Cheat Win XP death: Your handy guide to keeping snubbed operating system ticking over Windows XP's date with destiny has passed. As of Tuesday, Microsoft will NOT be releasing any new security updates. With one in five PCs still running Windows XP, there's a chance you are among those whose computer is now running an unsupported operating system. What now? Doing an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 isn't a good …
"but VirtualBox is terribly sluggish compared to VMware, it's a night and day difference !"
VMWare Player's nice, but I must say, sluggish is not a word I'd have used in my experiences with Virtualbox. On the flipside, both of them seem to comfortably beat Virtual PC, so it's handy to have Hyper-V in Windows 8.x - one of its redeeming features.
"VirtualBox is terribly sluggish compared to VMware, it's a night and day difference"
Oh I've noticed the opposite. I used VMWare from the start, and I hate Oracle... but V-box performance cleaned the floor with VMware. (£0 was just a bonus)
I guess it depends on the hardware?
Well, I have only ever used VBox, but the winxp VDs I have set up, absolutely blaze along on a very mediocre laptop that is very sluggish with win7. And this is running VBox off of Knoppix7 off a USB stick. No complaints at all.
I'm going to be trying VMWare next though now I've got my head around cloning and re-sizing disks in VBox and whatnot. Even set up a shared disk and usb for transferring stuff. Works remarkably well in win7 too. I should use it more really. It's night and day in terms of speed when surfing, plus the extra security it provides.
And a browser is a browser is a browser pretty much. You forget you are in a VM. Whether that VM was started off a usb stick in Linux or your hard disk in windows. Plus being able to transfer stuff you download is a major convenience. It is also a security risk too, I suppose, and that is why I have a couple of VMs, one with a shared disk and one without which is locked down and isolated.
If VMWare turns out to be faster than VBox, I will be most pleasantly surprised.
Fortunately, "OEM" licenses are a load of bollocks. Especially Microsoft's insistence that if the motherboard dies, replacing it counts as replacing the computer, thus demanding a new purchase of Windows. One local computer shop has already been stung by a £4,000 demand after the guy reactivated Windows on a mystery shopper's PC after replacing a "broken" motherboard, and didn't charge for it.
He didn't pay.
He's still not been taken to court over it.
Fuck you, Microsoft. Fuck you.
Odd, I've had to talk to an actual human at Microsoft before, when re-installing XP on a machine.
Having a 'broken' motherboard was one of the legitimate reasons for reinstalling, and the mere mention of the word would get you an OK.
For some reason the excuse 'it's been installed for over a year and now runs like a dog' wasn't good enough.
Make sure your VM is in NAT mode and not bridged mode, so the host OS's virus scanner and firewall can detect the XP virus before it gets to the virtual machine. If you use Linux as the host OS, it needs to be running an AV program (and a firewall) that can detect Windows viruses.
Note that a virtual machine has all the same vulnerabilities as a regular PC, so no real benefit is gained from using one for this purpose. VMs aren't meant to be all that secure -- they're meant to run older programs. All VM software has vulnerabilities -- they are constantly releasing bug updates for them.
It's not just the Internet, it's CD-ROMs, USB drives, etc. that can also infect a VM. Make sure the VM does not automatically mount these drives when you start the VM up. All it'll take is one slip up. Frankly, I don't trust the average user to use a VM safely, as many of the things I talked about above can be easily changed once everything is set up.
In my company, VMs are banned because they are the worst of both worlds -- they can cause compatibility issues (the host OS still needs functioning drivers) and they're still highly prone to infection. When necessary, we just use plain XP machines so at least we know which PCs to keep a closer eye on.
Bob Camp, so much wrong in one post! Where to begin.
1. No, the host will generally not detect most viruses as they enter a NAT-ed XP client. Better to rely on solutions on the client to cover a broader scope.
2, No, the VM is not just as vulnerable since you must mentioned the NAT mode but also the ability to create snapshot and do restores faster, to strip functionality to bare bone and use the more secure host for more sensitive matters would differ quite lot.
3. You don't trust the average user with a VM but you trust them with a complete PC? Where's the logic? It still needs some level of support or management, obviously
4. The host does not need "functioning drivers" for everything at all and to know "which PC's" to keep a closer eye on" sounds not like a professional consideration. You will have to keep an eye on a lot of services, logs, rules and configuration, no matter in which box, virtual or not, they are stuffed.
