Jay, XP Mode downloaded/installed just fine, and everything looks good except that I still can't connect any USB devices. Two devices currently list as Attach and two as Shared.

When I try to attach or share any USB device, I get the following error message "Could not attach the USB device. You can attach the USB device to a different USB port or restart the VM and try again". Neither of these solutions works.

My computer has both 2.0 and 3.0 USB ports, supposedly properly labeled. I know VPC won't support 3.0 ports, so I have been careful to connect my devices to the 2.0 ports. But just to be sure, I have tried all the USB ports.

When I go to Device Manager, here is what I have under Universal Serial Bus Controller:
- Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller
- Intel USB 3.0 Root Hub
- USB Composite Drive
- USB Composite Drive
- USB Mass Storage Device
- USB Printing Support

I also have under USB Virtualization
- USB Virtualization Connection Driver

The two USB devices to be shared are my printer and my external drive, which work fine in Win 7 but not in XP Mode.

Any advice on how to solve this problem would be sincerely appreciated.....I definitely need my printer and external drive in XP Mode.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Did you make sure that hardware emulation/virtualization is enabled in your BIOS? It is almost guaranteed that your processor supports this but it may be disabled. Use the following link for a tool to check.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/downloa ... spx?id=592

Oh, and look in Device Manager on the XP Mode machine to see what it says about USB. Also look in the XP Mode BIOS to make sure that USB is enabled. I can't remember if the XP Mode BIOS includes a USB setting but might.

Also check the Virtual PC settings for XP Mode for enable/disable settings for USB. It has been a LONG time so I am not sure but you may have to turn on ports.

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Jay, thanks for the info. Here's my results, and I still can't Attach/Share any USB devices.
- My processor does support virtualization
- Device Manager on XP Mode machine shows:
--- Universal Serial Bus Controller
----- USB Virtualization Bus Driver
----- USB Virtualization Hub Driver
- XP Mode BIOS has no USB settings that I could find
- VPC settings for XP Mode do not include any USB settings
- I don't know how to turn on ports....is that a Registry thing

I did find a very old Microsoft note on "How to Connect USB Devices to a VPC Virtual Machine" that reads as follows:
To turn on USB support in Virtual PC, follow these steps:
1.On the Window menu, click Virtual PC List.
2.Click the virtual machine that you want to support USB devices.
3.Click Settings.
4.Click USB.
Note After you turn on or turn off support for USB devices, you must restart the virtual machine if it is currently running. You cannot make changes to virtual machines that are part of a Saved State.
5.Click to select the Enable USB check box.
6.Click Restart.

My problem with this note is that I don't know which Window menu nor Virtual PC List they are talking about. Like I mentioned above, the VPC settings for XP Mode do not include USBs.

I sure hate to be this close and get stymied by USBs...........

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Shoot, bbarry, I wish that I could help you but I never used the XP mode.
Acadia

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The blazing evidence of immortality is our dissatisfaction with any other solution. -- Emerson

Thanks. I wish more people used XP Mode, as I think I'm unfairly laying a lot of questions on Jay.

XP Mode served me well for about 8 years on my old Win 7 PC, but I'm really having issues trying to get it installed on my new one. With Jay's help I've overcome all the issues except these darn USB ports.

So I may soon be leaning toward another VM. Have you ever used VirtualBox; if so, is that fairly easy to install and use? If not VirtualBox, then ???

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Jay, as mentioned in a post above, when I go to Device Manager one of the devices I have under Universal Serial Bus Controller is:
- Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller

This Intel website says that this Controller is not supported on Windows XP Mode:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/22824

So I'm wondering if this is what is interfering with my USB ports under XP Mode? If I was to uninstall the driver for this Controller, I wonder if my USB 2.0 ports would then work? I might lose my USB 3.0 port capability, but I could probably live with that.

If uninstalling this Controller doesn't solve my problem, then the Intel website provides the download for this driver, so I could probably recover my USB 3.0 ports.

Do you think that is worth a try, or would I be opening a barrel of snakes?

On my old Win 7 computer where XP Mode machine lets me Attach or Share all my USB devices, I have no USB 3.0 ports.......all are 2.0, so no problem. On my new computer I have both 2.0 and 3.0.

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

I'll post more later, but don't do it. You just mess up stuff. Both machines may be win 7, but the mobo's are totally different. Bottom line is I don't think you are going to be able to do it. I'll be back later.

bbarry, let's try to slow down here a bit, and I am talking to myself as much as you. If you re-read my posts above, yes, VirtualBox is the only VM that I have ever used. I used it hundreds (thousands?) of times but that was several years ago. Jay raised a legal issue, please re-read my posts and his. To protect myself I withdrawal my suggestions above about installing XP in a VM. You probably will not get in legal trouble for installing XP in a VM anymore, but I no longer suggest it, you just have to ask your soul if you feel comfortable in doing this. Even if MS does not care anymore, does that make it legally right, probably not.

