Question about SATA and Virtual Drives

I have a Toshiba Satellite A505-S6960 64 bit laptop with SATA. I want to install Windows 7 but I have quite a few older XP compatible programs that I need and don’t want to give up. Unfortunately my computer does not support Hardware assisted Virtualization Technology so I can’t download and use the XP Mode thing from Microsoft.
Someone told me I could go ahead and install Windows 7 and then install either VMware or Sun Microsystem’s VirtualBox and put XP there.
If I do that, does the XP Pro I install still have to have SATA drivers since I’m not exactly installing it? Does it still need to be 64 bit?
Does anyone know of a tutorial that tells how to install one of these programs and the apps I want to use?
Thanks for your help.
Answer #1
Windows 7 have Windows XP Mode…
Answer #2
That supposedly only works if your apps are fairly new. They give lists of what apps are supported in Win 7 and it’s not very many. If you have older ones or a lot of them, you are supposed to download the XP thing from Microsoft, but your computer has to support Hardware assisted Virtualization Technology to use it and mine doesn’t.
Answer #3
I’m fairly certain that hardware assisted virtualisation allows you to run a 32-bit guest OS on a 64-bit host. What this means for you is that you can’t run XP on your laptop in a virtual machine as it can’t emulate 32-bit. I’m not entirely sure I’m correct though so it might be worth checking yourself.
Answer #4
I have 64 bit XP Pro.
Answer #5
In which case virtualisation is used for running virtual machines and you simply can’t.
Answer #6
most XP apps run in 7, using compatibility mode if needed, or get the latest version
XP mode in 7 is mainly for corporate type software that just won’t run in 7
do you know of any compatibility problems whit any apps you want to run
try googling any app you want to know about (<app name> windows 7 compatibility)
Answer #7
Thanks, . I’ll try that!
Answer #8
most XP apps run in 7, using compatibility mode if needed, or get the latest version
XP mode in 7 is mainly for corporate type software that just won't run in 7
do you know of any compatibility problems whit any apps you want to run
try googling any app you want to know about (<app name> windows 7 compatibility)
yeah i gotta back this up. I havent found anything (game or program) that wont tun in win7. (clearly there must be some, but then theres always replacements .).
Answer #9
Why don’t you try Dual Boot? XP in c:\ and Windows 7 in d:\?