Windows XP ISO is a file format for Windows XP which was released in the year 2001 and it completely changed the way the world looked at the computer. It had better success than Windows 2000 and Windows Me. The system was lauded highly upon its release with respect to the improved user interface, more developed hardware support, and amazing performance. While it was in the development stages, Windows XP was called Neptune.
About Windows XP
When Windows XP was released, it shook the world. The product was a great hit with the industry as well as the customers which were something very rare. The major improvement was on the features of the older systems which the users did not like.
The users loved the games that came with Windows ISO and the OS is sometimes downloaded even today to refresh their memories of the games! Windows ISO had enhanced stability and performance. Users loved the look and feel and we’re more at ease with the system than its predecessors! The well-designed user interface along with the user-friendly nature made the product a best seller!
Windows XP ISO protected the users while downloading any files by warning them about potential threats to watch out for. The operating system was a favorite of all right from experienced users to software engineers and computer users.
Download Windows XP ISO File
Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Professional, x64 Edition
32 Bit
64 Bit
Features of Windows XP ISO
Windows operating systems normally have a GDI(Graphics Device Interface). This was an application program interface ( or an API) used to send graphical objects to the output devices like the printer. This GDI was replaced by a newer version in Windows XP. This could be coded with C++ language. The name of the new version was GDI plus. The best part of this version was the clarity of the images and text on the computer screen. This was because the sharp edges present in the images were smoothened by taking an average of the colors of the pixel.
Some of the other features that contributed to the visual improvement were:
ClearType
This was used to make the text on the display screen better.
Alpha compositing
This involved combining the images with the background to get full transparency or partial. The effect of this was used to combine many separate images into a single image.
Gradient shading
Gradient shading was used to enhance the depth of web pages and buttons’ usability.
Drop shadows
Drop shadows comprise a drawing element that looks like a shadow of an object. The drop shadows are commonly used for menus, windows, and labels for icons.
The start menu changed to a two layout display comprising of frequently used applications and recently used applications. Windows XP could be used by more than one person as there were multiple sessions that could be allocated to different users and could be switched as and when required. The entire console could however be used by only one user.
Infrastructural Changes
There were some infrastructural changes that were introduced in Windows XP some of them being
Prefetch
Prefetch was introduced to enhance the application time speed. Data caching was the main work of Prefetch. Prefetch cached any files that were required by the software into the RAM. Thus the running speed was increased as less time was needed to search for the frequently used files.
Copy protection system
This system was implemented so that no software or files would be able to be copied for copyright reasons. This system was called Windows Product Activation. The user of the system was given a unique user id to activate windows. Once installed on a system, if windows was not activated within 30 days, the OS wouldn’t work.
If it was activated, then changes to hardware were detected. This is to make sure the hardware worked efficiently without defects.
Stronger Networking and Finer Functionalities
Some networking features were added newly. They were:
- Fast file navigation: To make it easy for the user to navigate through their files, a new sidebar was added which contained the information about the file so that the user would not be confused.
- ICF(Internet Connection Firewall): This feature provided protection through the firewall only for the incoming packets and not the outgoing ones.
- NAT ( Network Address Translation): This feature was a great help in providing secrecy, authenticity, and integrity so that the traffic could reach the network safely when a public address was not given.
- TAPI(Telephony Application Programming Interface): This feature lets computer applications make calls between the computer and the telephone network. The functions included answering the calls, dialing, and ending the call.
- Teredo Tunneling with IPV6: This feature provided an IPV6 connection to computers that had just an IPV4 connection. IPV6 had many new advantages such as more address space, a simple header, auto-configuration, quicker routing, and support for anycast.
- BITS(Background Intelligent Transfer Service): The feature helped the system while uploading or downloading from a remote server. It was carried out effectively by prioritizing.
QoS(Quality of Service)
There were many advantages of the QoS features that were added which included the smooth flow of traffic across the network by prioritizing, shaping up the network traffic, and managing the congestion in the network.