But considering how often our politicians break the law, not to mention things I have read about MS, I say this: Is it even possible anymore to buy a license for XP and if not, why not use an old license that you already own on another system if you are not using it anymore, especially if the original company just does not care?! But again to protect myself, DO NOT DO IT, and I am actually being sincere.

Again as I stated some weeks back in another thread, Lao Tsu, the great Chinese sage said, "When mankind loses sight of the Truth, that is when laws and rules begin to be written". If we are to do everything legally perfect, correct and justified, then what about us all going back to Europe and giving America back the the native Indians. See how ridiculous and impractical this older legal stuff can be?

Acadia

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The blazing evidence of immortality is our dissatisfaction with any other solution. -- Emerson

Acadia. my mistake. You DID tell me in a previous post that you had used VirtualBox. I guess my brain is going numb from all this VM stuff. And yes, Jay did raise a legal issue. And I repeat.......I have always been legit, so not to worry.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

I really would not remove/disable your USB 3. If your USB is not going to work in XP Mode I'd just go ahead and try VirtualBox. You do not need to remove XP Mode to try VirtualBox as XP Mode carries its own license and will not have any factor on what you install in Virtual Box. To be honest the only real advantage XP Mode has is the integration with Win 7 and not having to actually open XP Mode to run software installed on XP Mode. With VirtualBox you would have to actually open the virtual machine.

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Okay back. BB if I remember correctly you have the Velocity Micro Z55, and it probably has an Asus Mother board. Also I'd bet it has the UEFI bios, but VM set you with with an MBR set up. These are strange beasts. I was told(correctly) that 32bit (WinPE3) environments would not work with USB mice, only 64 bit RE's would work. Well almost true. Mouse did work IF I plugged it into a port on the front, not on the back. The ports are different. Also I discovered, that once I start the USB boot, if I reset and booted a 2nd time, the mice would work.

Point is USB stuff is a strange creature on some of these new machines.

Also mucking with your USB setup on the machine isn't a good move for another reason. Should you have to return the machine for a hardware issue, they will take on look and want to do a clean reset to put it back to factory condition. If you leave it alone they wouldn't have to do that.

I see you have 3 possibilities.

1. Try and get Virtual Box setup and working
2. Keep the old machine for those special programs.
3. Much as you might not want to start looking for replacement programs. It might eventually come to this anyway

Thanks for the info, Pete. And you are exactly right. After I give my old brain a few days of rest, I will be installing VirtualBox. Hopefully, I won't have to bug you, Jay and Acadia with but a few questions during this process.

And I will be keeping my old machine for those special programs. I have looked for replacements. Sure I can find Address Book programs, but the 20 year old database from my old program won't convert to any of these. And it would take me a loooong time to enter this data in a new program. Almost as much time as I spent fiddle-farting around with XP Mode, lol.

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

Actually, if the old address book software offers any kind of export, CSV (Comma Separated Values) would likely be included. If the new software allowed importing CSV would also probably be allowed. It would just be a matter of if the data fields aligned. Might be worth a look but there are no promises.

Look shortly for a PM that will solve any legalities with your VirtualBox install.

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BTW, Download VirtualBox ONLY from here.
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

When you install allow the virtual device drivers that will be offered, all of them.

I have just installed VirtualBox to help you through this process as best as I can. Please keep in mind that I have used VirtualBox very little.

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Here is where I'm at with VirtualBox so far. Keep in mind that I'm just getting an idea as to how to help bbarry with this. If anyone can help PLEASE chime in! The last time I installed VirtualBox Windows Vista was in vogue.

Successes so far...
1) XP Service Pack 2 installed successfully. I would rather have Service Pack 3 for this but never got around to doing the slipstream. Anyone happen to have this who would be willing to send an ISO image? Since I have supplied bbarry with a fully legit key code for XP Pro there is zero legal issue but the ISO needs to be XP Pro.

2) Thank you Avast for still working in XP! Right now this is what I would recommend for anti virus.

3) I don't know if bbarry will have the same luck but my printer is installed and fully working. I tried a print from Office Word (old XP version... 2002?) and a photo print. Everything is fine and dandy. The only question here is if bbarry can find XP drivers and software for his specific printer.

4) It is all VERY cool and fast! On my system starting with VirtualBox totally shut down and the XP install totally shut down without sleep or hibernate... Here is my startup time with first opening VirtualBox then XP to desktop... 33 seconds. I do not at all consider this bad for a virtual environment.

I set up the virtual machine with a dynamic hard drive of 20GB max. I set the RAM to 1GB.

On the downside...
1) I don't seem to be able to get the 'Shared Folders' feature to work. In theory I should be able to select a folder or drive on my real system to be shared with the virtual machine. I do this and nothing comes up wrong on the settings page but I just don't see the drive/folder in the XP virtual Machine... Any input?

2) XP's IE8 is pretty useless. Can't even install Flash Player. I don't seem to be able to find an upgrade to IE8 for XP. Was IE8 the limit for XP? I MAY be off base but seem to remember the limit being IE 9 or 10. Anyway I've mostly solved this by installing FireFox. Still I don't have Flash working yet.

