OS X :: Running Parallels And Boot Camp And XP Installation
Mar 20, 2009
I have one program that I will have to run in boot camp. The rest of the time, I would like to run in Parallels. Will I have to install XP twice to do this and thus take up more hard drive?
I just recently purchased a 13" MBP Unibody and I'm thinking about installing Windows 7 (64-Bit) on it. If I install Windows with Boot Camp, and then install Parallels, do I need to make another Windows partition, or will it use the partition created in Boot Camp? Should I install Windows using Boot Camp first and then Parallels, or the other way around?
I'm trying to run Boot Camp Vista through Parallels but i don't know how to set it up and can't find a guide anywhere. There's one in the settings but that skips over the most complicated bits. Anybody know of a guide for doing this or know how to do this?
I finally made the switch from PC to Mac buy selling my HP laptop and desktop computers and buying the new MacBook Pro. However, I have licenses for Creative Suite 4 for Windows and still need to run it on my Mac using Boot Camp and/or Parallels until I can afford to jump to CS5 for Mac (this MBP took a big chunk of my cash). I'd like to run Windows using Boot Camp AND Parallels - Boot Camp when I need all system resources and Parallels when I need to hop over to Windows to type a Word document or something quick (got Office 2007 for Windows too).
Can I use both Boot Camp and Parallels with one serial number for Windows 7? If so, how do I install? Would I install Windows on Boot Camp or Parallels first? If anyone has some guidance for installing one copy of Windows 7 on both applications
I just installed Windows XP to a Boot Camp Partition on my MBP. However, rebooting is a hassle and naturally I want to avoid doing such as often as possible. I think running Parallels Desktop would suit my needs quite well. But here's the catch: I want to be able to use one partition to serve both of those needs. In other words I want have the option of booting through both Boot Camp or Parallels.
How would I go about doing this? I already have a XP installed via Boot Camp. So if there is a method where I don't have to reinstall, great, but I am fine with deleting stuff.
I am going to install Win7 on my MBP, as I just bought a Sony Ericsson C905a phone and to flash (debrand it), I need windows to accomplish this . To do everything else, there are plug ins for Mac, but whatever. I have NEVER done this before. Upon my search, I learned that you cannot install an OS onto an external drive. This was AFTER i had backed up my external to reformat it for Win7.
I've been a PowerMac G4 user for years now but I'm finally ready to move on. I'm trying to make preparations for my transition to an Intel Mac to be as painless as possible. I own a lot of games for Mac OS X and on one hand, it doesn't make me thrilled coming to terms with the fact some of my games may no longer work or be as playable under Leopard or Snow Leopard, but I'm also very eager to be able to play all the Windows games I couldn't even consider before so I think it balances out. I'm not really a Windows user, but I want to set up Boot Camp as smoothly as possible to expand my gaming experience.
What I'm proposing to do is use Boot Camp to install Windows 7 Home Premium (or Professional*) 64-bit on a partition as my primary Windows O/S but then I also want Windows XP Pro SP3 to run games which simply refuse to cooperate with Windows 7 (such as Will Rock). So basically, Windows XP to play earlier games and Windows 7 for newer games and everything else.
Which setup would be better? 1) Natively run Windows 7 and emulate Windows XP with Parallels Desktop 5 or 2) A dual Boot Camp setup with Windows 7 and Windows XP on their own partitions both running natively?
I want Windows 7 64-bit since Mac Pro hardware is 64-bit but if I emulate Windows XP, I'll only need 32-bit since virtual software can only do 32-bit. (I don't think I would get much benefit from Windows XP Professional x64 unless I wasn't running it through virtualisation). I know already I'll have to format as NFTS but I think MacFUSE or MacDrive or Paragon can be used to view/read/write my Windows files while back under OS X. Would it be okay to have both Windows partitions existing on a single hard drive or should I move Windows to its own separate hard drive? (Would my FPS and performance from older games take a hit much if played through Parallels Desktop 5? I saw some bench tests running Halo CE and Knights of the Old Republic with both Parallels and VMWare Fusion with Windows XP and the results from Parallels were so good you couldn't even tell it was an emulator. With this logic, I wouldn't think I'd even notice the difference playing older games through it).
Slightly off-topic but still related or maybe I should have made two topics?: I have an option to get two 1TB Serial ATA hard drives or a single 2TB Serial ATA hard drive. I also need to get over 4 GB of memory to take advantage of the 64-bit capabilities. I'm thinking a Quad-Core 2.8-3.2 GHz model, or would I want to splurge for a 6-Core or 8-Core? I will be doing some photo editing with Photoshop, but nothing studio intensive. I want the best gaming experience possible but have done some research and it doesn't seem throwing more cores at something is always the solution to improve performance. (Not to mention it would be an added expense and I could be using that money to buy more games). Also will I encounter any problems with the graphics card? It looks like it comes with an ATI Radeon HD 5770 but I can upgrade it to 5870 for $200 extra. Also is it better to have a wireless or wired keyboard? I read some posts saying Windows didn't like the wireless keyboard when users had to do reinstallations involving the drivers.
