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Windows 7 has an exciting new feature known as 'Windows XP Compatibilty Mode'. This feature is vastly different from the 'XP Compatibility Mode' that was present within Windows Vista. This new version actually encompasses the entire Windows XP Operating System into a virtual environment, which allows for 100% compatibility with all Windows XP based applications. This feature is available in Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate only.
Before attempting to install Office Tools Professional on your Windows 7 Operating System, please visit the Windows 7 XP Compatibility Mode website and download Virtual PC for Windows 7, and the new Windows 7 XP Compatibility Mode. Be sure to watch the 'How To' videos that illustrate how to install a Windows XP Program into the XP Compatibility Mode environment, and also how to run an XP Compatibility Mode application.
Once you have Office Tools Professional installed on your Virtual PC, you will have to set up your virtual network so Office Tools Professional will have access to your database. From the Windows XP Compatibility Mode desktop, you will see a 'Tools' menu at the top of the window. From that menu, select 'Settings'.
This will open the 'Windows Virtual PC Settings' form. Select 'Networking' from the list on the left, and make sure to select your actual network adapter for the 'Adapter 1' option.
By default, this is set to 'Internal Network'. By selecting your actual network adapter (which is an 'Intel Gigabit adapter' in this case), you will be giving your Virtual environment the ability to access your network, therefore giving Office Tools Professional access to your server hosting the Office Tools database.
If your network is set up as a domain, you may have to add the virtual computer to the domain. Your network administrator or IT consultant can do this in just a few minutes. The computer can be added to the domain by opening the Start menu on the virtual computer, right-click on 'My Computer' and select 'Properties'.
This will open the 'System Properties' dialog. Navigate to the 'Computer Name' tab, and click on the 'Change...' button.
From this dialog, select the radio button that says 'Domain', and enter in the name of your domain in the text box to its right (in this example, the domain name is 'n40s'. Once the domain name is entered, click 'OK'. You will be prompted with a Username/Password dialog box.
In this dialog, you will need to enter in the username and password of the domain administrator. The username will need to be entered in the '[Domain]\[Username]' format (in this example, the username is 'n40s\Administrator'). If you entered the username and password correctly, you should see a message box that says 'Welcome to the [your domain name] domain.' After it is finished, you will need to reboot the virtual machine. The virtual computer will automatically log back into windows once the reboot is complete. You will need to click on the 'Start' menu, and select 'Log Off'. This will take you to the 'Log On to Windows' screen.
In this dialog, click the 'Options >>' button to show the 'Log on to:' combo box. Drop down the combo box and select your domain. Then enter in your normal windows username and password (the one you use to log into your actual computer), and click 'OK'. You should now be connected to the domain, and should have all of the same windows and network security settings as your actual computer. Your virtual computer should now be able to run Office Tools Professional and connect to your Office Tools Professional database without any problems.
If you are utilizing a wireless network, please read our knowledgebase article on 'Windows 7 XP Mode (or Windows Vista with Virtual PC) and Wireless Networking' for critical information regarding wireless networks.
Due to the virtualization of Windows XP, the document management system will work differently. Please see our knowledge base article on 'Document Management in Windows 7' for more info.
If you experience any difficulties running Office Tools Professional from within your Windows 7 XP Compatibility mode environment, feel free to contact us at Support@OfficeToolsPro.com with your questions.
