I'm thinking of building a computer and have a question, (well, there will be lots of them over time...).  for now, just this one. 
 
I have a strange set up.  I use three swap-able OS drives.  One Win7 drive for my business, one Win7 drive for my DAW and one XP drive for my CAD program, (I can't get it to run on Win7).  Yep, that's right!  One computer with three swap-able OS drives!  There's no need for us to go into why this is, it just is.
 
Here's the question:  Has any one tried to run XP on a newer Mother Board?  I'm looking at the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H with a i7-4790K CPU and they don't have XP drivers for this MB, (duh!).  Would it still work?  I don't remember if I used specific XP drivers when I built my current system, (2010, i7 930 on a GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R MB).
 
Any thoughts, advice, help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

A quick check on the motherboard shows support going back only to Windows 7.
 
A better way may be to run a virtual Windows XP PC on Windows 10. However, I've only read about this feature (you will need your old Win XP disk to setup) and I've not tested it. You will then have one less boot drive to handle.
 

tomixornot
A quick check on the motherboard shows support going back only to Windows 7.
 
A better way may be to run a virtual Windows XP PC on Windows 10. However, I've only read about this feature (you will need your old Win XP disk to setup) and I've not tested it. You will then have one less boot drive to handle.
 

Thanks Albert.
 
I've not tried the Virtual Machine route either but it would be worth a try.  However, wouldn't you still need the XP drivers inside the VM?  I've also read where this situation might tax resources.
 
Thanks.  Anyone else?

Have you tried both installing and running the CAD program in an XP compatibility mode?  Many programs will work that way.  I have an old embroidery pattern program that uses an RS232C interface, for my wife's embroidery machine, that I have to run in a Win98/ME compatibility mode, but its fully functional under Win 10.
 
In reference to the two Win 7's.  You don't need a hot swap.  Connect both drives and just have a "dual boot" system, and select which one you want to boot (you have one that will be default and the other selectable).
 
 

The VM option is native to Win7. I had set it up at one point just to check it out, but did not put the machine under any extreme loading. I have rebuilt this machine since, but the process to set that up in Win7 was pretty painless.

Edit - Google "Windows XP Mode in Windows 7." XP Mode is the specific native environment.

fireberd
Have you tried both installing and running the CAD program in an XP compatibility mode?  Many programs will work that way.  I have an old embroidery pattern program that uses an RS232C interface, for my wife's embroidery machine, that I have to run in a Win98/ME compatibility mode, but its fully functional under Win 10.
 
In reference to the two Win 7's.  You don't need a hot swap.  Connect both drives and just have a "dual boot" system, and select which one you want to boot (you have one that will be default and the other selectable).

Hi Jack.  Yes, I've tried everything.  The main problem with pre-2008 ACAD is the 16 bit installer.  Some guy rewrote it and even though ACAD would then load, most everyone still had some problems.  I bought a program that was developed exclusively for this issue called Longbow Converter.  Some guys had good luck with it.  I used it and got CAD to install and run in Win7 but it never worked right.  The developer spent several hours on the phone with me and it just would never work so I had to go back to XP.  It's a pain but I'm getting by.
 
Yep.  Dual boot is the way to go with the Win7 drives.  Thanks.  Of course, with all the drives I have in there now there may not be enough SATA ports.  LOL

mettelus
The VM option is native to Win7. I had set it up at one point just to check it out, but did not put the machine under any extreme loading. I have rebuilt this machine since, but the process to set that up in Win7 was pretty painless.

Edit - Google "Windows XP Mode in Windows 7." XP Mode is the specific native environment.

Thanks Michael.  I'm still thinking that I'll need XP drivers for the MB though.

Try it out quick to check it. It came across as a Win7 bridge for XP, but was using Win7 drivers (the machine just shifts modes when entering the environment).

If you have W7 Pro, MS offers XP mode for free. Just download an install.  As for XP drivers on a new board the ones included in the XP install should work.
 
Somewhere you need a reality check.  In my world I just build a machine to do specific work instead of trying what you are doing. That is my version of insanity.  Keep the current one using legacy stuff. 

mettelus
Try it out quick to check it. It came across as a Win7 bridge for XP, but was using Win7 drivers (the machine just shifts modes when entering the environment).

Hey Michael.
 
I spent yesterday fooling around with this XP VM and I did get it to work.  The downside is CAD runs slow and jerky.  Load and save times are 4 to 5 times normal.  I didn't even try to get it across my two monitors, (which I must have).  On top of that I have another CAD program that uses a dongle and no mater what I did, I couldn't get the VM to recognize it. 
 
Oh well, I'm going to contact MB mfr's with questions and see what I get back.  Thanks so much for your help.