Once you install the program that won't work right just right click the programs exe and click the compatibilty tab and choose what mode to start it up in. You don't have to run anything but the program then. It will always start in that mode.
You don't need XP mode you can choose which OS to run it in. It will be default run it in a virtual environment. But once you set it up you should just have to start it normally after that.