus to be running XP compatible software so if you folks could help me out armed with the above as background- I would be greatful. Currently my Asus with Windows 8 is so useless for what I would like to use it for it has been downgraded to an internet surf computer- which is a waste.

 

[SnowGhost]

Setting up a virtual machine using HyperV is simple.

Install & Setup the HyperV software
setup new virtual machine
Make sure you assign a network card (You'll need a legacy one with XP, at least initially)
use a ata disk, not SCSI.
Make sure it's big enough. XP itself will need no more than 10GB and 50GB will be WAY more than sufficient.
You can't assign 8GB to it. Windows 8 needs some, so the most you can assign with any level of sanity will be about 7GB. But XP 32 bit won't use more than 3GB in case.
Set the thing to look to an XP ISO and boot from that. Then it's the same as running a real setup.

The first thing you need to do after installing is "insert disk" the HyperV intergration services disk.

Then install the VAST number of Windows updates that are applicable. This will take you a day or two, doing nothing else.

At this point you can take a copy of the virtual machine file. DO NOT SNAPSHOT it. This WILL end up in tears.

But, you're pushing dirty brown muck uphill. XP has less than 12 months life ahead of it and then there are no more security updates. It's already 12 years old. I hate to say it, but it's getting to be time to replace that OS. I know you have a very significant $$$ investment in software that won't work in XP, but .... you'll have to do it eventually.