Open XP disk in Win7 using XPmode virtual PC?

[lowep]

Merry Xmas,

I want to open some old files on an old external NTFS hard drive formatted in WinXP on my win7 laptop that recognises but rejects the old XP-formatted disk as an "invalid disk".

Rather than installing XP on the laptop as a dual boot along side Win7, I would like to know if I install XP-mode Virtual PC on my Win7 laptop will I be able to open my XP disk from within the XP-mode Virtual PC?

Happy New Year to you too!

 

[WR2]

Hello lowep;
Have you tried just opening the disk with Windows 7?
There should be no problem with Win7 reading old files - as long as you have a program configured that knows how to handle those file types.

It's not so much a WinXP-Win7 thing as it is having a program installed that knows how to handle that type of file.
For example, if you have some old Database File (.dbf) you'll need a program installed on Win7 that can handle those file types. You would have perviously have had a database program installed on your old WinXP system that created those files.

 

[lowep]

Thanks for replying,

I tried to open the disk with Win7. The Win7 laptop I am using to try and retrieve one .tiff file off the old disk notices the disk but does not open it in "my computer". When I go into disk management I can locate the disk under my main drive but not the partitions. It is labelled: disk 1 dynamic invalid. When I try to reactivate the disk it just comes with a message that the disk is invalid.

I have had this problem before with the same disk on another Win7 machine that I solved by dual booting WinXP on top of Win7 instead of trying to open it in Win7. However I found dual booting to be a bit complicated when it came to the start up sequence that I had to muck around with a bit to get the Win7 booting up again. Unfortunately this other machine is down at the moment with a mobo problem. I am reluctant to fool around too much with the laptop because it is not mine. Hence my question.

 

[lowep]

For anybody else who has this problem the solution that can be found here is to use the free download HdX program to convert the troublesome dynamic disk to a basic disk that opens just as it did on XP.

Needless to say I am not unhappy to have found a solution :lol: