importance of XP mode?

On 17 Nov 2010, Stan Brown wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Is there some criterion for choosing between them? The VMWare site
is awfully intrusive, requiring not only an email address but a city
and zip code before it will condescend to let me have the download;
but on the other hand I'm familiar with VMWare workstation from work.

I've had a linux setup in Virtualbox for a couple of years, and it
works well. I had never used VMWare before, but I set one up yesterday.
Performace and feature-wise... I don't see much difference between the
two.

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:35:39 -0500, Nil wrote:

On 17 Nov 2010, Stan Brown wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Is there some criterion for choosing between them? The VMWare site
is awfully intrusive, requiring not only an email address but a city
and zip code before it will condescend to let me have the download;
but on the other hand I'm familiar with VMWare workstation from work.

I've had a linux setup in Virtualbox for a couple of years, and it
works well. I had never used VMWare before, but I set one up yesterday.
Performace and feature-wise... I don't see much difference between the
two.

Thanks, Nil! The key requirement for me is being able to access the
computer's USB ports, because I my scanner has no 64-bit Win 7 driver
()not even a 64-bit Vista driver). I guess the best bet is to
install one and see whether it works, and if not to install the
other.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:26:37 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
For XP I installed the operating software and all it's updates and then
copied the folder to a backup so I don't have to re-install that beast
again from scratch.

In VMWare Workstation you can just take a snapshot, and revert to it
if the VM gets corrupted. Is that not an option in the free home
version?

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On 18 Nov 2010, Stan Brown wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Thanks, Nil! The key requirement for me is being able to access
the computer's USB ports, because I my scanner has no 64-bit Win 7
driver ()not even a 64-bit Vista driver). I guess the best bet is
to install one and see whether it works, and if not to install the
other.

Virtulbox sees and uses the USB port. I haven't tried it in VMWare, but
I know it recognizes the USB ports because it gives me a message to
that effect.

But yeah, try them out and see which one you like best.

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:44:25 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 11:35:39 -0500, Nil wrote:

On 17 Nov 2010, Stan Brown wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Is there some criterion for choosing between them? The VMWare site
is awfully intrusive, requiring not only an email address but a city
and zip code before it will condescend to let me have the download;
but on the other hand I'm familiar with VMWare workstation from work.

I've had a linux setup in Virtualbox for a couple of years, and it
works well. I had never used VMWare before, but I set one up yesterday.
Performace and feature-wise... I don't see much difference between the
two.

Thanks, Nil! The key requirement for me is being able to access the
computer's USB ports, because I my scanner has no 64-bit Win 7 driver
()not even a 64-bit Vista driver). I guess the best bet is to
install one and see whether it works, and if not to install the
other.

My main reason for using VMware is that I have a couple of computer-
programmable AV remote controls that don't have any USB drivers for
Windows 7. Their software & drivers work fine in VMware with XP Home.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:13:07 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:26:37 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
For XP I installed the operating software and all it's updates and then
copied the folder to a backup so I don't have to re-install that beast
again from scratch.

In VMWare Workstation you can just take a snapshot, and revert to it
if the VM gets corrupted. Is that not an option in the free home
version?

I don't think the free version (VMware Player) has snapshots, but I just
opened it and was informed of an update; I accepted & ran the update,
and now I can't run it to check your question until after I reboot.

I thought answering you was a higher priority than rebooting :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On 11/18/10 01:02 PM, Gene E. Bloch wrote:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:13:07 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:26:37 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
For XP I installed the operating software and all it's updates and then
copied the folder to a backup so I don't have to re-install that beast
again from scratch.

In VMWare Workstation you can just take a snapshot, and revert to it
if the VM gets corrupted. Is that not an option in the free home
version?

I don't think the free version (VMware Player) has snapshots, but I just
opened it and was informed of an update; I accepted& ran the update,
and now I can't run it to check your question until after I reboot.

I thought answering you was a higher priority than rebooting :-)

I don't find an option for making a snapshot using the free version, not
to say it still could be hiding somewhere. I think it is only available
if you also have the ACE option/program installed.

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:32:04 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:

On 11/18/10 01:02 PM, Gene E. Bloch wrote:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:13:07 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:26:37 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
For XP I installed the operating software and all it's updates and then
copied the folder to a backup so I don't have to re-install that beast
again from scratch.

In VMWare Workstation you can just take a snapshot, and revert to it
if the VM gets corrupted. Is that not an option in the free home
version?

I don't think the free version (VMware Player) has snapshots, but I just
opened it and was informed of an update; I accepted& ran the update,
and now I can't run it to check your question until after I reboot.

I thought answering you was a higher priority than rebooting :-)

I don't find an option for making a snapshot using the free version, not
to say it still could be hiding somewhere. I think it is only available
if you also have the ACE option/program installed.

Later, when I rebooted and ran the updated program, I looked at the
help. It said in so many words that upgrading to the paid version would
get you the ability to take snapshots.

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:37:44 -0800, Gene E. Bloch wrote:

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:32:04 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:

On 11/18/10 01:02 PM, Gene E. Bloch wrote:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:13:07 -0500, Stan Brown wrote:

On Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:26:37 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:
For XP I installed the operating software and all it's updates and then
copied the folder to a backup so I don't have to re-install that beast
again from scratch.

In VMWare Workstation you can just take a snapshot, and revert to it
if the VM gets corrupted. Is that not an option in the free home
version?

