How To Play Windows XP Games On Windows 11/10/8/7? -

This guide is aimed at helping gamers play old classic video games designed to run on Windows XP and other old Windows versions.

This tutorial is conducted on a Windows 11 device. Instructions are applicable to users of Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7 as well.

Table of Contents

Install Or Play Classic Games With Administrative Privileges

Before we move on to other ways, Get started with using the Run as Administrator option to get vintage games to work on modern Windows versions.

We recommend using Run as Administrator option from the beginning. Install or run games Run as Administrator.

To install or run games with administrative privileges, Right-click on the game setup file or game launcher file and then click Run as Administrator option.

Don’t expect too much from it. Even though it does not always work, You should try it.

How Do I Run Games As Administrator Without Right Click?

If the Run as Administrator option manages to run the game of your choice, Next time, You can launch your favorite game with Administrative Privileges with one click. Right-click on the game launcher and go to Properties.

Go to the Compatibility tab.

Checkmark Run This Program As Administrator and click OK to save the settings and exit. You can now launch your desired game with Administrative Privileges with a single click.

Run Vintage Games In Compatibility Mode

Try Running Old Classic Windows XP Games In Compatibility Mode

Compatibility Mode often works, but there is no guarantee that it will do the same for you.

We tried Compatibility Mode for GTA Vice City and Liberty City Stories. The Compatibility Mode managed to run these classic games on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

We also tried to play Need For Speed II on Windows 11 and Windows 10, which was initially released in 1997, But the Compatibility Mode could not launch the game.

How Do I Run Older Games In Compatibility Mode On Windows 11/10/8/7?

To enable Compatibility Mode, Right-click on the game launcher or game installer and go to Properties.

After you get into Properties, You now need to go to the Compatibility tab.

First, You have to enable Compatibility Mode by clicking on the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode check box.

Once the Compatibility Mode is enabled, You now need to choose Windows XP. If Windows XP service pack 2 does not work, Try Windows XP service pack 3.

Click Apply to save the settings and then check if the problem is solved or not.

Again go to Properties if it fails.

Try enabling the resolution size and other options, as well as there are some additional options in Change Settings For All Users. You can use them to run your favorite classic game.

Emulate Windows XP On Windows 11/10/8/7 To Play Classic Games

Emulate Windows XP on Windows 11 or Windows 10 If none of the previously suggested solutions work.

It is possible to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 11 or Windows 10 simultaneously. But the problem occurs when you search for Windows XP drivers on the internet.

You will find it extremely difficult, nearly impossible to find device drivers for Windows XP on the internet.

In short, Dual boot Windows XP and Windows 11 or Windows 10, If your PC comes with device drivers for Windows XP. You may check the official website before Windows XP installation.

We are going to demonstrate How to install Windows XP inside Windows 11? The process is pretty the same for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7.

Watch Tutorial

Requirements For Emulating Or Installing Windows XP On Windows 11/10/8/7

You need the ISO image file of Windows XP that can easily be found on the internet.

We will use Oracle VM VirtualBox to emulate Windows XP on a Windows 11-powered laptop. VirtualBox is a free and cross-platform virtualization software. Find the download link in the video description.

Installation of Windows XP itself requires 2GB of disk space, whereas games will require additional space.

In order to avoid slow performance issues, We recommend installing Windows XP on Windows 11 or Windows 10, If your PC has more than 4GB of RAM.

Download VirtualBox

Go to the VirtualBox website to download VirtualBox

Download Windows XP ISO Image File

Use Google search to get The Windows XP ISO image file.

How To Tell If Your Computer Is 32 Or 64-Bit On Windows 11/10/8/7?

The most important thing to remember is to download the Windows XP ISO image file that is according to your system. To know the system type, Go to the Start Menu and type System Information.

Open the System Information app from the search results.

As you can see, this is a 64-Bit PC, and we need to download the 64-Bit version of Windows XP.

How To Install Windows XP on Oracle VM Virtualbox On Windows 11/Windows 10?

Once Windows XP and Oracle VM Virtualbox have been downloaded, Install and launch Virtualbox.

We have already installed it. If you are installing VirtualBox for the first time, During the installation, you will be asked to allow VirtualBox Manager to communicate on these networks. Click on Allow Access to complete the installation.

Click on New to create a new virtual machine.

Choose a name for your virtual machine.

Select Microsoft Windows.

Choose Windows XP according to your system type. We’ll choose the 64-Bit version and click Next.

You need to assign the virtual machine a RAM size. 192MB is the recommended size. We suggest allocating 512MB. For optimum results, if possible, you may allocate more memory. Click Next.

We suggest leaving things as default and click Create.

Click Next.

Click on this folder icon to choose your preferred partition and folder to save or store the virtual machine’s data.

Installation of Windows XP itself requires 2GB of disk space. Choose additional disk space for games according to your requirements. We’ll allocate 5GB of disk space and click Create.

Highlight the newly created virtual machine and go to the settings.

Under the General section, Go to the Advanced tab.

Switch “Shared Clipboard” and “Drag and Drop” options to “Bidirectional”

Go to the Storage.

Highlight “Empty” and click on “CD” icon and then click on “Choose A Disk File”

Open the ISO image file of Windows XP and click OK to save and exit the settings.

Click on Start to begin installing Windows XP.

Windows XP installation finished.

How To Install Windows xXP Drivers On Oracle Virtualbox?

You now need to install device drivers with the VirtualBox Guest Additions. Click on Devices and then click “Insert Guest Addition CD Image”

Open My Computer and launch the Guest Addition installer to install device drivers.

Restart for changes to take effect.

Windows XP is now ready to use.

Can You Still Go On The Internet On Windows XP?

Unfortunately, You can not browse the web on Windows XP. Internet Explorer is of no use, and none of the modern web browsers support Windows XP.

How To Download Games On Windows XP Virtual Machine?

Download games on Windows 11 and Windows 10 and then transfer to Windows XP. We have downloaded Need For Speed II. To share or transfer it to Windows XP, click on Devices and then open “Shared Folder Settings”.

Click on the Plus icon and select the game folder from Windows 11 or Windows 10.

From the Folder Path menu, Select other and select the game folder.

Checkmark Auto Mount and Make Permanent options and click OK.

Now go to My Computer.

Open the shared folder and launch the game.

Final Words

We hope classic game aficionados find this guide informative and useful.

Our goal was to help you as much as we could. However, you could still encounter issues with speed, performance, resolution, and other factors.

Feel free to contact team Soft Suggester via the comment section. We will try to assist you.

Post your questions, feedback, and suggestions in the comment section.

How To Play Windows XP Games On Windows 11/10/8/7?