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The VM Gods are against me....I guess I am destined to never operate a VM.

I tried three times to download VB 5.0.14 for Windows hosts.....twice from the website you included above, and once from the Oracle.com website. All three attemps started a 5 minute download of the 111MB Windows Installer file 'VirtualBox-5.0.14-105127-win.exe'.

At the conclusion of each download I got the error message "The signature of VirtualBox-5.0.14-105127-win.exe is corrupt or invalid". And my only choice was to Delete the download.

Must I be a dues-paying member to download/install VirtualBox?

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

It may be your slow internet gods. I had no trouble downloading from the site jay posted. I uploaded it to my Mediafire account. Try this link it is safe.

https://www.mediafire.com/?ibl93d5abt5t93j

Pete

Taken care of... I have it ready for you. Download VirtualBox below.
http://jaylach.com/downloads/VirtualBox.exe
Ignore the warning about 'This type of file could harm your system'. It is just because it is a .EXE file that I didn't bother to compress.

Once downloaded run the installer then do the following.

1) Use the 'New' tab to build your VM. I set the one I built to help you through this with 1024MB Memory (RAM) and a 30GB Dynamic drive. Adjust your drive size according to the available space on your physical drive and your needs. Personally I would not go under 10GB.

2) Go to the settings tab then Storage. You will see the virtual hard drive listed along with another listing under that. This is going to be your optical drive. Set it to be the host CD/DVD/Blu-ray actual drive.

3) Put the CD/DVD (go with a CD if you have a blank) that you burned from the Win XP w/Service Pack 3 ISO Image that I linked in a PM. Also use the valid key code that I also sent via PM. Please note that while the XP Pro ISO is fully legit it is a hybrid in that it includes SATA drivers in case you connect a SATA storage device.

4) Start the XP VM and you should go to the XP install sequence. Make sure to format the virtual drive as NTFS. I really don't know if doing a full or quick format matters but I used a full format, took a matter of mayhaps 15 seconds for a 30GB virtual drive.

5) During the install you will get a prompt to add the system to a network. Select the top option and type in 'homegroup' then continue.

6) Once you are to your desktop immediately install anti virus. Unfortunately XP is restricted to IE8 so you may fine it impossible to navigate the MS site to get Security Essentials. I would recommend installing the free version of Avast. Well actually with the XP SP 3 build I PMed the MS site is fully useable. Still save yourself some time in trying for Security Essentials and just go with Avast.

7) For your printer to work XP drivers MUST be available. Since it worked before I assume that they are. Just install the drivers/software for your printer in the XP VM as you would on a physical machine.

_________________

I should add that you must add your printer to the device list for it to sucessfully install. Is your printer wired or wireless to the system?

BTW, this post is being sent via XP Pro on VirtualBox using Firefox.

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Thanks, Pete. I ended up taking one of my original downloads and selecting Run, and it took me to the VB installer. Now the fun begins.

I guess the invalid Signature message was just an IE 11 precaution.

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

I actually have both. An HP LaserJet P2015d (wired) and an HP OfficeJet Pro 8610 (wireless).

Before I retired last night I started the download of XP Pro w/SP3. Then first thing this morning I burned the CD. With one exception, everything went as you described. The exception was that I was never asked to extract all. When I right clicked on the downloaded file, my only real choice was to Open. When I did this, it took me straight to the Disk Image Burner and I successfully executed the Burn/Verify process.

I hope to have a little time this morning to study/start the VirtualBox install per your instructions.

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

Jay, do I need to accept and install all the VB components to my local drive, including Python Support? I know I want USB support and I assume Networking, but I wasn't sure about Python. Thanks...........

_________________
BB
http://barrypatch.net

Glad you got it. I don't use IE so I've never seen that.

Jay, I've run into a problem and XP won't install. Here's where I'm at:
- I got through Step 1 just fine; used 1024 MB RAM and 30GB drive as you suggested.
- When I got to Step 2 and clicked Settings then Storage, I saw the Virtual hard drive with 'Empty' listed under that. The only thing I could do on the right side of the screen was select SATA Port (I left it at 1) and check the CD/DVD box.
- Per Step 3, I then inserted my XP/SP3 CD in my drive (it's my drive F:)
- Per Step 4, I started the XP VM, the drive twirled, and the Welcome to Windows XP screen popped up. Unfortunately, the choice to Install XP was grayed out. Then a black screen appeared with the Fatal Message: Halted - no bootable medium found.

I repeated Step 4 using a 2nd ISO Image disk that I had burned as a spare. Same results......no option to install XP. Maybe I should have tried my XP Upgrade disk, but I've run out of time right now. Got to eat a fast lunch and then off to the doctor's.

What do you suggest I try next after I get home?

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BB
http://barrypatch.net

Jay, a quick note. I did not install VirtualBox on my SSD (C:) drive, Instead, I installed it a partition on one of my HDD drives in a folder named VirtualBox; specifically, D:\VirtualBox.

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BB
http://barrypatch.net