I don't think the free version (VMware Player) has snapshots, but I just
opened it and was informed of an update; I accepted& ran the update,
and now I can't run it to check your question until after I reboot.

I thought answering you was a higher priority than rebooting :-)

I don't find an option for making a snapshot using the free version, not
to say it still could be hiding somewhere. I think it is only available
if you also have the ACE option/program installed.

Later, when I rebooted and ran the updated program, I looked at the
help. It said in so many words that upgrading to the paid version would
get you the ability to take snapshots.

Thanks, Gene and Misty!

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On 2010-11-16 14:33, none wrote:
Want to buy W7 for multiple PC's but have a dilemma, buy Home family
pack (no XP mode, reasonably priced) or Ultimate ( way over priced, XP
mode). I have very old software which works in XP but am concerned it
may not work in W7.
So I'm looking on feedback as to the importance and functionality of 'XP
mode'

Typicall problem, I also run into.

This problem has 2 parts:

Is only the installer 16 bit software?
Is all the software 16 bit software.

At me, only the installer is 16 Bit software
making trouble

--
Roland Mösl - PEGE - http://www.pege.org
Planetary Engineering Group Earth

On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:12:35 -0500, Nil wrote:

On 18 Nov 2010, Stan Brown wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Thanks, Nil! The key requirement for me is being able to access
the computer's USB ports, because I my scanner has no 64-bit Win 7
driver ()not even a 64-bit Vista driver). I guess the best bet is
to install one and see whether it works, and if not to install the
other.

Virtulbox sees and uses the USB port. I haven't tried it in VMWare, but
I know it recognizes the USB ports because it gives me a message to
that effect.

But yeah, try them out and see which one you like best.

I decided to start with VirtualBox, because it does make snapshots.
Setup was easy, but only one of my USB devices is being recognized.
I've posted a new thread with a request for help, but if I can't get
that working I guess I'll have to try VMWare and live without
snapshots.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On 11/21/2010 7:17 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
On Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:12:35 -0500, Nil wrote:

On 18 Nov 2010, Stan wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Thanks, Nil! The key requirement for me is being able to access
the computer's USB ports, because I my scanner has no 64-bit Win 7
driver ()not even a 64-bit Vista driver). I guess the best bet is
to install one and see whether it works, and if not to install the
other.

Virtulbox sees and uses the USB port. I haven't tried it in VMWare, but
I know it recognizes the USB ports because it gives me a message to
that effect.

But yeah, try them out and see which one you like best.

I decided to start with VirtualBox, because it does make snapshots.
Setup was easy, but only one of my USB devices is being recognized.
I've posted a new thread with a request for help, but if I can't get
that working I guess I'll have to try VMWare and live without
snapshots.

In VMWare (free edition) it's not as nice as just clicking a snapshot
icon but on my Windows 7 Pro system if you go to your documents folder
and open the folder "Virtual Machines" you can then see the folder(s)
where your installed setup(s) are at. I just copy the entire folder of
what I want to use like XP, Win7, or Fedora. It is basically a snapshot
of what you installed. I can later choose to "Open a Virtual Machine"
from the main menu and choose the duplicate folder and you are back to
using what you saved.

It is nice being able to run a version and not worry if it gets infected
or corrupted as I just delete that folder and restart another saved copy
(snapshot).

On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 15:29:55 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:

On 11/21/2010 7:17 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
I decided to start with VirtualBox, because it does make snapshots.
Setup was easy, but only one of my USB devices is being recognized.
I've posted a new thread with a request for help, but if I can't get
that working I guess I'll have to try VMWare and live without
snapshots.

In VMWare (free edition) it's not as nice as just clicking a
snapshot icon but on my Windows 7 Pro system if you go to your
documents folder and open the folder "Virtual Machines" you can
then see the folder(s) where your installed setup(s) are at. I just
copy the entire folder

Yes, I know I could do that too. I had to pick one to start with and
I chose VirtualBox. As I've posted in a different thread, that did
solve my scanner problem but did not talk successfully to my serial
device, so I then installed VMWare Player. It also, unfortunately,
could not talk to my serial device, so I had to pick one to
uninstall. I chose to uninstall VMWare because it had the more
recent restore point.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai...

On 11/22/2010 6:00 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
On Sun, 21 Nov 2010 15:29:55 -0600, GlowingBlueMist wrote:

On 11/21/2010 7:17 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
I decided to start with VirtualBox, because it does make snapshots.
Setup was easy, but only one of my USB devices is being recognized.
I've posted a new thread with a request for help, but if I can't get
that working I guess I'll have to try VMWare and live without
snapshots.

In VMWare (free edition) it's not as nice as just clicking a
snapshot icon but on my Windows 7 Pro system if you go to your
documents folder and open the folder "Virtual Machines" you can
then see the folder(s) where your installed setup(s) are at. I just
copy the entire folder

Yes, I know I could do that too. I had to pick one to start with and
I chose VirtualBox. As I've posted in a different thread, that did
solve my scanner problem but did not talk successfully to my serial
device, so I then installed VMWare Player. It also, unfortunately,
could not talk to my serial device, so I had to pick one to
uninstall. I chose to uninstall VMWare because it had the more
recent restore point.


Did you per chance look for your serial/USB device in the removable
devices option of VMWare Player? It may have seen it but not activated
it with out you actually telling it to. I have had to do that with some
USB/VOIP adapters.