1. The host PC *does* detect viruses coming from the Ethernet in NAT mode, assuming you're not running Linux without an AV. My point was that it won't detect ANY viruses if you run in bridged mode. Of course you should also run an AV inside the VM, but in theory if the VM worked as everyone thinks it does, you wouldn't have to. My point was that a VM setup still won't catch everything. It might be a little less vulnerable than a native installation, but it'll be far from perfect.
2. Restoring a ghost image is almost as fast as a VM copy. And if you're running XP for compatibility reasons, you can't really strip that VM down to the bare bones because the program you're trying to run might not work. Besides, you can strip a native XP installation in the same way.
3. If you ban VMs, you (in theory) only have to really worry about the XP PCs. You could put them on a separate network, for example, in an attempt to isolate them from your other PCs. With VMs, you have to worry about ALL the PCs. It's very easy for the end user to switch the Ethernet support in a VM from NAT mode to bridged mode or to mount a USB drive. VMs give a false sense of security. At least with an XP machine you know the exact level of security you're getting.
4. In my experience, if the host PC does not have drivers for a piece of hardware, more often than not the VM will have trouble recognizing and/or using that hardware. I have also had problems with VMs in general, and have had to resort to native XP installations.
Maybe a dual boot XP/7 installation would work better? Then Windows 7 could scan the XP partition for exploits daily, something it can't do with an XP VM. But then you have rely on the user to boot back into Windows 7 when they're done. They might do it if you put all the other applications on the Windows 7 partition and just put the bare minimum on the XP partition.
My point is that VMs are not touted for security, but compatibility. Just like XP was. Which is why XP had all those exploits in the first place.
Dear author,
Please hand in your IT professional/journalist credentials at the front desk and proceed to leave the industry immediately.
You have written an article that strongly implies, thought admittedly doesn't explicitly state, that keeping an archaic operating system running inside a VM is a good way to keep it secure, in lieu of future security patches.
This is clearly utter horse manure. In order to install software in your VM of XP you still need to download software or copy data into it via network shares/usb pass through mass storage or whatever other means. This data you've then exposed the VM to could easily be infected with some malware that could affect your out of date OS.
You also advise and demonstrate download the "XP Mode" VM provided as a free download for Windows 7 and running under it Linux. While you do indeed suggest that people doing this should own a Windows XP Pro licence, I think you will find this insufficient and legally speaking puts you and those following this advice in the wrong.
The XP Mode download requires a Windows 7 licence, because it is provided as a feature of Windows 7 and is not intended for use in any other way.
I'm not getting into the OEM licences and transfer between computers argument, because that's one for the lawyers. But the "XP Mode" licence is quite clear cut, it's provided free of charge for Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise licence holders for install within Windows 7 and that's all.
If you are going to write an an article suggesting people run Windows XP in a VM under Linux, then you should advise them to purchase both a licence and install media for Windows XP and build a new VM from scratch. But really, unless you actually intend to migrate to Linux, why would you bother?
If you must have XP then buy a Windows 7 Professional and run XP Mode legally in that.
Then as new versions of your old software become available you can install them in your Windows 7 installation and phase out your XP Mode VM.
>This is clearly utter horse manure. In order to install software in your VM of XP you still need to download software or copy data into it via network shares/usb pass through mass storage or whatever other means.
The author gave the caveat that the virtual XP machine should only be used to run the existing old software that won't play nice with Win7 etc. There is no point in installing *new* software onto the virtual XP machine, since new software can be installed onto the host OS, or another machine.
Also, the XP virtual machine's Virtual Hard Disk can be cloned and backed up - every ten minutes if desired.
"The author gave the caveat that the virtual XP machine should only be used to run the existing old software that won't play nice with Win7 etc"
He certainly did, but you've got to get that old software onto the VM somehow. We're talking about a new XP install in the VM here, not a virtualisation of the one you already have the software installed on.
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"The author gave the caveat that the virtual XP machine should only be used to run the existing old software that won't play nice with Win7 etc"
He certainly did, but you've got to get that old software onto the VM somehow. We're talking about a new XP install in the VM here, not a virtualisation of the one you already have the software installed on.
