Windows 10 XP Mode Migration and Windows XP Activation
Last Updated: 4/19/19Problem Overview
Your Windows 7 computer is running legacy application inside an XP mode VM, but you want to run the VM on Windows 10.
Solutions Overview
- Convert VM to VMware Player format (.vmx)
- Move VM folder to Windows 10 Machine
- Activate Windows XP (two options)
- Install VMware tools
Convert VM to VMware Player format
Install VMware converter and VMware player on the on the Windows 7 machine hosting the XP mode VM. Open VMware player and use the menu item to start the XP mode conversion. VMware player will use VMware converter silently in the background.
I installed VMware player (5.x) and VMware converter (5.x). These are old versions, because I was worried the new versions would not work. I would try the latest versions, it should work fine.
https://zeltser.com/windows-xp-mode-for-vmware-virtualization/
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2014936
Note: I had to stop a service that was using TCP port 80 before installing VMware converter.
Move VM folder to Windows 10 machine
Be sure to move the entire folder that contains the .vmx file, not just the .vmx file. The VMDK file is what contains all the data.
I just used Windows file sharing to move the folder between computers.
Activate Windows XP
Option 1) Edit the .vmx file to add this line: xpmode.enabled = TRUE
Option 2) Using a valid XP ISO and license from a previous source, boot to the ISO and perform a repair install of Windows XP. supply license key when asked.
Install VMware Tools
Don't forget to install VMware tools from the VMware player menu in order to have full support for all features (proper video resolution higher than 800x600)
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/332956
