Running Visual Studio 2008 in XP from Windows 7

Question

Is is possible to run Visual Studio 2008 installed on my Windows XP partition from Windows 7 without reinstalling it on Windows 7?

Answer 1

Theoretically - yes. Practically - try.

Answer 2

Hmmmm...

I'm not sure what, if any, settings VS08 stores in the registry. The registry on your XP partition won't be loaded by Win7, so you may find yourself either unable to launch VS. There may also be path or other environment settings that won't be loaded if you boot from another partition. I think user and environment settings are stored in a file, so you shouldn't have an issue with those.

As abatischchev said, try it and see.

Answer 3

I would guess the time it takes to do an install would be less than the time it takes to figure this out. What is more valuable: your time, or a few pennies of disk space?

Answer 4

I dont think it will run because all the project templates are installed locally. Also, registry settings are on remote computer. However you might be able to pull through if you are patient enough. Let us know how it goes.

Answer 5

Be practical. Microsoft invested mega-bucks into this huge project with specific goals in mind. Running software installed on a different operating system was not one of them. Any registry settings, environment variables, or even system patches will not be carried over. Its like running a mindless zombie, sure it may look alive but don't go crying to momma when it bites your head off.