virtualbox – Can I run ubuntu 17.10 python behavior on my ubuntu 22.04 (usb stick installation or virtual machin solutions ?)

I would like to run python 3.6 and JS project (2018) on my laptop but I have Ubuntu 22.04 installed and there are a lot of incompatibilities.

As I have many other programs installed, I want to keep my computer running correctly (python and ubuntu 22.04), but would like to boot easily on ubuntu 17.10 to run old projects.

I don’t care how to do it, but I cannot reduce my partitions on my laptop (ext4 format).

I tried to install ubuntu on USB drive with percictance, but it wouldn’t boot.
Can I install ubuntu on a virtual space, that would keep the packages installed ?
Is there an option for back compatibility in Ubuntu ?

I am open to any solution to easily sought out the problem.