Well, you have finally downloaded and installed Windows 7 RC. If you are following Into Windows, you probably already now at this point that Windows 7 RC comes with a great feature called Windows XP Mode.
Note that your processor has to have hardware virtualization technology to run Windows XP Mode for Windows 7. If you are not sure, please check our post on check Windows XP Mode compatibility on your machine guide.
If you are not aware of Windows XP Mode, Windows XP Mode is a new feature of Windows 7 that lets you run Windows XP compatible applications in Windows 7.
Install & run Windows XP Mode in Windows 7
Download the Virtual PC beta from Microsoft Virtual PC page and also Windows XP Mode beta from here.
Install the Windows virtual PC beta by following the simple on screen procedure and reboot your machine to see Virtual Windows XP entry in your Start menu.
Now, Double-click on VirtualWindowsXP.msi package to start Virtual Windows XP wizard and click Next to continue.
Select the installation destination for the XP mode. By default it will select the right one. So, simply click Next button.
You will see the XP mode installation process. It may take few minutes to complete the installation.
Once you complete the installation, Virtual Windows XP starts for the first time. Here you will see Virtual Windows XP license agreement. Accept the license agreement and click Next to continue.
In the following window, you need to enter a password for the account. You cannot leave the password field blank. In case, if you don’t like to enter the password each time, you can check the option Remember credentials to store the password.
Next you need to configure Windows XP for automatic updates.
Once you are done with the configuration, Windows XP mode is ready to use.
