How to determine whether your processor supports Windows 7 XP Mode

If you are following the recent updates about Windows 7, I believe you have heard about Windows 7 XP Mode. The Windows XP Mode is a virtual desktop environment running inside Windows 7 that will allow users to run Windows XP applications seamlessly with other applications on the desktop. The XP Mode is indeed an exciting feature and it has generated quite a buzz in the blogosphere.

As more and more information about this secret Microsoft technology began leaking, it was revealed that not all processor will support the XP Mode. Apart from the minimum requirement of 2GB of memory, the system should have a processor that supports hardware level virtualization from either Intel or AMD.

So how to tell if your processor supports hardware virtualization? Easy. Both Intel and AMD offer free tools that allow you to check whether your processor supports hardware virtualization.

Intel Processor Identification Utility

intel-vt-check

AMD Virtualization Technology Check Utility

amd-v-compatibility-check

Unfortunately it has been told that the Intel tool is not one hundred percent reliable. So here is a better tool that works with all Intel as well as AMD processors.

SecurAble is a standalone application that probes the system’s processor to determine the presence, absence and operational status of three modern processor features:

  1. 64-bit instruction extensions
  2. Hardware support for detecting and preventing the execution of code in program data areas
  3. Hardware support for system resource virtualization

securable

We are interested with the 3rd result. As you can see, the CPU tested in this screenshot supports hardware virtualization and hence can run XP Mode.

Zdnet blogger Ed Bott has prepared an extensive list of Intel processors that support or does not support hardware virtualization. Checkout from the list below whether your CPU is lucky enough to run XP Mode. (Thanks Ed)

Desktop CPUs

Core 2 Duo  
E4300/4400/4500/4600/4700 NO
E6300/6320/6400/6420/6540/6550 YES
E6600/6700/6750/6850 YES
E7200/7300/7400/7500 NO
E8190 NO
E8200/8300/8400/8500/8600 YES
Core 2 Extreme  
QX6700/6800/6850 YES
QX9650/9770/9775 YES
X6800 YES
Core 2 Quad  
Q6600/6700 YES
Q8200/8200S/8300/8400/8400S NO
Q9300/9400/9400S YES
Q9450/9550/9550S/9650 YES
Core i7/Core i7 Extreme  
I7-920/940 YES
I7-965 YES
Pentium D/Pentium EE  
805/820/830/840 NO
915/925/935/945 NO
920/930/940/950/960 YES
955/965 YES
Pentium for Desktop  
E2140/2160/2180/2200/2220 NO
E5200/5300/5400 NO

Mobile CPU products

Core 2 Duo Mobile  
L7200/7300/7400/7500 YES
P7350/7450 NO
P7370 YES
P8400/8600/8700/9500/9600 YES
SL9300/9400/9600 YES
SP9300/9400/9600 YES
SU9300/9400/9600 YES
T5200/5250/5270/5300/5450/5470 NO
T5500/5600 YES
T5550/5670/5750/5800/5850/5870/5900 NO
T6400/6570 NO
T7100/7200/7250/7300/7400 YES
T7500/7600/7700/7800 YES
T8100/8300 YES
T9300/9400/9500/9550/9600/9800 YES
U7500/U7600 YES
Core 2 Extreme Mobile  
QX9300 YES
X7800/7900 YES
X9000/9100 YES
Core 2 Quad Mobile  
Q9000 YES
Q9100 NO
Core 2 Solo  
SU3300/3500 YES
U2100/2200 YES
Core Duo  
L2300/2400/2500 YES
T2050/2250 NO
T2300/2400/2500/2600/2700 YES
T2300E/2350/2450 NO
U2400/2500 YES
Core Solo  
T1300/1400 YES
T1350 NO
U1300/1400/1500 YES

This Article Has 4 Comments
  1. Anonymous Reply

    egrep ‘(vmx|svm)’ /proc/cpuinfo

  2. Anonymous Reply

    hi sir what if it says LOCKED OFF??

  3. Anonymous Reply

    i dont know about locked off but i got locked on.

  4. Unknown Reply

    iS WINDOWS7HOME PREMIUM compatibel MET64 BITS

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