How do people deal with switching network profiles in XP Mode aside from figuring out the network configuration switches that control access and sharing? I'm thinking that I can't possibly be a rare user wanting to do this without getting a Ph.D. in Windows networking and resource sharing. The network profiles were created in Windows 7 exactly to make it more manageable by users who may not be network specialists. Especially for Windows 7 Pro, who may be more business oriented than IT oriented. But Windows 7 Pro is also the starting version for XP Mode, so it's hard to imagine that the Network Profiles were created for the non-IT user, but then impose the need for network expertise in XP Mode.

I've inquired on Windows 7 forums previously about how to ensure that XP mode has the same protection as Windows 7 when the latter is set to a specific network location e.g. Home/Work/Public network. Being not very network savvy, I miscommunicated that previous question. I mistakenly asked how to have XP mode emulate the network *profile* that is in effect on Windows 7. What I meant is how to have XP mode emulate the network *location* that is in effect on Windows 7. I don't want the XP virtual machine to be a huge security hole, even though I have the network identified as (say) a Public network in Windows 7. Effectively, this question amounts to asking whether there is a way for xP mode to flip back and forth between different sets of security and firewall settings so as to have the same level of protection as the network locations in Windows 7. There are two ways that I can see this happening, if it is possible. The best case would be to have the security and firewall settings automatically propagate to the XP virtual machine whenever a network location is selected in Windows 7 (or whenever a network is chosen in Windows 7, since networks are associated with network locations). I suspect that this automatic propagation is not available because life would be too simple if it was. Any comments on this? The second way I can see this happening is for the poor non-tech-savvy user to figure out all the security and firewall settings that are set by each network location in Windows 7, then create suites of such settings in XP so that they can be manually applied by the user in order to keep XP's security and firewall setting the same as Windows 7's. This means that whenever the network location changes in Windows 7, the user will apply the corresponding suite of settings in XP to get the same effect. This nonideal approach has several assumptions: (1) It assumes that firewall and security settings can be saved a bundle, and that individual bundles can be applied automatically somehow, and (2) it assumes that such settings are easy to determine for the different network locations. It also assumes that the XP machine sees the same network as the Windows 7 machine (otherwise, why would you apply the same security and firewall settings on both machines). Any comments on this? The final possible scenario is that neither of the two ways are possible or practical. In this case, I would like the XP virtual machine to perpetually have the firewall/security settings of Windows 7's Public network. How would a non-tech-savvy user go about achieving this?

Hi, Windows XP Mode is a new benefit of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate and provides additional application compatibility. It allows you to install and run many of your productivity applications for Windows XP directly from your Windows 7-based PC. Windows XP Mode is best suited for older business and productivity applications such as accounting, inventory, and similar applications. If you want to know how to master the method of switch network profiles in XP Mode, yes, maybe you are not a IT­ pro ,but you can also refer to the following links: Windows Virtual PC: Documentation and Videos Configure networking for virtual machines Hope it helps. Regards, Alex ZhaoPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Alex, thanks for the links. It looks like there's no way to avoid becoming an network/IT guru to be self-assured of proper securing of the VM. As I mentioned before, this aspect of Windows 7 is baffling. Great advances have been made to ensure that the network and security control is simple, for the sake of a nontechnical user. However, XPM is touted as the Windows 7 solution backward compatibility, and self-assuredly securing XPM needs expertise that goes well beyond the office user (and well beyond many tech users, since network sharing is quite a specialized part of IT). It just seems like a self-conflicting overall solution.