How to run Windows XP on Windows 7 or 8?

Users running into compatibility issues with Windows XP legacy applications running on later versions like Windows 7/8, will truly feel the essence of longstanding saying 'Old is Gold' or the term 'backward compatibility'. In this post, I will be sharing with you guys how to run Windows XP in Windows 7 or 8.

Microsoft did provide an alternative to end users for running Windows XP in Windows 7 known as 'XP mode', but have taken out this feature from their most recent release in the operating systems product line, Windows 8.

But as they say, 'When there is a will, there is a way'. Using XP mode on Windows 8 is also possible with a little tweaking. I will show you later in the post how to do that.

On Windows 7

For using Windows XP mode, the PC must meet certain system requirements. If it doesn't, XP mode would not work correctly even though downloading and installation process gets completed successfully.

PRE-REQUISITES

a) Is your computer Hardware Assisted Virtualization capable?
This tool can be downloaded from here. It can check whether your system is capable to run XP mode or not.

b) Is Hardware Assisted Virtualization enabled (if your computer supports)?
If your computer supports HAV, you may need to turn it on from BIOS. Check BIOS settings to confirm if this feature is enabled or disabled. To make XP mode work, HAV has to be enabled.

c) Your Windows 7 version must be Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate
Versions other than Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate are not supported.

HOW TO INSTALL AND USE WINDOWS XP MODE

• XP MODE

1. Download and install XP mode from here and choose Get Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC now.
2. Select your desired language and specify your current edition of Windows 7 that is being run.
3. Under Download and install Windows XP Mode, click Download.
4. Once downloaded, run the downloaded file.
5. In the Welcome to Setup for Windows XP Mode dialog box, click Next.
6. Choose the location for the virtual hard disk file that Windows XP Mode uses, or accept the default location, and then click Next.
7. On the Setup Completed screen, click Finish.
   

• WINDOWS VIRTUAL PC

1. Go to the Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC website from here, and then click Get Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC now.
2. Select your Windows 7 edition and desired language for installation.
3. Under Download and install Windows XP Mode, under Windows Virtual PC, click Download.
4. Once downloaded, run the downloaded file.
5. Click Yes to install Update for Windows (KB958559).
6. If you accept the license terms, click I Accept.
7. After installation is complete, click Restart Now to restart your computer.

• USING XP MODE

1. Click Start button, then All Programs. Click Windows Virtual PC, and then click Windows XP Mode.
2. If you accept the license terms, click I accept the license terms, and then click Next.
3. On the Installation folder and credentials page, accept the default location where Windows XP Mode files will be stored, or choose a new location.
4. Type a password, type it again to confirm it, and then click Next.
5. Click Start Setup. After setup is complete, Windows XP Mode opens in a separate window.

•  INSTALLING & USING PROGRAMS IN XP MODE

1. Install any program you would like to use on XP mode.
2. Once installation completes, click Start button, click Windows Virtual PC. Then Windows XP Mode Applications, and then click the program you want to open.
   

Note:
In XP mode, your physical CD/DVD drives will remain available and perform other operations like you do with normal installation of XP. Also, when a program is installed in XP mode, it will also appear in Windows 7 and you can open them directly from there.

On Windows 8

XP Mode was available for free to Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise users which gave them the option of running their programs in a virtual XP environment. It was almost as good as a physical installation (depending on PC configuration of course). Also, it was easy to use and most of the configuration was handled by the setup itself making it ready to use as soon as the installation completes.

For Windows 8, since this feature is officially unavailable a little tweaking has to be done in order to make it work. Steps are mentioned below:

1. Download WindowsXPMode_en-us.exe from Microsoft's website. Before downloading it will ask you for validation which is necessary to download to check that the copy of Windows you are currently running is genuine.
   
2. Once the file is downloaded, use any archival tool (Winzip, Winrar etc.) to open the downloaded executable file as an archive.
   
3. Locate file 'xpm' under 'sources' folder and extract the 'xpm' file to your computer.
   
4. If not automatically opened, select the extracted file 'xpm' and open it with the archive program (Winzip, Winrar etc.) Locate a file named 'VirtualXPVHD' and rename it with .vhd extension. (You may have to extract this file too if not automatically done by the archival software)
   
5. Load this file (VirtualXPVHD.vhd) into any virtual machine emulator software e.g. VirtualBox and enjoy XP virtual environment in Windows 8.
   

Hope this helped. If you feel any section of this blog facilitated you in any way, do not forget to hit the like button.

I would be more than happy to welcome any comments and feedback on the content of this blog. If you think there is any particular topic or section you would like to see  in this blog, drop me an email at sysnetadvisor@gmail.com.

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[Windows 8] How to enter Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a necessary feature to rescue your computer when it doesn't work well, especially when it is affected by malware. The reason Safe Mode is so effective in fixing computer issues is, in Safe Mode, only the necessary system/Windows services and apps will start ensuring anything that causes conflict does not run and allows you the opportunity to remove.

Safe Mode is as important on Windows 8 as it is on previous versions of Windows. However, users are confused on how to start Safe Mode in Windows 8 because it isn't like the old way – pressing F8 when the computer is booting. Microsoft claims that Windows 8's startup process is too fast to be interrupted by the F8 key; plus there is the fact that tablets don't have physical keys to press during boot. Therefore, Microsoft provides you with other ways to get into Safe Mode. In this article, I will show you how to enter Safe Mode on Windows 8.

