Rich said:
I have no need for new accessories, so XP drivers for new devices are
not a problem. The only concern is malicious software, but I'm
hopeful that careful browsing (no porno nor free software sites)
That won't help when you visit a good ol' site you've been many times
before that has since been hacked or infected. Won't help when you
visit new unknown sites even if they look like for big brand names.
Safe hex isn't a guarantee of ITDs (Internet Transmitted Diseases), just
a reduction in the probably of getting hit. After all, probability
means the first choice could be the killer as well as the last one and
any one in between. Rogueware and ransonware isn't restricted to porn
and download sites.
and good virus protection
Which one? Hopefully it isn't MSE. Also remember that what you pick
now may later not support Windows XP. See which ones say they currently
support Windows 2000 to give you an idea of how long they might continue
supporting Windows XP. Many now list Windows XP as the minimum version
of Windows they support. So in a year or two, they may discontinue
supporting Windows XP when they come out with a major new version of
their software that relies on security features or functions available
only in Vista and beyond.
No daily scheduled image backups, like monthly full and daily
incrementals? If you do get infected, edit the registry which results
in Windows not booting, install a kernel level program (driver even if
to reinstall one), or your hard disk dies, how are you going to get back
to a prior exact state that was good?
The
big hang-up is one of my printers (an HP 2000c) has no drivers for Vista
nor Windows 7.
I haven't bothered using WVPC (Windows Virtual PC, a modified version of
Virtual PC 2007 that can make the virtualized apps look a bit more
transparent that they are running in the guest OS) to know if it allows
drivers to get installed inside the VM (virtual machine in which loads
the guest OS).
Non-Home editions of Win7 come with support for WPC which includes a
license for Windows XP; i.e., you get to run Windows XP (no added cost)
in a VM under Winddows 7, and then you run your XP-only apps inside that
VM. You download 2 files from Microsoft: one for WPC and another for XP
Mode that makes the virtualized apps look somewhat transparent. Or you
can just install WPC (skip XP Mode) and run it like VirtualPC 2007 or
any other VMM (Virtual Machine Manager; e.g., VirtualBox, VMWare Player)
where the guest OS is viewed through a console window.
Microsoft says that XP Mode won't run on their Home editions of Win7.
Not quite true. The WPC download will install and you can use it as the
VMM to create a Windows XP guest inside a VM. The XP Mode download will
fail to install. So the transparency is lost but not the ability to run
apps in the VM running Windows XP. You could also use another VMM, like
VMware Player or VirtualBox.
It's been way too long since I used a DB-25 parallel port (IEEE-1284 aka
Centronics) printer. You may have to add the port in the VM's settings
so the guest OS inside that VM can see that emulated hardware or the
pass-through driver for it. You could connect the printer to a USB port
on your computer using a USB-to-Centronics adapter cable (eg.,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1YH1GU9959). The
problem will be with the driver software. It may only support the LPT1
(parallel) port which means you cannot elect to connect the printer via
adapter cable to a USB port on the computer. Someone else might know if
there is a redirector program that will shove LPT1 traffic to a
particular USB port so the print job generated by the software goes to
the USB port to which the printer is connected.
There is the trick of installing a USB printer, sharing it which gives
it a device name, and then using:
To redirect from parallel ports (LPT1, LPT2):
net LPT[n] \\<computername>\<sharedprintername> /persistent:yes
To redirect from serial ports (COM1, COM2):
net COM[n] \\<computername>\<sharedprintername> /persistent:yes
Traffic generated by older programs that only know how to print to
parallel or serial printers, like old DOS programs that don't understand
USB ports, will get redirected from LPT1 to the shared device (USB
printer). This is also called remapping of ports. But that requires
you be able to install the printer using USB to then have the LPT1
device redirect to the shared printer. With such an old printer, I
doubt its software lets you select to use a USB port for it. If the VM
lets you add an emulated LPT1 port to the guest OS then do that and then
install the printer software that only lets you select using an LPT
port.
It is a parallel printer of some legacy, but I really
like the machine. I have four of them (one for me, one for my wife, and
two spares) plus a boat-load of ink cartridges and printheads.
If I did move to Windows 7, would it be possible to build a WinXP print
server, separate from my "main machine", and feed print jobs to it? Or
must the print drivers be on the machine doing the sending?
The host (real or virtualized) is the one generating the print "file"
(buffer) that can either be stored as a file or streamed to a printing
device. So that host must have the driver to know how to interface with
the printer. For WPC, you would install the Windows XP drivers inside
the guest OS (Windows XP).
You could also get a "PDF printer" that emulates a printer, like Bullzip
PDF Printer, PDFxchange Lite, CutePDF, etc. You use the print function
in the app to "print" to the PDF printer that saves the Postscript
output to a file. Then transfer the file to anywhere that has a printer
or the driver to a networked one to which you can print a hardcopy.
The above is what you had to do with Virtual PC 2007. I think WPC has
been updated to add pass-through drivers. You install the printer
driver in the host OS (Windows 7, in your case) so the printer is usable
in the host OS. Inside the guest OS (Windows XP), you use VMM settings
to add the printer to the guest OS. That's what I've read. I haven't
bothered to use VMs to awhile. They're too slow. All hardware except
the CPU is emulated (for a couple even the CPU is emulated). Hardware
emulated using software is going to be a hell of a lot slower than the
real hardware. For some apps, like an editor or e-mail, you may not
notice the difference or the slowed response is insignificant. You
won't be playing video games installed inside a VM, especially since the
emulated video card in the VM won't come anywhere near the minimum specs
required for the video game.
HP has a Windows 2000 driver for that printer model. It might work
under Windows 7. Be sure to get the correct bitwise version of the
drivers. Bitwidth of drivers MUST match the bitwidth of Windows in
which they are installed.
Windows comes with a slew of embedded drivers. In fact, during the
install, it loads a ton of them just to see what hardware will respond.
With the HP 2000c being such an old printer, it may be that Windows 7
already includes a generic driver for that printer. If the Vista driver
doesn't work, you might find a close enough model in the list of
embedded drivers; that is, for example, you might be able to use a HP
2200 driver for the HP 2000c printer.
