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Windows XP Emulation/Virtual machine

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First post, by stu_e_hughes

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Hi everyone,

Just trying to find info in the forums around creating a WXP virtual machine for retro gaming. I see there is lots of information to create a basic VM, but i'm wondering what options I have for XP era gaming. As PCem only really allows hardware up to the late 90's and i'm not sure if it's possible to create a WXP build in PCem but I guess it will be underpowered for later XP games. I would need something for late 2000's XP era as well (if possible).

I see there are two main options, VMWare or VirtualBox. But I guess this only provides a very basic specification. Is it possible to add other, more powerful hardware to these VM's? I read that passthrough is possible for GPU's?

I'm wondering how capable a modern host machine is at the moment to replicate WXP era hardware as this is way more demanding than PCem for instance.

Alternatively, is there a mini-PC/SFF bare metal option to install WXP directly on hardware?

Thanks for your help.

Reply 1 of 3, by eddman

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stu_e_hughes wrote on 2023-07-31, 07:23:

But I guess this only provides a very basic specification. Is it possible to add other, more powerful hardware to these VM's? I read that passthrough is possible for GPU's?

These are hypervisors and do virtualization, not emulation. Whatever specs the VMs report internally are basically irrelevant. AFAIK the processing will be performed as fast as the VM can manage.

IINM Virtualbox doesn't support GPU acceleration under XP, but VMWare does. However, only Direct3D 9 would perform acceptably. D3D2-7 games usually have major issues, and although D3D8 mostly works, it has performance and/or visual issues. A wrapper like d3d8to9 can somewhat help.

IMO, for XP compatible games, you'd be better off installing them on your modern computer, and use community fixes if needed.

Last edited by eddman on 2023-08-04, 17:12. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 2 of 3, by Namrok

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VirtualBox used to support GPU acceleration in Windows XP. I think you need version 6.0 or lower? I keep that version of it around for just such a purpose. However lately the whole damned thing broke, I think after I installed WSL2. So don't do that I guess.

Win95/DOS 7.1 - P233 MMX (@2.5 x 100 FSB), Diamond Viper V330 AGP, SB16 CT2800
Win98 - K6-2+ 500, GF2 MX, SB AWE 64 CT4500, SBLive CT4780
Win98 - Pentium III 1000, GF2 GTS, SBLive CT4760
WinXP - Athlon 64 3200+, GF 7800 GS, Audigy 2 ZS

Reply 3 of 3, by DosFreak

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The "best" is generally real hardware. The "worst" would be Vmware Player or Workstation or virtualbox but may be perfectly fine depending on your situation.

1. Install XP on supported hardware or on unsupported hardware with unofficial updates and drivers.
or
2. Use ESX or Linux w/ KVM w/ XP VM with passthrough to a real GPU and also real sound card if you want
or
3. Use the latest version of Vmware Player or Workstation or Virtualbox 6.0.24
or
4. Use fixes for the game on a modern version of Windows or Wine w/other fixes on Linux

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