Solution to deploying older programs

[catilley1092]

Having been a member of this forum for a few months now, I've noticed a ton of threads regarding software that won't run on Windows 7. Printers as well. A decent solution for your issues may be resolved by running them within a virtual machine (VM). A few of you can download Windows XP Mode, free from Microsoft, but that's only for those running 7 Pro or Ultimate, and meets the hardware requirements. The large majority of us are running Home Premium, so there's other ways to obtain a VM. There's an excellent one, user friendly, at File Hippo. Go to the bottom left corner of the page, under Developer Tools, the latest version of VM Player is there for you. It installs and uninstalls like any other program. You do need a copy of Vista, XP or Win 2K (32 bit) with a legal COA to install within it. To describe it short, it's a PC within a PC. You have to update it, install a AV and maintain it. But you don't need to install a ton of programs within it, just the ones that won't run on Windows 7. There are other brands of VM's, but this one is the easiest one to setup and run, and no registration required. I'm not steering anyone away from Windows 7, but this is the best solution for those programs that won't run on it. Please take note of this, for it to run properly with a 64 bit PC, you need a minimum of 3GB RAM. For a 32 bit, you need 2GB RAM. The reason for this is that you have to "lend" some RAM to the VM, and still need enough to run Windows 7, or your "host" OS. There's another one that I'm currently working with, but I'm not ready to recommend it yet. Hopefully, this thread will help many, as this is my intent. Any questions, please post, as there are probably a few of the members that runs them. This is not a technology that was born yesterday, and it can be valuable to many of you. Also, I highly suggest that you install Malwarebytes within it, and run this scan at least once weekly.