Pickels said:
i have a computer i just built myself i can no longer run xp as
microsoft has dropped support for in for newer computers i did not
know this i have a cd key and the disk and it runs fine virtually
but i want to upgrade from xp to windows 7 so i don't have to use
all of my ram to run it and i don't think i can but can i run xp
virtually and upgrade to win 7 or can i get a trial version and
upgrade that to the pro version of win 7 because i am getting a
digital download from microsoft if i can some how get some thing to
work right lol well thanks for you time.
"i can no longer run xp as microsoft has dropped support for in for newer
computers"
Incorrect.
Microsoft will support Windows XP with security patches and updates through
April 2014. What I believe you are referring to is the hardware
manufacturers of various computing products who no longer support their
products (new ones) on anything older than Windows Vista and/or just do not
supply drivers for anything older than Windows Vista. That list will grow
and grow as the 9+ year old Windows XP continues to age and its two
successors are possibly replaced by others. For the manufacturers of
hardware who provide the support and drivers for their own products
(Microsoft does not) have decided it is not economically feasible for them
to continue to support an operating system that is reaching end-of-life.
How much memory do you have and what type/speed processor. I have one dual
core and one quad core system - one with 4GB memory and the other with 8GB
and I have no problems running Windows XP in a virtual machine (throwing it
up to 2GB RAM) on top of my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installation on either of
them. Everything runs quickly - no issues. Using VirtualBox in these
cases.
If you plan on 'upgrading' to Windows 7 - you need a product to upgrade from
and once used in that process - the product you used to get the upgrade
cannot be used for anything other than qualifying for the upgrade. You
forfeit your Windows XP license usage if you get the upgrade based off it.
My suggestiojn would be to purchase a retail version of whatever Windows 7
OS you want - that way it can do all sorts of neat things with fewer limits.
Before you do anything - check the hardware manufacturer web pages and FAQs
and driver download pages for drivers and support for whatever OS you will
be getting (WIndows 7 32-bit or 64-bit for example.) Do this for your
motherboard chipset, video device(s), audio device(s), network device(s),
external peripherals (printers, cameras, scanners, etc) and so on. If the
hardware manufacturer does not support them - that could be bad.
