Windows 7 Experience

John Raabe · December 14, 2009, 07:57:16 PM

I just installed my old version of Office '97 successfully on the 64 bit Win-7. I generally use google docs but sometimes need to access the old chestnuts for doc and xls files.

The 3D Home Architect ver. 3 program did not install at all

I have cobbled together a few old Dos programs that will run in the free "DOSBox" program. They are not as fast and clean as they were in XP.

MountainDon · December 14, 2009, 09:40:35 PM

Maybe I need to reach further back in the drawer...

December 15, 2009, 01:13:41 AM

Good to know, John. Thanks. Just checked and looks like I have the 2002 Office package.

I use Excel for spreadsheets -estimating and some invoicing and Publisher for my business cards --- that way I can be anybody I want to be....

OkieJohn2 · December 15, 2009, 05:48:29 AM

Glen, do you remember "The Rockford Files", Jim Rockford kept a small printing press in the back seat of his car for printing business cards. Are you adding another talent to your arsenal, Private Eye?

glenn kangiser · December 15, 2009, 09:59:35 PM

I remember Rockford... and I love investigating... [idea] but while may states don't need a license, commie California does.... I can be something else I guess....

December 18, 2009, 04:04:40 AM

Got the new Computer--- No problems yet but have only succeded in getting Firefox up and running with add-ons. Just found out it was delivered when I checked tracking 8:30 PM delivery. Sue the UPS lady signed foir it for me and put it in my lockbox by the gate.

Fun - It's big.

I named it "Glenn's Gigantic One".....

OkieJohn2 · December 18, 2009, 07:15:10 AM

Well Glenn, glad you got it up.....and running.
Just be glad you didn't get the infamous ups "drive by delivery" where they just kinda slow down the truck and pitch the package near the delivery zone. Maybe someone here can come up with an official CountryPlans desktop theme???

glenn kangiser · December 18, 2009, 11:16:15 AM

We don't get that up here, OkieJohn2. It is a very small hillbilly community. We know where they live.....

This computer has a new feature where every time I move too hard it parks the hard-drive head to prevent damage to the data. I never knew I was that dangerous....

glenn kangiser · December 18, 2009, 11:37:48 PM

Quickbooks 2003 will not run in Home Premium, but my upgrade to pro is on the way and reviews I read say that about anything should run in the virtual machine, but I did read that the hardware needs to support the virtual machine. Hope this one does.

December 19, 2009, 12:19:41 AM

Well, I believe you have the right processor. IIRC it's the same one I have and IIRC it has the capability.

glenn kangiser · December 19, 2009, 12:25:00 AM

I think so -

"Intel Core 2 Duo Processing Power
The Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor has a 2.2 GHz processor speed, fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.) It's optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system."

MountainDon · December 19, 2009, 01:16:00 AM

That was the reason I went looking for a 6600 processor. I wanted to have the open door available. I'm waiting to hear about your Professional/XP experience as I think that's a sensible tbhing for me. If it really works well enough. It would be okay if it operates a little slower as it would mean several programs I have would at least work. They cost $$$ to replace/upgrade. G/L to us both.

glenn kangiser · December 19, 2009, 11:21:25 AM

Quote from: considerations on December 11, 2009, 02:38:20 PM
I've been using Toshiba laptops since 1995 (yes they made them back then), except for a short stint with a used IBM which crashed with the blue screen of death.

The Toshibas are really reliable, they never died, the technology just got left behind so I had to move up. I haven't had a desktop for years.

The sound has improved, but don't expect much from any laptop speakers...headphones or external speakers give you wonderful full rich sound.

Good investment in my book.

considerations, I got the new Toshiba and am totally happy with the size, modern look and layout of it.

18.4 diag. screen. Not quite as large as a TV but it will do. We do not watch TV so like to watch documentaries - travel shows - occasional movie on the computer. Streaming video is getting great now. Hulu has some good quality video.

I also quit using desktops years ago. The sound is better - pretty good considering it is a laptop. The looks -- it makes all of my old HP's and IBM look like bricks.

glenn kangiser · December 19, 2009, 11:41:02 PM

Gadwin Printscreen (free) and Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition 3.2 (free- discontinued because it was too good I think, but I have my old unlock code) both work with Win7 so I can put pix in CP from the new computer now.

December 24, 2009, 01:39:42 AM

OK... finding out that Intel has a real mishmash of processors that do and do not support virtual machine technology( VT).

Of course my T6600 core duo does not have it.

