I have software that will only run on XP.
it is a database with years of contacts and text templales that I still use extensively.
what is the best way to set this up under Windows 10?
| read about VMware on here but my knowledge level is limited. Enongh to be dangerous.
What the are the limitations of this approach.
Thanks
Running a virtual machine can work and can be problematic, sometimes at the same time. A question to be asked is whether hardware is required and if the host machine can support the need such as a floppy drive. Many newer computers don't have motherboard and/or BIOS capability for a floppy drive but maybe an External USB Floppy Drive will work if the OS installed on the VM can see the ports. My needs for floppy drives and Zip drives has been solved by keeping a WinXP computer.
What program was used to create the data? Some programs can still run on the 32-bit version of Win10, at least for the basics, but more advanced features may be problems. I've successfully installed older versions of Microsoft Office on Win10 such as Office 2000, Office XP/2002 but didn't check their Access and Outlook except that they would open properly. The 64-bit version of Win10 does seem to have more problems with 16-bit programs and some 32-bit programs.
Hi jerbru,
I was in a similar situation a while back. For me it was Paradox database app. I solved it by running Oracle's version of a virtual machine aka VirtualBox. The main limitation was that it asked me for the XP license which I no longer had. I can still get around this requirement but it's a bit of a hack with using unintended keystrokes to bypass the license activation. A little annoying but it works enough for me. Otherwise everything else worked fine. I did not use external devices, eg printer, lan , wifi etc so no comment on that aspect.
Thanks folks for your suggestions. going to try the virtual machine. I have xp license.
Corel Paradox 10, just runs Fine in Windows 10 / 8.1 - Just install it and it runs normal with default settings.
Only missing is the Help32 support in W10, but there are workarounds for it.
If there is no way to run Software in W10 , probably the only Solution will be a Virtual Machine, I can recommend VirtualBox from Oracle, it is totally Free and is very good.
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