XP Mode

If I decide to set up XP Mode, will installs on XP mode install on Windows 7. Stuff such as program files, registry entries, .dll's, etc? The only reason I want to set up XP mode, is more just for testing beta applications and etc. Basically, I want it to sandbox. I read a little on XP mode, and you can access whatever you install on XP mode on Windows 7, without having XP mode open.

 

Well, the programs installed in XP Mode will show in your win7 startmenu, under its own section.. When you launch the programs that way, it will start up the virtual machine but just the program alone..

Even though the XP mode program will look like it is a part of the win7 OS, it is completely seperated

 

Is it completely separated in the sense of installations? I don't want my "pretty fresh Win7 install" bogged down by testing applications. Does XP mode have it's own registry and stuff it installs into when I install apps in XP Mode?

 

It's a virtualized environment, just like VMWare or VirtualBox, except the integration makes it seem seamless.

 

I guess I don't know the details on virtualized environments, and no one seems to answer my question!

My main problem is installations in XP Mode; will those installed apps go into my Windows 7 registry, program files, etc.? I don't want those tested apps bogging down my "fairly fresh win7 os." Keep it fairly clean as long as possible, with no junk loaded apps.

 

An OS that is installed in a Virtualized environment works just like an OS that is installed on actual hardware. "XP Mode" is a special XP virtual machine (special as in it is licensed by Win 7 Pro, Ult, Ent). It is XP with it's own Hard Drive (which is a Virtual Hard Drive file), so it's own registry, etc.. Now what MS has enabled with Virtual PC 7 ( the actual program that runs XP Mode) is a terminal services type implimentation that allows the appications that you install into XP to run in a Window on the Windows 7 environment. But you do need to actually install the application in XP. When you launch the Virtual Machine it runs the OS in a Window, there you'll have a complete XP OS. This is where you install the apps. After you log-off (not shut down) close the window and it will hibernate the Virtual OS, now launch the XP Apps from the Windows 7 Start Menu but it runs on the XP OS.

HTH,

Jeff

 

Let me take a crack at this:

XP mode, like any other virtualized environment, can in theory be a sandbox. This is what the other posters have been saying.

In practice however, the way it's set up initially, XP mode is NOT a sandbox.

For instance, by default, all of your Windows 7 drives are accessible to XP mode through networked drives, so if you pick up a virus in XP mode, it can also infect your Windows 7 files. Likely, there's a bunch of other integration features that make it not a sandbox, but I can't say for sure.

Hopefully that was clear.

 

I installed Windows 7 Beta in a virtual environment like MS Virtual PC 07. It was like a separate machine it was even tricky to use the wireless card and doesn't use the main OS graphics drivers. XP mode is more seemless and more integrated into Windows 7. With XP mode when you install an application it puts the app shortcut into the program's menu under Windows virtual PC. You can drag the shortcut onto the desktop on WIN 7 and it will execute in a seemless fashion. You can install say Sun's virtual pc which you will set up the size of the virtual environment and when you install the apps they don't run seemlessly. By this I mean you would have to start up the other OS and it runs on top of the OS you booted with and doesn't interfere with it. XP mode is for running XP programs that won't run in Windows 7 natively. Installing a Beta app in XP mode is exactly like installing it in Windows 7.

 

Didnt i say it was completely seperated? Isn't that answering the question?