I found a remedy in the comments here... http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2819-63-intel-su7300-t6600-comparison

http://vmlite.org/

vmlite does not require hardware virtualization and is supposed to run better and faster than the Microsoft stuff.

Will it work?

I haven't found where it says they want money for it yet.

I upgraded to Win7 Professional. Fairly painless with the anytime upgrade - maybe 10 minutes of the computer loading and restarting a few times - unusable during that time. I had to restart my wireless as it lost internet on return. That came back. It now indicates that my sound device is not on, however it really is. Don't know what that is about. The usual stuff we get from an Microsoft upgrade....

There is a test to see if your machine will support it -- the test agrees with Tom's site - mine does not have VT. Test - item 2 this page http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

glenn kangiser · December 24, 2009, 01:41:54 AM

List of those that support VT

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-mode-virtualization-intel,7709.html

glenn kangiser · December 24, 2009, 01:53:24 AM

Now my speakers - sound device says it is working -- self healing - or was working loading in the background without any indication it was still loading.I had fooled with the sound devices in control panel a half dozen times but never immediately got an indication it was working.

glenn kangiser · December 24, 2009, 04:18:45 AM

VMLite works. QuickBooks 2003 is up and running in Win7, in an XP Machine.

Why is it that the small guys can do a better job than Microsoft? hmm How can they do this without charging for it? hmm

http://vmlite.org/

After the Pro upgrade, VMLite installs then it installs the MS Virtual Machine from Microsoft.. I assume the upgrade is still necessary but not sure. The XP machine does phone home....

glenn kangiser · December 24, 2009, 03:43:36 PM

The VM is pretty cool. I have been playing with it quite a bit. I loaded Firefox into it - imported my bookmarks from the host computer (same but Win7 portion). There is a network set up back to the host so you can access files. About 1/4 of my hard drive has been allocated to the VM, but it still shows up in the VM as drive C but it is not the same C as in Win7

You switch back and forth via a button on the Win7 taskbar but everything seems to work for the computer you are on depending on which computer you are on, ie: the CD works for the XP computer if you load it while in the XP VM.

OkieJohn2 · December 25, 2009, 04:43:52 AM

Glenn, just curious, have you tried 3D Home architect on it yet?

December 25, 2009, 11:22:48 AM

No, I haven't, OkieJohn2. I have it....somewhere, but have not used it in years. If I can find it I will load it.

glenn kangiser · December 25, 2009, 12:01:25 PM

hmm At this point it does not look like I will find it at any time soon. My guess is that if it ran on xp it will run in the VM XP.

John Raabe · December 25, 2009, 05:02:22 PM

I'm also hoping to run 3D Home Architect 3 on a 64 bit Windows 7 install. Looks like this could work.

Is VM Lite XP a free program?

It looks like you need to install a valid disk image? of Windows XP that you get from Microsoft?? (this from the VM site). Not sure how complex that all is.

I have a disk version of XP Home, but all other copies are OEM installs to the hard drive.

glenn kangiser · December 26, 2009, 03:09:29 AM

The xp is downloaded automatically after the VM Lite by the install program as I recall

It was a bit interesting and I forgot how I got to all of the places I got to but it seems the VMLite took care of it and DLed it from Microsoft. It verified that I had a legal copy and it did pass inspection.

The VMLite is free for home use as I read it and so far it hasn't hit me up for any money. It is a bit confusing as it looks like it may not be free in some cases but then they mention to get your friends to use their free program.

I think you may have to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional to do the virtual machine but..... I am not sure --- it may be possible to do it without the upgrade if using the VM Lite because the Microsoft one for the processor set up to run a virtual machine required the Professional upgrade to get the capability to do it. I would suggest trying to run the VM lite without the upgrade to see if it will go ahead and load the XP from Microsoft. They likely set it up so that you still have to have the Professional upgrade anyway,

It looks like the Win7 anytime upgrade is in all Win7 machines and you just have to pay the fee to get the unlock code from Microsoft then in about ten minutes it upgrades itself -after the shutdowns and startups during which time you cannot use your machine.

Wish I could find mine to try it but I think it will run on this machine if it ran on XP.

The XP is DLed from the internet.

The anytime upgrade may be cheaper from Amazon than the online upgrade from MS - not sure.

MountainDon · December 26, 2009, 11:40:43 AM

I could be confused, but my understanding on using VMlite was that you need a legal stand alone copy of Windows XP for it to use. Am OEM disc will not work. My understanding was also that you do not need Win 7 Pro to use the VMlite, but if one goes that route thatwould supply you with the required legal copy of WinXP.

I'm going to look into that when I can...