RDS(Remote Desktop Services)
The feature allowed the user to take over the virtual machine with the help of a proper network connection. RDS was Microsoft’s implementation of thin client architecture.
Remote assistance
The feature allowed a user to control a system over the internet and remotely solve any issues without touching the system.
Navigation feature
Windows XP provided many ways for the user to navigate through the interface which was much effective than before.
Some of the features were:
- Enhanced taskbar: The new taskbar on Windows XP had a sleek design. The icons were included in the taskbar in such a way that the user could easily select what they needed and click on it.
- Removal of unwanted notifications: Unwanted notifications we’re hidden so that they didn’t come in the way of the user and the user could just see the required notification.
- Smooth start-up menu: The dual design of the menu helped the user to easily navigate to the file of their choice without any hassle. Thus the user was very comfortable using the system.
Requirements for Installing Windows XP ISO
To install Windows XP on a system, the following are the minimum requirements:
- Keyboard, mouse
- 6 GB(free space requirement)
- CD-ROM drive(media requirement)
- Super VGA(Video Graphics Array)
- 1 GB(memory)
- Itanium microprocessor with 733 MHz
Steps for Installing Windows XP ISO
The following steps have to be followed to install Windows XP ISO:
- The user should select the download button above. The user should wait till the executable file is downloaded and should not install it immediately.
- Right-click on the executable file and select the 7 zip option. Then select the option ‘open archive’ and then open “cab”
- After completion of the above steps, the user will be shown 3 files. The user has to click on ‘sources ‘ following which another 3 files will be found. On selecting xpm file, the windows XP mode virtual hard drive folder will be opened.
- Extract the files in the folder by selecting the extract option present on the toolbar. A new folder should then be created to which the extracted files should be sent. Then click on OK to start the extraction.
- Navigate to the location where the files have been transferred and select VIRTUALXPVHD and rename it to VIRTUALXP.VHD by placing a dot between P and V. On completing this task, the file will be converted to a hard disk.
- Now the user must download a virtualization program to run the new virtual copy of Windows XP on it. VirtualBox is recommended to be downloaded for the same.
- Once VirtualBox is downloaded successfully, the user should open the same and select new. The user should then chose the expert mode and name the virtual machine.
- The user has to allocate some amount of RAM memory, say 512 MB keeping in mind the requirement of RAM for other components of the computer.
- Now the virtual disk which was created earlier should be fetched and allocated to the virtual machine.
- On completion of this step, Select the “Create” option
- Certain settings have to be changed before continuing with the virtual machine.
- For doing this, the user should select the “System” option followed by the “Boot Order” option(select the ‘hard disc’ option )
- Select Display and adjust the Video memory option to 128 MB.
- In the VirtualBox, select the network settings and make sure all settings have been applied to the virtual machine.
- Then start booting the newly installed OS and restart the virtual machine on arriving at a black screen. Users should ignore the prompts that come and select Devices.
- On selecting “Devices”, the user should select the “Install Guest Additions CD image” option and the default installation location should be chosen
- After completing the step the system should be restarted again. The user can now thoroughly enjoy Windows XP
Conclusion: Windows XP ISO Download
The OS was met with a lot of criticisms and shortcomings. Users who were experienced were irritated with the over helping OS to navigate in the system. The system was costly and not affordable by many. The users found it difficult to use the new product activation. Windows XP could be installed in only one system as it had only one user license. The system also had very poor security features and was vulnerable to attacks. The OS could not be used on old software and often crashed.
Microsoft stopped support for Windows XP on 8th April 2014 and did not provide any technical support, updates, or security. Windows XP ISO is a masterpiece from Microsoft which may not be as popular now as when it was released which was remembered for ages. Windows XP completely changed the industry and helped Microsoft to set its place in the technological industry amidst the other giants. Though other versions came up after windows XP, it is still sought after today by people who loved it years ago.