HOW TO START/GET INTO SAFE MODE ON WINDOWS 8

Note: The following method is for when your Windows 8 computer or tablet when your Windows can successfully startup in normal mode. If your Windows crashes and cannot start, you have to create a bootable USB or CD/DVD and use that to enter Safe Mode.

In Windows 8, to start Safe Mode you need to be in Windows normally and then press a button to boot into Safe Mode. After that, the computer or tablet restarts and takes you to a boot list, which contains a Safe Mode selection.

To do what I just mentioned, you should follow these steps:

• Press Windows + I hotkey (or swipe from the right edge of the screen then choose Settings) to bring up Settings panel. After that, you need to click "Change PC Settings" at the bottom to open PC Settings.

• Once PC Settings has opened, on the left side, select "General".
• After that, on the right side, you will find the "Advanced Startup" option at the bottom of the list. Click the "Restart Now" button from under "Advanced Startup".  Remember to save your works before clicking that button, because it restarts your machine.

• Now wait until your Windows restarts — it will boot into the "Advanced Startup" menu.
• Once you are at this menu, you need to choose "Troubleshoot" then select "Advanced Options."

 

• After that, choose "Windows Startup Settings" and click "Restart" button to restart your computer or tablet again.

• This restart will bring you to the traditional menu list that has options such as Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking and Safe Mode with Command Prompt. Once your machine restarts, choose Safe Mode (or Safe Mode with Networking or Safe Mode with Command Prompt) from the menu to enter Safe Mode.

 

Once you do all the above, you should successfully be in Safe Mode! The most important thing to remember is you have to do all of these steps every time you want to use Safe Mode. Annoying, but the price you pay for faster boot times.

SHORTCUT TO GET INTO SAFE MODE

In the above directions I described going into PC Settings to restart your computer or tablet into Advanced Startup. There is another way to get to this Advanced Startup menu. Instead of going to PC Settings, you can open the Charms bar (Windows + C hotkey to bring up Charms or swipe right edge of your screen), hold the SHIFT key, tap/click the power icon on Charms, and select "Restart" while still holding SHIFT key.

CONCLUSION

It's happy to see Windows 8 improves startup speed so much, but you may go mad finding where Safe Mode is, if you ever need it. once your computer has got trouble. Thanks to this guide, you now know how to enter Safe Mode in Windows 8.

[Some images via Windows8tipsandtricks]

Lightning Browser Is A Lightweight Android Web Browser With Flash Support

While the likes of Chrome, Firefox, Dolphin and Opera are generally amongst the top candidates to claim the best Android web browser title, these heavyweights are often considered as a secondary option by those who are just looking for a fast, simple and lightweight mobile browser that is void of any unwanted bells and whistles. If you're hunting for a barebones browser supporting just the basic features, XDA member anthonycr's Lightning Browser might well be up your alley. With a file size of just 200KB and a relatively small memory footprint, Lightning Browser is arguably one of the tiniest full-featured Android web browsers available in the Play Store. What's more, it also supports Adobe Flash!

In terms of aesthetics, the browser sports looks similar to Chrome for Android. For that matter, it also offers quite several features found in Chrome and other mainstream browsers including tabbed browsing, bookmarks management, webpage sharing, password  saving, pinch-to-zoom gestures and a lot more.

As mentioned above, Lightning Browser supports natively playing Flash content, provided you have Flash Player installed on your device. Furthermore, you can also set a custom User Agent (UA) string to view a device or OS-specific version of your favorite webpages. The engine used in the development of the browser is the same as the one utilized by the stock Android browser. This particular aspect combined with a minimal interface and only the features most people will need gives Lightning Browser a clear edge over most of its counterparts. In terms of compatibility, Lightning Browser's support spans from Android 2.2 Froyo to the latest iteration of Google's mobile OS, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

As of now, the browser lets you simultaneously work with a maximum of five different tabs, which might sound limiting to some but is usually sufficient for most of us on mobile devices. You can add a new tab in the same way as you would do on Chrome and several other browsers (by hitting the + button). However, to close a tab, you'll need to hold down on it for a couple of seconds. Since the app is void of any advanced features, you don't have much to do with a webpage besides adding it to bookmarks, interacting with the embedded URLs, extracting some piece of text to share it through a compatible app, or search the web for selected keywords. Though that's all most of us need from a mobile browser.

The app's settings screen can be used to specify a custom homepage, toggle Adobe Flash support, auto-clear app cache on exit, enable/disable the password saving feature for websites, and select a custom User Agent of your choice. Having tested the app on HTC Desire Z, Nexus 4 and Nexus 10, we found it to be snappier than most alternative browsers in terms of both loading and browsing.

As most of you would know, Flash is no longer supported on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and above. However, you may follow our detailed guide to install Adobe Flash on any device running Android 4.1 and higher  through an unofficial means. Even on devices with Flash support, Flash Player must be installed beforehand in order to load Flash content.

All in all, Lightning Browser seems to have made a good debut in the Play Store. The encouraging thing is that the developer is open to user suggestions and aims to improve the app with the passage of time.

Download Lightning Browser For Android

[via XDA-Developers]