Do you still use Windows XP? What about Windows XP Mode?
We are using it a lot for our voice labs when we need to simulate remote branches. In fact, we are using a Windows XP Mode VM with either Cisco IP Communicator or VTGO IP Blue to have additional softphones.
Officially, Windows XP died on April 8, 2014, but it is still quite a popular OS, okay? It is actually the third most popular (up-to-date) Windows OS operating system, and it is used by almost 4% of our visitors. I’m saying that because even though we are still using it a lot, it is pretty common for some dirty tests, especially if you are a native Windows user. Microsoft did a great job with Windows 7 when they offered the virtualization technology through a virtual Windows environment running Windows XP.
Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run any programs that run on Windows XP directly from a computer that runs Windows 7 (or later, as we will see). And although Windows XP is officially dead, the XP mode is still available for download. However, Microsoft is advising us to use it only offline because of the expired support.
The official end of extended support for Windows 7 was announced on January 14, 2020, which most probably means that until 2020 we will still be able to use Windows XP Mode for our dirty tests. Currently, Windows 7 is the most used Microsoft OS among our visitors. However, we cannot ignore the newer versions 8 and 8.1, which are growing constantly. The problem is that Windows XP Mode is not officially available for these operating systems, and if you want to have a spare Microsoft OS, you have to install it from scratch on some virtual machine.
From all available virtualization vendors, Cisco products support only VMware; this is important! We prefer to keep things as simple as possible, so if we want to build a Cisco voice lab, we would stick to the same virtualization platform for all components. Because of that, if I’m running my Cisco Unified Communications Manager on VMware Player, I would like to have my branches and Cisco IP phones running on virtual machines sharing the same hypervisor. Here comes the next logical question. Is it possible to run Microsoft Windows XP Mode on the latest VMware Player under Windows 8.1?
Windows XP on VMware Player and Windows 8.1
It is pretty simple to do that. The steps below explain the process to get a running Windows XP VM on your VMware Player from the official Windows XP Mode binary packet in less than 5 minutes. The result is a Windows XP virtual machine available for 30 days, but as we are using this OS for tests, these days are more than enough. Of course, if you have an OEM key, you can apply it, and you will have a fully functional operating system.
Here are the following steps:
Step 1: Download the Windows XP Mode installer.
Step 2: Download a file archiver application. Use a program like 7-Zip to open the downloaded.exe file.
Step 3: Browse the archive structure and go to the sourcesxpm path. Extract the VirtualXPVHD file.
Step 4: Open your VMware Player and go to Player > File > New Virtual Machine to create a new virtual machine. Use the following options:
- I will install the operating system later.
- Guest operating system: Microsoft Windows
- Version: Windows XP Professional
- Virtual machine name: Windows XP Mode
- Disk Capacity: Leave the defaults
Step 5: Copy the extracted VirtualXPVHD file under the folder of your newly created virtual machine and rename it to VirtualXP.vhd.
Step 6: Edit your virtual machine and add another hard drive. Right-click on your VM and choose Settings > Add.
- Hardware Type: Hard Disk
- Disk Type: IDE
- Select a Disk: Use an existing virtual disk.
- File name: Point the path to the VirtualXP.vhd file.
Step 7: Remove the first hard driver and change the ID of the second one to IDE 0:0.
Step 8: Boot up your virtual machine. In the beginning, you will not be able to use your mouse. Therefore, you will have to navigate only with your keyboard while finishing the Sysprep. Accept the license agreement, use the default regional and language settings, and configure a hostname and administrator password. When everything is done, there will be a black screen, so you need to power off and on your VM.
Step 9: After the first boot, the most important thing is to uninstall the Windows Virtual PC Integration Components. This software is not compatible with VMware, and it is causing problems with the mouse. After removing it, reboot your virtual machine, and your mouse should become usable. For smoother operation, it is highly advisable to install VMware Tools.
Step 10: Install your Cisco IP Communicator or VTGO IP Blue and enjoy your additional IP phone.
