Using XP devices on a Windows 7 system

[jjanetb]

Hi!
My present system includes:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-870 2.93 8M 1333
Motherboard: (LGA 1156) Intel WHITESBURG DP55 WB
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333MHz
Graphics Card: Gainward GTS 450 1024mb DVI HDMI DDR5
Hard Drive: Seagate Model: ST1000DM003-1SB10C-300, Firmware: CC43

I would like to use my ancient printer, scanner and card reader again, all of which have been collecting dust because they do not have proper drivers for W7. The scanner and card reader run only on XP (or lower), and the printer uses a universal driver on W7 which loses its MANY advanced features. Yes, I have an up-to-date relatively good quality 3-in-1, but its 'advanced' mode is VERY Mickey Mouse compared to my older devices. Also, my old scanner (UMAX) has a 3"x 5" area for scanning slides and transparencies.

I have purchased a second Seagate 1T inner HD like the one listed above to install in my system. I would install XP on it as well as the devices I want to run on XP. My question is, how do I set this all up so I can print and scan with the XP devices while working in W7? I know how to physically hook up the new HD, but don't know about how to set up the software. Any advice would be appreciated. Links to instructional resources would be fine--I am good at following clear, complete directions.

Many thanks!
Janet

PS I thought one gets Acronis free when buying a Seagate HDD, but the only link I find for this takes me to Seagate's DiscWizard software with nary a word about Acronis. Seagate does seem to have an active link for Acronis software for Western Digital and Maxtor. My WD just died and I replaced it with the above Seagate. I'd like to use Acronis because it is the industry standard for technicians in my country.

 

[meaga1n]

Leaving aside the problem that XP DOES NOT support SATA whatsoever, you can't just install the scanner in XP, reboot into 7 and scan - XP will not be running!
What COULD work is downloading VirtualBox, passing through the USB device, and installing Windows XP in there and doing all your scanning in there and using Shared Folders to copy over the scans. You could install Google Cloud Print to use the printer from Windows 7.

Are you sure the drivers don't work on Windows 7? Though they are not labelled to, many devices will still work with later Windows versions.

 

[jjanetb]

Leaving aside the problem that XP DOES NOT support SATA whatsoever, you can't just install the scanner in XP, reboot into 7 and scan - XP will not be running!
What COULD work is downloading VirtualBox, passing through the USB device, and installing Windows XP in there and doing all your scanning in there and using Shared Folders to copy over the scans. You could install Google Cloud Print to use the printer from Windows 7.

Are you sure the drivers don't work on Windows 7? Though they are not labelled to, many devices will still work with later Windows versions.

Thanks for your reply.

1. One cannot install XP on a SATA HDD??

2. Yes, I had long planned on using Virtual Box--just never got around to it.… Will probably end up doing that and use the second internal disk for backup and movies....

3. What did you mean by "passing through the USB device"?

4. You can usually find drivers that will work if you hunt enough--but not for W7 64-bit! I have several inherited cast off scanners for which I found alleged Win7 drivers, but none worked, and I eventually found threads saying that all the driver work-arounds are only good for W7 32-bit. Makes sense when you think about it.

5. Thanks for pointing me to Cloud Print--I hadn't known about that and will look into it....

 

[jjanetb]

PS My printer is not supported by Google Cloud Print. HP Deskjet 930c. I don't think it is meant for old printers.

 

[Outlander_04]

You can install XP on a SATA hard drive but it requires either crippling all the SATA features for all drives by selecting legacy or IDE mode in BIOS , or "slipstreaming" a SATA driver from a floppy disk during the install .

Running XP in a VM is definitely the way to go

 

[meaga1n]

As above.
Cloud print can act as a print server from within XP to the Windows 7 machine - it essentially turns any standard printer into a cloud print one. The way to go.

Pass through? From memory, devices, connect device and choose your scanner or printer etc

Can I reiterate do NOT try to install windows directly onto a data hard drive, even if it is set to ide mode breaking win7.

Sorry I'm on my phone now but can provide more details tomorrow