02-12-2014, 03:36 AM
Hi CaptainSassyPants, I think can offer some insight into this. Microsoft's vaunted "Windows XP mode" for Windows 7 is only meant to run programs in a window. As far as I know, anything full screen (like Diablo) or requiring 3D graphics won't work at all. That makes XP Mode virtually useless (no pun intended) for gaming purposes. Disappointing, isn't it?
As someone who plays a lot of older PC games myself, I went through XP Mode like you did, found out it couldn't do what I wanted, and looked for an alternative. The alternative I found was VirtualBox (free!), which probably does exactly what you had hoped XP Mode would do. As long as you have a copy of Windows XP to install, you can get it running in VirtualBox and have an XP that runs in a window on your Windows 7 desktop - or full-screen if you prefer.
VirtualBox impressed me - I was able to get a multiplayer session of Diablo running on real IPX. At the time though I couldn't make full-screen games fill the entire display... hopefully they fixed that by now, as it was years back. Either way, VirtualBox will get you far closer to a real working XP system than XP mode could dream of.
Honestly though? I found out I didn't really need XP or VirtualBox. Almost every single old game I have works fine on Windows 7. Some took a little extra work, but I was surprised overall. As far as compatibility goes, the 'big hole' seems to be early Windows games; DOS games (use DOSBox or source ports) and Windows XP era stuff seem in pretty good shape on Windows 7.
So, depending on the size of your old game library, you may not need XP at all. But if you have a lot of super early Windows games you like, circa Win 3.1 to Win 98, you may need it. There are alternative to VirtualBox out there for running XP, if you don't like it, but many cost money. Good luck.
As someone who plays a lot of older PC games myself, I went through XP Mode like you did, found out it couldn't do what I wanted, and looked for an alternative. The alternative I found was VirtualBox (free!), which probably does exactly what you had hoped XP Mode would do. As long as you have a copy of Windows XP to install, you can get it running in VirtualBox and have an XP that runs in a window on your Windows 7 desktop - or full-screen if you prefer.
VirtualBox impressed me - I was able to get a multiplayer session of Diablo running on real IPX. At the time though I couldn't make full-screen games fill the entire display... hopefully they fixed that by now, as it was years back. Either way, VirtualBox will get you far closer to a real working XP system than XP mode could dream of.
Honestly though? I found out I didn't really need XP or VirtualBox. Almost every single old game I have works fine on Windows 7. Some took a little extra work, but I was surprised overall. As far as compatibility goes, the 'big hole' seems to be early Windows games; DOS games (use DOSBox or source ports) and Windows XP era stuff seem in pretty good shape on Windows 7.
So, depending on the size of your old game library, you may not need XP at all. But if you have a lot of super early Windows games you like, circa Win 3.1 to Win 98, you may need it. There are alternative to VirtualBox out there for running XP, if you don't like it, but many cost money. Good luck.