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I really like the Windows XP Mode virtual machine that comes with Windows 7 (once you download the integration components). I teach technical training classes, and having a machine configured for the classroom is very helpful.

My question is, can I configure more than one? The documentation suggests you can make multiple virtual machines, but I can't tell if I can have multiple "Windows XP Mode" VMs. It can't be as simple as configuring one, then just making a copy of the primary disk file, could it?

I only plan to run one at a time, but I'd like to configure multiple different VMs for different classes, all running XP if possible.

Thanks for any help!

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migrated from serverfault.com May 21 '10 at 19:08


4 Answers

Basically, there's a series of steps you have to follow to make a copy of an existing VM. This tutorial covers them. However, if you're not interested in the process itself (and why should you?), you can use XP-More to do all the work for you, and create a copies of any VM.

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You don't need to make a copy of the VM, just create a new VM and make its .vhd file a difference vhd file using XP Mode base image as base (on my comp it resides at c:\Program Files\Windows XP Mode\Windows XP Mode base.vhd).

And voila, you have a completely fresh XP mode VM. :) I've been using this for a while and it works perfectly, and with minimum amount of disk space needed.

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Do you know if this fresh XP mode has its own unique registries? –  Adam Lewis Oct 7 '11 at 21:18
yes, it behaves like a new instance. –  Robert Ivanc Feb 7 '12 at 20:50
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I think what works is to make a copy of the vhd file and rename it, then make a new vmc file and set the new vhd as its primary disk. Please let me know if that's not correct, or if there's something else I need to do.

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An "XP Mode" VM is just a VM that happens to have Windows XP with the software that allows you to make an application from that VM appear directly as a window in Windows 7. That software can also be installed in other VMs, too.

It sounds like you just want virtual machines. That's fine, and you can have as many as you like, assuming you have the right software licenses.

You can copy the "XP Mode" VM that you downloaded, though I don't know whether that's permitted within the license you clicked through. (I didn't read it carefully either.)

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