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Sorry, I'm probably being dense and just not getting it, but why can't the whole xp shebang be done perfectly legally through the win7 pro setup - download, install of software etc. - and then, once set up and you have a new legal working xp VD, what law is there that states that that image can not be accessed by VBox or whatever in Linux?
I often switch between using my VDs in both Linux and Win7 and tweaking as I go. Proof of concept more than real world usage as I'm new to all this, but still. Am I actually breaking the law by accessing an xp VD from VBox, even though it is on the same machine/physical drive and is a legitimately licensed copy? Serious question. I'm not using the win7 xp virtual mode, it is an old boxed copy that I bought from Tottenham Court Rd. years ago, and that is no longer used on any machines. Shouldn't make a difference anway, should it?
Don't tell me after all this money I have spent and given to one of the biggest companies in the world that I am being criminalised, after great effort, trouble and expense to remain on the straight and narrow.
"Am I actually breaking the law by accessing an xp VD from VBox, even though it is on the same machine/physical drive and is a legitimately licensed copy? Serious question. I'm not using the win7 xp virtual mode, it is an old boxed copy that I bought from Tottenham Court Rd"
You're fine, both morally and legally, because you have a proper boxed copy with licence which can be installed on whicher (single) machine you wish be that physical or virtual.
XP OEM licences (the ones that comes with prebuilt PCs) are a grey area, as the licence specifies they can only be used on the machine it was supplied with. Whether that is legally enforceable is questionable and morally even more so.
The Windows 7 XP Mode VM on the other hand, is provided free of charge for Windows 7 licence holders (effectively it is included in the cost of the Windows 7 licence). So if you are using it and don't have a Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise licence then you are quite definitely in the legal wrong. If you have a Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise licence but are using the XP Mode VHD within Linux then I would suggest that that is another of those questionable legal/moral issues.
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The Windows 7 XP Mode VM on the other hand, is provided free of charge for Windows 7 licence holders (effectively it is included in the cost of the Windows 7 licence). So if you are using it and don't have a Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise licence then you are quite definitely in the legal wrong. If you have a Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate/Enterprise licence but are using the XP Mode VHD within Linux then I would suggest that that is another of those questionable legal/moral issues.
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Ah. That is sort of what I expected and how I pretty much look at it, not knowing any better.
I don't use it for production (though I aim to one day) and it is strictly for private/educational use.
I am curious now about this XP Mode in win7. I think I am going to have to try it out. Not sure if you even need to put in a serial no. for it. Not sure how it works at all. Or if it even will be accessible in Linux. I'm sure it won't take long to figure out. If I did get a working VM up, I wouldn't bother with it in Linux anyway. I have enough VMs and am seriously running out of disk space. I made a separate 50GB partition for VMs and that has practically all been eaten up now, just keeping what is left for the dynamic re-sizing. Surprising how much extra space gets eaten up when you start playing about and installing extra crap (beyond the size of the crap you install).
Anyway, whether in Linux or win7, both the winxp images just absolutely fly along. So no need to use Linux in this case.
I'm just looking at buying a bog standard Dell system for someone. And they aren't just technophobes, but computerphobes. They HATE computers. They can barely switch the thing on or off. They will lose all their programs if I get win8 for them, otherwise I would. One benefit of being totally ignorant and not having any understanding of how a computer works is, that when the goalposts are moved, it makes no difference to them. They switch it on, start firefox, log onto facebook. And they play their games. And that is it.
So I'm going to get them the win7 Pro license and then set them up with XP Mode. Not sure how it will work with connecting to the printer, but we'll see. Seems perfect for them otherwise.
Do you know, I didn't even know there was an XP Mode in win7 and I've had it a couple of years?
"Also, the XP virtual machine's Virtual Hard Disk can be cloned and backed up - every ten minutes if desired."
But's it's not just about easily recovering from a malware infection on the XP guest by rolling back to a clone or snapshot. Phil's (valid) point is that data moves around, and if you use a vulnerable Windows XP VM to manipulate that data, that's a vector for infection of files. If those infected (Office/PDF/JPEG etc) files then end up on your Windows 7/8 host, patching will not necessarily protect you from anything nasty that hitched a ride from your guest instance.
"If you must have XP then buy a Windows 7 Professional and run XP Mode legally in that."
