Windows XP Mode Applications

Recently I installed Windows XP Mode and found that I needed to go through the cycle of installing Windows Updates and then Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software, and so on.

Downloading the software and then the updates is time consuming and once you’ve finished you find that the host Program Files menu has guest items you did not want appearing, such as:

• Microsoft Security Essentials (Windows XP Mode)


• Administrative Tools \ Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Configuration (Windows XP Mode)


• Administrative Tools \ Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Wizards (Windows XP Mode)

Does this look familiar?



So you spend more time reconfiguring. Searching for a solution, you’ll find you have to make changes to the Windows XP Mode registry. Search for VPCVAppExcludeList key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and then add paths to applications you want to exclude. To save time, copy the following lines into a REG file and run it, at your peril, to exclude the above three items provided everything was installed at default path locations.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtual Machine\VPCVAppExcludeList]
"msseces.exe"="C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Security Client\\msseces.exe"
"ConfigWizards.exe"="C:\\WINDOWS\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v1.1.4322\\ConfigWizards.exe"
"mscorcfg.msc"="C:\\WINDOWS\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\v1.1.4322\\mscorcfg.msc"

You might be asking what has this got to do with SharePoint, right?

If you are like me, you probably take time to build a VM environment following best practices where possible, and then use that over a long period. Most VM’s give you the ability to save its state (checkpoint, snapshot, or whatever) so if it is corrupted you can go back to how if used to be however I usually to not make more than one such save. The default configuration for Windows XP Mode is to work off a parent disk installed in Program Files and you might need to reconfigure your environment to save its state (a subject for another blog).

Like me, you might find that the Windows XP Mode feature is useful for installing and running downloaded applications that you do not want installed on your host or your main VM mainly because you’re not sure what changes the new application will potentially make. For example you might need to install VPN software so that you can connect to another network and you might not want to connect your host or VM to that network and hence Windows XP Mode.

I strongly recommend that you run anti-virus software on your VM's.