Network communication with Windows 7 XP mode

Question

To test a UDP device discovery function without needing a separate computer on my desk, I'd like to test it by making it find an application running in the 'XP mode' virtual PC window on my Windows 7 machine.

However, I'm having difficulty getting the two to be visible to one another. By default, when both my Windows 7 and XP properties for the network adapter are set to "Obtain an IP address automatically", their assigned IP addresses are respectively 192.168.2.2 and 192.168.131.65, both with subnet masks of 255.255.255.0. As they're on different subnets, they can't see each other and I can't ping from one to the other.

However, even if I change both to static IP addresses on the same subnet (e.g. 10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2), they still can't seem to see each other and I still can't ping. I have of course ensured that the firewalls are turned off in both contexts.

Is there a way of making this work, or am I on a hiding to nothing here?

Thanks, Stephen.

Answer 1

I solved it by changing the XP mode networking options, as described here, from "Shared networking (NAT)" to the machine's physical adapter. This gave me IP addresses in Windows 7 and XP of 192.168.1.70 and 192.168.1.71 respectively, and uninhibited pinging between them (so long as I kept the firewalls in check).

Answer 2

Follow these steps to configure the use of a specific NIC card for your Windows XP Virtual Machine.

Step 1

To configure the Windows XP Mode VM to use a specific NIC card rather than the default NAT, right-click your WinXP VM to display the pop up menu. Choose Settings.

Step 2

Select Networking in the left column. In this example, we select the NIC card from the drop down list. Hit OK.

Now, start up your WinXP VM. Configure it's IP settings that is specific through the Network Settings found in Control Panel.