Release Notes for Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows XP

These release notes address critical late-breaking issues and information about Windows® Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. For instructions for downloading and installing this product, including important steps you may need to follow prior to installation, see the Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode Setup and Installation Guide (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=159658).

Sharing text, files, and the Clipboard

If you have disabled smart card redirection, you will not be able to share the Clipboard between virtual machines and the physical computer. You also will not be able to share files or folders between the two, and users will not be able to access the system drive of the physical computer from the virtual machine that is running Windows XP.

To avoid this, either enable smart card redirection, or download the update from article 940458 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165620) and install it on the virtual machine.

Accessing files on the physical computer

In a virtual machine you created that is running Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (that is, instead of the Windows XP .vhd that is included in the release), it may be slow to access files that are on the physical host computer running Windows 7 from Windows Explorer.

To avoid this, download the update from article 972435 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165621) and install it on the Windows XP virtual machine.

Upgrading virtual applications

If you upgrade an application that is running in virtual application mode, the application may generate errors or be unable to start after the upgrade.

To avoid this, ensure that you start the virtual machine in desktop mode before you upgrade any applications.

USB devices

Any USB devices that are attached to a virtual machine will be automatically removed from the virtual machine if the device restarts or reconfigures itself, such as when drivers are installed upon attaching the device.

If this occurs, when the USB device is detached, use the USB menu to attach the device to the virtual machine. In the virtual machine window, the USB menu is on the toolbar. In a virtual application, right-click the taskbar icon for the virtual application, and then choose Manage USB Devices.

Merging disks

In Windows XP Mode, if you merge the differencing disk to a new disk (for example, Parent2.vhd), the new disk will become the hard disk for that virtual machine. If you then uninstall Windows XP Mode, the merged disk (Parent2.vhd) will be deleted and all data stored in it will be lost.

To avoid this, ensure that you back up any data from the second disk before you uninstall Windows XP Mode. Alternately, you can switch the hard disk of the Windows XP Mode virtual machine back to the differencing disk before you uninstall Windows XP Mode.

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