System requirements for Windows Virtual PC :
Make sure your PC is ready for Windows Virtual PC before you upgrade. Want to get up and running right away? Buy a new PC with Windows 7 pre-installed to get a fresh start.
Hardware Virtualization Technology enabled
1 GHz 32-bit / 64-bit processor required
Memory (RAM)
- 1.25 GB required, 2 GB memory recommended
Recommended 15 GB hard disk space per virtual Windows environment
Supported host operating system:
Supported guest operating system:
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
How to confirm your PC can run Windows XP Mode
Although OEMs have been shipping hardware virtualization in PCs for three years, hardware virtualization is not available in all PCs — so even if your PC is new, it may not have hardware virtualization. Additionally, those PCs with hardware virtualization have it turned off by default, so you will need to turn on the hardware virtualization capability before you can use it.
To determine whether your PC works with Windows XP Mode:
Step 1. Does my PC have a CPU with support for hardware virtualization?
For Intel processors:
For AMD processors:
AMD Virtualization Compatibility Check Utility.
Step 2. Does my PC BIOS support hardware virtualization, and is it turned on?
Instructions to turn on hardware virtualization in your PC BIOS are specific to OEM models. It is important that after changing your BIOS settings the PC is completely shut down at the power switch before restarting so that the new BIOS settings can take place.
Examples for some models of some computer manufacturer’s BIOS settings are below:
Sample instructions for your PC
Expand all
Depress the F12 key when boot menu text appears at startup
Select BIOS setup and depress the Enter key
Using the mouse, expand the Virtualization Support menu item by clicking on the plus to the left of Virtualization Support and select Virtualization
Check the Enable Intel Virtualization Technology checkbox
Click Apply
Click Exit
Fully shut down (power off), wait a few seconds, and restart your computer
Depress Esc key when prompted at startup
Depress the F10 key to Configure BIOS
Scroll to System Configuration using the arrow keys
Select Virtualization Technology and depress the Enter key
Select Enabled and depress the Enter key
Depress the F10 key to save and exit
Select Yes and depress the Enter key
Fully shut down (power off), wait a few seconds, and restart your computer
Depress the blue ThinkVantage key when prompted at startup
Depress the F1 key to enter the BIOS setup utility
Using the arrow keys, scroll to Config and depress the Enter key
Scroll to CPU and depress the Enter key
Scroll to Intel ® Virtualization Technology and depress the Enter key
Select Enabled and depress the Enter key
Depress Enter key to continue
Depress F10 key to save and exit
Select Yes and depress the Enter key
Fully shut down (power off), wait a few seconds, and restart your computer
Please note the instructions above may not work in all cases and consulting with your computer manufacturer may be necessary. Additionally, we expect hardware virtualization to become more available when Windows 7 is shipped, particularly in business-class PCs. For those PCs that come pre-installed with Windows XP Mode we recommend the computer manufacturer turn on hardware virtualization before shipping the PC.