# legacy apps/windows OS **URL:** \ **Category:** Chatting over the Back Fence\ **Created:** [April 22, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418 "2014-04-22T00:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![System1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@System1](https://forums.suse.com/u/System1)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/1 "2014-04-22T00:05:54Z")
We have some old software that needs to stay available for historical reference. The database runs on Windows 2000 Pro and the user’s application runs on Windows XP Pro. I moved them both to virtual machines (VMware) some time ago. The user who still needs to access this software remotes into the XP VM. I have backups of the VMs that I can restore if either one has an issue. But does anyone have any suggestions for what to do to keep them secure since the OS’s are so dated? Ken ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/2 "2014-04-22T00:22:49Z")
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:05:54 +0000, KeN Etter wrote: [color=blue] > But does anyone have any suggestions for what to do to keep them secure > since the OS’s are so dated?[/color] Firewalls, with NATted networks. Or, if the systems don’t need network access (ie, if they’re self-contained), in VMware, you can disconnect the network entirely while still allowing remote access through the host, IIRC. If the data’s unchanging, you could also freeze the disk state so it reverts when exiting. If there is data that changes, host it on the host system as a shared folder (no network needed for that as I recall) or on a different virtual disk that is changeable, and revert to a known good snapshot when the VM shuts down. ## Jim Jim Henderson, CNA6, CDE, CNI, LPIC-1, CLA10, CLP10 Novell/SUSE/NetIQ Knowledge Partner ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/3 "2014-04-22T01:47:45Z")
KeN Etter wrote: [color=blue] > We have some old software that needs to stay available for historical > reference. The database runs on Windows 2000 Pro and the user’s > application runs on Windows XP Pro. I moved them both to virtual > machines (VMware) some time ago. The user who still needs to access > this software remotes into the XP VM. I have backups of the VMs that I > can restore if either one has an issue. But does anyone have any > suggestions for what to do to keep them secure since the OS’s are so > dated?[/color] Why not virtualize them with ZENworks Application Virtualization instead of virtualizing the whole OS? – Does this washcloth smell like chloroform? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/4 "2014-04-22T15:12:54Z")
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:22:49 GMT, Jim Henderson [hendersj@no-mx.forums.novell.com](mailto:hendersj@no-mx.forums.novell.com) wrote: [color=blue] > On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:05:54 +0000, KeN Etter wrote: > [color=green] > > > But does anyone have any suggestions for what to do to keep them secure > > since the OS’s are so dated?[/color] > > Firewalls, with NATted networks. Or, if the systems don’t need network > access (ie, if they’re self-contained), in VMware, you can disconnect the > network entirely while still allowing remote access through the host, > IIRC. > > If the data’s unchanging, you could also freeze the disk state so it > reverts when exiting. If there is data that changes, host it on the host > system as a shared folder (no network needed for that as I recall) or on > a different virtual disk that is changeable, and revert to a known good > snapshot when the VM shuts down. > > Jim[/color] Thanks for the suggestions Jim. I’ll look into those. Ken ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/5 "2014-04-22T15:15:39Z")
On Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:47:45 GMT, “Joseph Marton” [jmarton@no-mx.forums.novell.com](mailto:jmarton@no-mx.forums.novell.com) wrote: [color=blue] > KeN Etter wrote: > [color=green] > > > We have some old software that needs to stay available for historical > > reference. The database runs on Windows 2000 Pro and the user’s > > application runs on Windows XP Pro. I moved them both to virtual > > machines (VMware) some time ago. The user who still needs to access > > this software remotes into the XP VM. I have backups of the VMs that I > > can restore if either one has an issue. But does anyone have any > > suggestions for what to do to keep them secure since the OS’s are so > > dated?[/color] > > Why not virtualize them with ZENworks Application Virtualization > instead of virtualizing the whole OS?[/color] The application on the XP box that accesses the database on the 2000 box could probably be virtualized with ZAV. But the XP box also contains a couple of even older applications that are DOS-based. I didn’t think even ZAV could make those run on Win7. So if I have to maintain the box for those, might as well leave everything on it. One of these days maybe it can all just go away. Ken ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/6 "2014-04-23T00:10:19Z")
KeN Etter wrote: [color=blue] > The application on the XP box that accesses the database on the 2000 > box could probably be virtualized with ZAV. But the XP box also > contains a couple of even older applications that are DOS-based. I > didn’t think even ZAV could make those run on Win7. So if I have to > maintain the box for those, might as well leave everything on it. One > of these days maybe it can all just go away.[/color] Good point… we can’t virtualize the DOS-based apps (as far as I know). Maybe one day you’ll get lucky and be able to retire them. 🙂 – Does this washcloth smell like chloroform? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/7 "2014-04-23T00:15:56Z")
How About adding “DosBox” to the mix. I never used it, but it may help port or allow the use via ZAV. On 4/22/2014 5:10 PM, Joseph Marton wrote:[color=blue] > KeN Etter wrote: > [color=green] > > > The application on the XP box that accesses the database on the 2000 > > box could probably be virtualized with ZAV. But the XP box also > > contains a couple of even older applications that are DOS-based. I > > didn’t think even ZAV could make those run on Win7. So if I have to > > maintain the box for those, might as well leave everything on it. One > > of these days maybe it can all just go away.[/color] > > Good point… we can’t virtualize the DOS-based apps (as far as I > know). Maybe one day you’ll get lucky and be able to retire them. 🙂 > [/color] – Craig Wilson - MCNE, MCSE, CCNA Novell Technical Support Engineer Novell does not officially monitor these forums. Suggestions/Opinions/Statements made by me are solely my own. These thoughts may not be shared by either Novell or any rational human. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/suse/original/2X/5/5012ba89e3ffb5220dac47d5ea0ba032e2fe1cb6.png) [@system](https://forums.suse.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/legacy-apps-windows-os/25418/8 "2014-04-23T15:16:50Z")
On Tue, 22 Apr 2014 21:15:56 GMT, CRAIGDWILSON [Craig\_D\_Wilson@Yahoo.com](mailto:Craig_D_Wilson@Yahoo.com) wrote: [color=blue] > How About adding “DosBox” to the mix. > I never used it, but it may help port or allow the use via ZAV.[/color] I had not heard of that. I think I’ll check it out when I get a moment. Thanks.