2

We're internally running a lot of stuff on windows xp mode (While upgrading fully to Windows 7), and it is very often required for the people running the xp mode to change their NIC settings to access certain devices in different subnets.

Currently they are forced to open the xp mode virtual machine, change the NIC settings, exit that virtual machine, run the program from windows 7, and connect to the device.

What I'm trying to accomplish is a method to be able to configure the NIC in windows 7, in a similar fashion that one would execute a program out of xp mode.

I've already tried the most simple solution: A shortcut to the NIC in the start menu folder. It shows up in windows 7 alright, but when executing an error occurs informing that the requested program could not be found or has been moved.

Anyhow, any help regarding this would be very appreciated.

cpf
  • 287
  • 4
  • 11

1 Answers1

1

This works for me:

  • Create a new link in Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu (I called it XP Network Connections)
  • Have it launch %windir%\system32\ncpa.cpl
  • Close the VM, this link appears in the XP Mode applications folder and works as expected

There's also the possibility to create a short (though slightly more complicated) script to launch the properties dialog of a specific network adapter as well.

You can also utilize the netsh command and create several prepared scripts that change the settings to what the users need for different subnets, and then create links to those scripts in all users for easy and painless switching.

Oskar Duveborn
  • 10,760
  • 3
  • 33
  • 48
  • 1
    Your first solution was the best: Not all users have decent knowledge, but most have configured a NIC before, so they'll end up in known area. Also to be noted: It's not Users\All Users\\[...] but Documents and Settings\\[...] (Windows xp) Also, it needed to end up in [...]\Start Menu\Programs Apart from those minor things, thanks a lot! It works like a charm. – cpf Jul 13 '10 at 09:06
  • Fixed the Users error - but it doesn't need to be in Start Menu\Programs to work - the root of the Start Menu should work fine. – Oskar Duveborn Jul 13 '10 at 10:37