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Using old devices with only XP drivers available in Windows 7

I know this sounds dumb, but I have a customer that is attached to several decade-old devices, including an old HP inkjet printer, an old scanner, and an old Palm Pilot.  I recently installed a new machine running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.  Some of his other old devices worked fine, but none of these three have Windows 7 drivers.  I know you can run some programs in XP compatibilty mode, but is there something similar for drivers?  In other words, is there a way to use XP drivers in Windows 7.  If this is impossible, is there a way to make the machine dual-boot between 7 and XP.
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artisancomputer_msm
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Hutch_77
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Yes you can dual boot 7 and XP.  The nly option that may work would be to upgrade to CP and install them in XP Mode... but thats a lot of work for junk either way.
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Hutch_77
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And the machine may not have drivers for XP making it very hard to even work ou tthe dual boot.
I've done this with an old Casio QV-11 digital camera which came with a serial interface cable.  I installed windows XP inside of VMware player (free software BTW) running on a Windows 7 64 bit computer and Inside the VMware player I was able to install the software to communicate with my camera using a USB to serial adaptor attached to the Windows 7 Computer.  It can be done.  
I also want to add that you could as an option install VMware converter on their old PC and move that image over to the new PC and run it in VMware player.  I've done that successfully too.
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every1isevil2
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http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
windows 7 vpc with xp mode lets u add usb devices on the fly

ms "only supports" xp mode with windows 7 pro or above
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Brian Pierce
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While you can dual boot Win7 and XP its not recommended and could cause more problems than it solves.
It may be best to simply advise your client that these old devices have reached the point where they need to be replaced.
No doubt newer devices will not only be compatible, but would also offer better quality and more features than those they replace.
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every1isevil2
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dual boot may be an option he will need to check the Hardware compatibility list  my best guess there will be no drivers for xp.  since ms implemented xp mode for in case of these situations.  the best solution is to run xp mode with windows 7 and hopefully it is pro or above
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Way to steal it garycase.
Windows XP
Windows XP

Microsoft Windows XP is the sixth release of the NT series of operating systems, and was the first to be marketed in a variety of editions: XP Home and XP Professional, designed for business and power users. The advanced features in XP Professional are generally disabled in Home Edition, but are there and can be activated. There were two 64-bit editions, an embedded edition and a tablet edition.

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