XP 64-bit new installs

I have 4 PCs and 4 macs. (confession!). All the PCs are running W10, which I like. The macs, which I don't care for that much, are needed because I have customers that think they are the ultimate. That said:

2 of the PCs are Stony or Ivy Bridge LGA1155s, w i7 3770K and i7 2600K with 32 GB ram. 10-12 years old and working fine. One is an i5 3470T w/16GB (a Lenovo tiny, used as an always-on print server), and a new AMD 3700X w/64GB ram…all with Asus mobos ('cept the Lenovo, of course). The macs are old 08-09 cheese grater MacPros, an old 2011 mini, and a new mini M1 with Mojave, Catalina, High Sierra, and Big Sur OS respectively. (the M1 is not quite a POS, but getting there<G>)

I have been farking with computers for publishing uses since early 80s with Kaypro and Ozzy, and by hand before that. Yes, I ain't a kid, 78 as it is. Lots I know, and even more I don't know.

I have a couple of long-time clients for whom I produce photo directories...that is a list of members, address, etc, along with a mug shot. About 15-20% of the data changes every year. For ~35 years I have used Ventura Publisher for most of my electronic publishing work. The few times I used PageMaker the app killed the file on the last run thru and cost a fortune. I do not like Adobe at all.

Ventura is W2K software, tweaked for XP. It has worked in W10's compatibility mode very well for a decade or so on the i72600K platform. Better, actually, than it had in W2K. But it works like crap on the AMD (giving some credence to the comment that the LGA1155 and Stoney/Ivy bridge CPUS....<G>).

I have recently dredged up from eBay two 64-bit XP discs and Keys. (my previous XP installs have been 32-bit, and the apps I need are 32 bit). I am imagining that this would work in either a VM or in a dual-boot mode, but less of a problem in the VM because of the drivers issue.

I am wondering how best to deploy them and I imagine this group is the best available to suggest.

First, I would like to have it on the AMD. I've tried dual boot and there are major driver issues, I'm using M2 drives and SSDs, PCIE 4.0, and all stuff XP never imagined. OK.

But (question 1) would running it in VMWARE or Virtual Box overcome all/most of those video/drive/other issues? I suspect it could. But I won't get the discs for several days so there's time to ask and change direction if needed.

(Question 2) I have a non-working XP boot on the i7-3770. Non-working might be because it has a fairly recent AMD GPU in that box Ways of working around that problem (and perhaps others, like AHCI drives, etc)

(question 3) XP MODE in W7, I've tried this but found it awkward to adjust to. The 3770 will boot nicely into W7 and I have had XP mode working, but it hasn't lately.

(question 4) I have an old Dell Optiplex 745 which was originally delivered with XP, a dual core Pentium IIRC. Would that be a reasonable "if all else fails" solution?

Thank you for your attention, if you got this far<G>.

Sorry for such a long post, but I felt the situation needed explaining. And I await your suggestions.

 

First I wanted to share some knowledge with you: Any AMD Ryzen system with any processor will never run XP. There's no drivers for it, nothing works. It just won't work.

Secondly your 3 systems (If I'm understanding it right.. 3 different computers?) each using the i7 3770K, i7 2600K, and the 3rd system using the i5 3470T are all 100% compatible with XP with full driver support for both XP-32 and XP-64. The only thing keeping you back from using them would be having a compatible video card. With XP that would be Up to the Nvidia GeForce 700 series and AMD it's up to the HD 6000 series.

Remember in BIOS to change the system storage controller to IDE mode instead of AHCI. For XP to work the system storage must be in IDE mode. Then it should work with any SATA SSD or SATA hard drive 100% natively. And you should be able to boot and install from any SATA DVD drive with the disc.

I do not know what Ventura is or how it works. But I assume if it was designed for Windows 2000 originally then it probably was designed to have very simple graphics requirements if it uses the video card at all. If you only need a system to just start and run your Ventura software (not actually playing games or even watch youtube or anything like that) then the cheapest way to go about it would be to get your hands on a Nvidia GT-710, GT-720, GT-730, GT-610, or entry level AMD cards like the HD 3470 video cards. All of these cards still have XP drivers on the Nvidia and AMD websites in 2021. If you can't find drivers I can point you to their download pages.

Here's some options for you:

Some of these like the Dell High Profile one can be found for around $20 - $25: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=GT+720&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15

Sometimes you can find basic level 600 series cards super cheap. Here's some GT 610's that would work for $15: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...esc=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15&_blrs=recall_filtering

Here's some full height HD 3470's for $9 and $12: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...ring&_odkw=HD+3450&_osacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15