He/they, chances are, already have that license, making it morally ok in my book to run XP in Linux. Whether it is technically legal is another matter. We could argue about this ad nauseum. I don't even disagree with parts of your viewpoint. But if I had a previous OEM license that I could no longer technically use because I don't own that software, merely license it, and I am in fact following that diktat, and go to all the trouble of buying win7 Pro which includes the new XP license for the purposes as mentioned, then who is going to dob me in if I just have a little tinker 'round in me ol' Linux install? It's not as if you could possibly use both at the same time anyway, being booted into one os or the other.
"Then as new versions of your old software become available you can install them in your Windows 7 installation and phase out your XP Mode VM."
Not really. New versions of the software don't become available because microsoft moved the goalposts and changed the APIs. Not to mention native 16-bit/32-bit/64-bit compatibility. That is why some of us NEED to do this time consuming bullshit, because we have no other choice, if we choose to use our otherwise obsolescent software. Not because it's fun, or hacking or any of the other golden age of computing rationales. In fact, I know of people that have actually upgraded their software and choose to use the 'older' version out of preference, and there is no way that will run in win8 without a VM because it is 16-bit. The new crappier version just sits in the draw unused.
Just like microsoft, they took something that worked perfectly well and ballsed it up and no one wants to use it now. This is another argument, granted, but, pertinent, I feel. Amelioration is the name of the game. A word I fear that is not in their comprehension. Instead, they re-invented the wheel. Guess what? It was not an improvement, and now we are left with this clusterfuck of either abandon your old software that you need/love, OR upgrade to new versions and abandon your old software that you need/love, OR possibly find some kind of way to keep that software running despite the drain on your wetware resources to do so.
I agree in principle with your first point, if not in spirit.
As to your second point, well, I just thought I would point out some alternative views.
12 year old OS with a very broken SSL stack (which is something you want in the current security environment) - and no patches for new security issues, much less the old non-security bugs that were never and will never be fixed.
If your a) home or b) business IT environment includes basically any of this you should be quite possibly be fired and/or shot - and if you don't know why it's a problem: lynched.
Perhaps I missed something but isn't it way easier to install XP directly into the virtual machine instead of downloading the MS image and make it somehow work with Virtualbox or VMware? I know it was faster for me at the time to manually install XP than to use lets say the Windows 7 evaluation image.
It's hard to imagine serious businesses with only OEM licensing for XP but even so, there are still original and legal XP media and licenses for sale, no big effort to track one down.
I wonder now, would Windows PE 2004 or BartPE be a solution for some cases? Based on XP2 and for just running that one program it might just work. Yes, the licensing might be limited but aren't you actually recovering a malfunctioning OEM XP that way?
"...Yes, it will keep all your apps and settings,..."
Ah...sorry...but you CAN NOT do an "in-place upgrade to Windows 7" from XP.
One CAN upgrade from XP to Vista and THEN to Win 7...but not from XP to 7. It must be a "clean install".
When you buy Windows 7 Professional you can only do an in place upgrade from Windows Vista Business.
You can do a custom install from XP Pro to Windows 7 Professional.
Installing - What does "in place upgrade" mean?
Upgrade means you can install Windows 7 by simply inserting the Windows 7 upgrade software into your PC's DVD drive and follow the instructions on your screen. While you're not required to backup and reinstall your files, or reinstall your programs, it's a very good idea to back up your files and settings before you start any software upgrade. Get more information about software upgrades and best practices .
Installing - What does "Custom (Clean)" Mean?
A custom (clean) installation erases the contents of your PC's hard drive. Your files, settings, and programs will not be transferred to Windows 7. That means that to install Windows 7, you'll need to:
•Backup all the files and settings you want to keep
•Install Windows 7
•Reinstall all your files
•Reinstall all the programs you want to use.
These four steps take time, some technical skill and Windows Easy Transfer can help.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/how-do-i-upgrade-a-windows-xp-pro-to-windows-7-pro/7b2e8a8a-dfac-4fdc-a161-f01d3d198928
A few thoughts. XP Mode only works with Win 7 Pro. The XP image assumes you have Win 7 pro installed on the host.
You can't use an OEM license legally in any VM.
You can't P2V your XP machine if it can with the OS that was installed by Dell, HP, IBM, Lenovo, etc. Must be retail.
I ran 64-bit Vista for a short while before switching to Win 7. Something as old as Adobe PageMaker 7 worked under 64-bit with just minor issues - and it came out before Win XP.
