Run IE6, IE7, and IE8 on the Same Machine Using Windows 7 XP\n Mode

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Notice: This is a discussion thread for comments about the SitePoint article, [url=http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/ie6-ie7-ie8-win7-xp-mode]Run IE6, IE7, and IE8 on the Same Machine Using Windows 7 XP
Mode.

Windows 7 Home users don’t need their own Windows XP CD since they can download the free Application Compatibility VHDs from Microsoft that they’ve been offering for years.

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The biggest advantages for the Microsoft Windows Virtual PC are the price (free) and the auto-generated software licenses for Windows XP. The disadvantage is that you’re limited in the type of operating system you can run.

If your main concern is browser compatibility Microsoft Windows Virtual PC is a good choice. If you’re doing development on a non-Microsoft OS as well, you can host both your development platform and your browser testing installations using VMWare.

You can get VMWare Player for free at http://www.vmware.com/products/player/. They’ve published a list of reasons it’s “Better than Windows XP Mode” on that page as well.

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Have heard rumors that IE6/7 need to run on a 32-bit machine, meaning they won’t run on a 64-bit machine.

Before I go through the motion of installing all this, can anyone confirm/deny this?

Thanks,
Atg

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How do i run files on localhost using these IE6 and IE7?

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I believe the most current version replaces the older versions.

I like adobe browser labs, althought I costs money after a year, I like it.

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By the LAN IP of the host computer (not localhost, but 192.168.x.x), as it’s seen from the virtual PC. From the perspective of the VPC, localhost points to itself, the host OS is a separate computer.

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In a word, awesome. Definitely the way to go and your instructions are seamless. Thanks for saving me a ton of work and making the most of my Win 7 Pro.

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Well this article started off an adventure for me.

I bought a new HDD for my 4GB Core 2Duo Lenovo laptop, ordered my Win & upgrade disc (prior to this article I wasn’t interested.)
Eventually I got round to installing Win 7 and my apps. First issues were that VMWare server 1 didn’t work, so I used VMware Player to get round that.
Skipping more detail and onto implementing this artice. Great got my XP mode download and Virtual PC installed both skipping the HAV point, bad move. Can’t use it as Intel have disabled HAV on this CPU; no BIOS options either. So that’s it.
Can’t even run ordinary Virtual PC, on the same hardware I was running the compatibility images simultaneously with IE6 & IE7 in Win XP with it using only 3GB ram.

Its a shame as this seemed like a great way to test in these browsers.
Looks like I have the following options:

  1. Replace HDD with original.
  2. Buy VM Ware Workstation so I can run more than one Xin XP VM again.
  3. Don’t bother testing in IE6 or IE7.

Thanks for the article and a big thumbs down to Microsoft and Intel for downgrading my environment with their upgrades.

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sucks about your system mate, but otherwise that article is great, helped me out too

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I’d suggest using IEtester. It is free and works perfectly on every version of Windows.

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XP mode no longer requires virtualization hardware. :slight_smile:

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I’ve completely failed to get VM working in the past too, couldn’t be bothered with it in the end.

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Gave Win7 a full week before reverting back to XP. Following week they announce the removal of HAC. Anyway now giving Win7 another go due to power management working well.

Followed these instructions but my VMs won’t boot, they try to boot from the network with PXE.