Access old Pro 7 files with Windows 7

I have a new Windows 7 machine running the Windows XP emulator. I can load my XP Pro 7 software but it will not recognize the hardware lock. I understand this is because there is no Windows 7 driver for the HASP hardware lock.
I do not anticipate enough future design use to warrant an upgrade to the current version of PRO.
And I'd like to avoid the hassle of setting up a dual boot Win 7/XP.
But I do wish to be able to access my old plans done with PRO 7/XP.
What are my options?

Can I buy the current version of Suite and access my old PRO 7 files with it?

Ahh, the 'joy' of fighting continual hardware/software upgrades!

Any advice will be appreciated!

What I do and what I recommend that you do is to load Windows XP x32 and there after dual boot Windows 7 x64 or Windows XP x32. Home Designer Pro 7 was designed to run in XP.
As you have already experienced, the XP emulator within Windows 7 does not support the hardware lock (Windows XP does).

I have had a dual boot set up for years so I can run legacy versions of Home Designer and Chief Architect Premier back to version 7. This sort of a set up works, nothing else works well at all.

DJP

I use a dual boot for some older software as well but also used XP mode in the past just fine , XpMode is there for this kind of circumstance so surprised it doesn't work , Have you installed the Hasp Drivers in Xp Mode and enabled XpMode to use USB and other devices?

I am unsure however if the 3D part of Pro will work well as the video card is emulated I think in the Virtual machine , so I don't know if it will work even if the Hasp is seen after drivers are installed.


Just re-read your post.... did you install Pro in XP Mode or did you install Pro in Win 7 ? FYI....you have to install the software in Xp mode once Xpmode is setup , xpmode is not installed by default in Win7 Pro you must download the files from MS and do that 1st if not, then install HDP7 in WinXP Mode , not Win7....


M.

I have the 64 bit version of Win 7 with the XP Mode emulator in Virtual Machine, running on a Dell XPS 8700.

I tried to install Pro 7.0 in the XP mode. It would not recognize the Hardware lock. My understanding is that this is because there is no 64 bit driver for the hardware lock-- the hardware lock needs to be recognized by the Win 7 OS to be activated. I have had similar problems with other 32 bit XP drivers. Even though the XP mode emulation is running 32 bit, drivers for external peripherals need to be 64 bit.

So, a question for trying to run a dual boot with XP on a 64-bit Win-7 machine:
Which version of XP do I install- 32 bit or 64 bit?
If I install the 64 bit version of Win XP, won't there still be the driver conflict?

Can I install XP-pro 32-bit OS from an OEM CD for my old Gateway or Toshiba 32-bit machines, or do I need to buy a new 'generic' Win XP 32-bit CD?

Sure would be simpler if Chief Architect or someone would write a 64-bit driver for the HASP hardware lock. For example, I did find a 'hack' of a 64-bit Epson scanner driver that let me run my old Epson 3200 photo scanner in XP mode. Instead of providing a 64-bit driver for the 3200, Epson marketing apparently wanted everyone to throw away their 3200 scanners and buy one of the newer models.....

know what you mean about old scanners but Vuescan works well for older scanners once Makers drop support....

As long as you have Xp32bit ( drivers for 64 were few and far between) and it's CD key it should be fine no need to buy new, there are a number of Tutorials online for doing the XP install AFTER Win7 is already installed , you will need to rerun the Win7 disk again and do a "Repair" to enable the Win7 Boot Manager. You may(will) need to reparation the Hdrive (or add another HD to install XP on, may be simpler depending on skill set) but a lot of the Dualboot Tutorials will cover that too ,don't be tempted to install XP and Win7 on the same (c:\) drive it can cause a lot of issues. Apps like Office can get messed upto as they use similar directories.

M.