"You can't use an OEM license legally in any VM."
I went into this with the OEM version of Windows 7 Ultimate and I was happy (IANAL of course) that the license did allow me to run it in a VM.
I did that on the box it was originally installed in though - I changed it from running Win7 as the main OS to running Linux as the main OS, with Windows 7 inside VirtualBox. I did a fresh install from DVD and it activated without problems.
I'll bite.
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A lot of people* sticking with XP are doing so because they are too tight to buy a new OS or a new PC or just too lazy to do anything about it.
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You must be one of them there computer nerds. Perhaps even a geek. Yeah, probably a geek.
I'm sure some are sticking with XP because they are too tight, but maybe also because they are a bit skint. Or horror of horrors, it does everything it needs to do, is working perfectly and after a while of figuring it all out, it is going to mean a major upheaval and a new learning curve to tackle. Then again, you may also be right when you say they are too lazy. No law against laziness last time I looked.
But where your major oversight is, I think, in the fact that microsoft have not provided a pain free alternative. And by them slowly moving the goalposts bit by bit with the changing of APIs and the purposeful obsoleting of hardware in collusion with the hardware manufacturers (win/win for both of them - microsoft get to sell more software - the hardware vendors more hardware), we have now reached a point where the bluffs are being called all around. It's the software vendors I feel most sorry for, if there is an innocent party in this unholy shitstorm, they are probably least to blame and the most held to ransom to go along with it all.
Unless it has escaped your attention, microsoft once attaining the full monopoly have not just used their customer base for experimentation, they have corralled them into a pen for total control and submission. They have created an OS that is intended to be used on mobile touch screen devices, all because what they have is not enough for them, they want MORE, seeing the riches being gained by their rivals. They want it ALL. Good old fashioned greed. They have basically told their Most Valued Professionals to go and fuck themselves. Dedoimedo for one example was noting what a cluster fuck win8 was 2 (TWO) years ago. And he is a big microsoft fan, giving credit where credit is due to them. Look up his tutorials and viewpoints on system hardening in windows via EMET.
I will speak for myself here. I am happy to use win7. It is a hog. Illogical at times. And not very customisable (you can't change the glaringly white background of an explorer window for example without slipping into classic mode, which is what I run all the time making my win7 resemble something more akin to bleeding win95). But it works well, very well for the most part with the myriad of Audio software I own and use. In fact, I am forced into using win7, because the software devs were forced into only supporting it via the change of APIs. And not all of them have come up to speed. It is actually another unholy cluster fuck with virtual folders being employed because microsoft says 'naughty naughty' bad software and slaps it down to the naughty step. So a lot of Audio software is in transition. It won't work on xp, but it still does not work perfectly well on win7. I digress.
So, when forced to use win7, I use win7, and for software that will not work on win7 but will only work on xp, I use xp. Microsoft totally, willfully split it down the middle. No transition. Disruptive technology, indeed. And that is just xp/win7, win8 is another level of hurt again.
If I have spent thousands of pounds (literally) for software (I don't use cracks except for research [No, really, I do not use cracks in production, only to test in certain circumstances]), why should I just suddenly say, oh, never mind, put it all in the bin, forget about it. Spend another couple of thousand to upgrade? If I had the money I would still not appreciate being held to ransom. I don't anway as it goes, but I want to keep on using the software I LOVE, that I have spent years learning how to use to a professional level.
And this is without getting into the hardware that I have that will not work on win8 because of lack of drivers. Yes, that old chesnut. Still getting away with it.
But that's just me. Most of the people you have maligned just want to stick with xp because they have games or industrial software that will not RUN on new systems, be that because of the software being 16-bit or a lack of drivers.
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As such this advice means nothing to the majority of XP users.
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Not sure what your point is here, so I'll stop 'biting' now.
Like in much software the pirate version of Windows XP, called "TinyXP" is a MUCH better candidate for a VM than the bog standard XP and as a nice bonus it takes all of 10 seconds to put in your XP Pro key and make it a fully licensed copy of XP pro.
The reason why its better is simple, it was originally made by a Windows gamer (who sadly stopped making Tiny Windows after Tiny 7 Rev 2 due to losing his job in the downturn) whose goal was to make it run better than 95% of the software for Windows while using the least resources possible. Due to its age XP has a LOT of cruft like netmeeting that pretty much nobody uses anymore so by cutting that and other junk (the installer even gives an option of not having IE/OE/WMP which lowers its RAM footprint on desktop to a microscopic 50MB) you have an OS that was practically built for a VM.
He also has versions of 2K3, Vista, and Win 7 out there if you have the need for one of those as a VM, I'm sure anybody looking can find them easily enough. Oh and for those that wonder "how long can ya go?" the answer is the now hard to find Tiny Win2K Pro, it uses just 34Mb of RAM and a full install is less than 500Mb.
First, let's put the license and lazy/cheap argument to rest.
There are so many specialized programs out there that may not ever be upgraded or will, eventually, but not for some time. Weird middleware kind of stuff. Things that would mean not just an upgrade in software, but very expensive hardware and entire enterprise systems. Yes, yes, the management are slacking gits. We know this. Doesn't change reality.
As for license. MS could give a flying fart about XP these days.
That said, this is a very clever solution and so are some of the other suggestions posted here. Well done.
And this from someone who despises XP these days.
Tip of the hat.
In my case, there's a user with an old engineering program that only works if it sees the license dongle on the parallel port. Nothing I have tried will make the program see the dongle on anything newer than XP.
This user will get a new machine running Win 7 x64 and all required productivity stuff. The old machine will be cloned, then cleaned of all applications except the dongleware, (including removing browsers, media players, whatever) and physically moved to the data center where nobody can get physical access to it. The machine will have no network access except for a private vlan where the user will connect with rdp. They will be able to copy/paste text and screenshots, print to a local printer, and hopefully nothing else.
*posted anonymously because I'm not supposed to talk about work stuff, not because I'm afraid.
I agree with Mike Eldridge of Michigan who said:
"I am worried about security threats, but I'd rather have my identity stolen than put up with Windows 8"
We like XP and will continue to use it. I'll even go so far as to say I won't program any software that is suppose to run on Windows 8. Take that Microsoft.....
If you keep your old, legitimate copy of XP on a separate hard drive when you install Windows 7 you can either then just set up your machine to dual boot so you can run XP when you need it OR using Virtualbox you can create a VM that attaches to the old physical XP disk (as a raw disk) and boots from there. No need to re-install XP, fiddle with any licence or reinstall any apps, your XP machine lives again :)
The only wrinkle if you use the 2nd method is that you must make sure that the XP disk is 'offline' as far as Windows 7 is concerned but is available read/write to the VM while using the VM. You do this using the DISKPART utility from the command line in Windows 7
DISKPART
SELECT DISK 1 (where this number is the window 7's logical disk number for the XP drive)
OFFLINE DISK
ATTRIBUTES DISK CLEAR READONLY
Do that BEFORE starting the XP virtual machine. You also may need to change the graphic driver for XP running under the VM since it no longer has direct access to the graphics card (depends on your original setup).
Indeed a decent solution; I have a Win7 and WinXP virtual machine. With snapshots, if a software install blows up, or an update causes a problem, or you managed to get virus or spyware (I don't use IE even on a Windows system so I haven't had that problem...) then you can roll back to your snapshot. Store your documents on a "shared drive" outside the VM and you don't have to worry about losing files in case you roll back to the snapshot. And don't use the browser inside the VM (or, alternately, have a VM just for browsing that you reset at the end of each use.) This truly keeps Windows in it's place. I'm using Ubuntu (with Unity booted off in favor of the "traditional" desktop) as my host and it's great. But a VM is a VM, you can do it just as well under Windows 8.
"Doing an in-place upgrade to Windows 7 isn't a good choice. Yes, it will keep all your apps and settings, but it'll also preserve all the clutter and crud that slows down an old Windows install, and you're limited to 32-bit Windows 7. You really need to nuke and start over."
It is not possible to perform an in-place upgrade from XP to Windows 7. The only route would be from XP to Vista, then from Vista to Win 7.
The only way to 'upgrade' straight to Windows 7 while keeping most of your settings is to use the User State Migration Tool (USMT) to backup the user data from XP, format the drive and install a clean copy of Win 7 then use USMT to restore the data. USMT will automatically put all the data into the right places on the Win7 install (i.e. it's not just a backup utility, but performs a proper migration). USMT is the 'pro' version of Windows Easy Transfer. WET is built into Windows and is intended for transferring data from an old computer.
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