Since I plan on using both versions of Windows mainly for gaming. I also am undecided as to what sizes I should make my partitions but I definitely will need them larger than the default suggestions. I don't want to discover I need more space and have to go back and resize my partitions if I can help it. I know already just having about 3 or 4 of the newer Windows games installed on a PC can easily take up 80 GB right there. On my Mac I have about 50 GB of games installed right now. I'm also a collector of mods for games so I'm also thinking ahead of needing more space for Unreal Tournament 3 and Half-Life 2 and whatever other games have tons of mods and total conversions. (My Mac Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2004 folders are already almost 8 GB each just from downloaded mods). (I'm sure I'll need a web browser to more easily download Windows games since whenever I search on my Mac it always finds Mac versions first, plus I'd be able to finally download from FilePlanet without it complaining how I'm not on Windows. I'll need a chat messenger to keep in touch with my friends or else I'll abandon them because I have a feeling I'll be spending quite a bit of time in Windows gaming.)
*I'm not sure if I'd want just Windows 7 Home Premium or to go with Professional. Windows 7 Professional has "XP Mode" which Microsoft intended for business corporations so they can get older applications to work but I can't get a clear answer whether this would also help to run older games. Games are applications too, right?
like a number of ppl, I only had a legit XP Pro SP1 and not an SP2 version as required for a seamless Boot Camp install. (Actually I do have a legit SP2 CD but the activation key has been mislaid!... damn). I was looking at going down the somewhat convoluted "slipstream" path to generate a working SP2 build utilising the SP1 key I had but what I have found is that the BootDir registry hack that had been used in the past for SP3 compatibility, also works for SP1 installs. Basically the problem is that the Apple supplied Windows drivers requires the Installer from an SP2 build and the SP2 update fails on a Boot Camp partition without the BootDir hack. So my suggested install method is as follows... ymmv. (Note this has been done with two identical MacBook Pro's with the latest Leopard build). Create the BootCamp partition as per the standard instructions and using your XP Pro SP1 CD going through the usual Windows install dialogs to the point where it want's to restart. I have found that when the Windows tries to shutdown to perform a restart that it hangs. Just hold down the power button on the Mac to force a shutdown leaving a minute or so just in case Windows is being slow. Boot back to Windows (via standard Boot Camp Option button) and perform the registry hack as published elsewhere for SP3 updates. Basically it is adding a key 'BootDir' with a value of 'C:' to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSetup
Note that you need to be able to right click on the mouse in regedit to create this key and at this point without the Apple drivers installed I don't think trackpad supports this so I have used a generic two button USB mouse. Once this registry entry is added you can install the SP2 update (as downloaded from Microsoft - WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe). Once again I have found that Windows still hangs after the SP2 install restart until the Apple updates are applied... so nail the power button again after a pause or two. Once you are back to Windows again you can now install the Apple drivers found on the Disk 1 of you Leopard CD although I would recommend downloading the latest v2.1 from Apple if not. (Note there is a minor update to v2.1.1 available through the Apple Software Installation program). I am not sure if you could go direct to SP3 using this method but I have tended to stick with SP2 as SP3 tends to slow bootup/shutdown. Most Mac users would use FireFox/Safari in preference to IE so you have already improved the security of XP
Trying to install Windows XP via Boot Camp, I get this error:
I have an external hard drive with enough space to back up my computer, but I don't know what to do after that. Can someone tell me what to back it up with so I can restore it after I format my computer, and how to restore it?
I assume to format the drive I use Disk Utility from my install CD?
I want to use a windows based movie editing program and it needs all the resources it can get. I am thinking that Boot Camp might be my best bet as I heard Parallels shares resources and I may not get the full use of my processor and 4 GB of ram. I really want to use it to its full capacity that I can. I have not used Boot Camp but I do own Parallels 4.0 But every time I install it and want to remove it I get corrupted files. I hope Boot Camp is better. Any advice? Would Boot Camp allow me to use all of my 4 GB of Ram and my 3.06 Ghz processors?
Is it possible to use both Parallels Desktop 5 and Bootcamp on a 32GB partition? In other words, do I need a separate partition for each program or can I have Parallels use the same partition that I allocated for Bootcamp.
how to make a boot camp installation with three partitions?
I mean one for mac, one for windows and one for data to be shared between the OS's? When I try to create 3 partitions on leopard installation, when I start the boot camp assistant, it doesn't work. Or when I create an extra partition inside windows, mac is not able to see it.
I am currently on a macbook that I bought in the summer of 2008, and I just decided I wanted to be able to run Windows on my laptop. I found my WindowsXP installation disk, a factory disk, and opened up boot camp to install Windows. I was following instructions from another thread on another computer I have at home. I got through partitioning my disk and got the windowsXP installation ready to begin when I realized I couldn't find my MacOSX disk, and thus wouldn't be able to install the Windows drivers after installing Windows (I was running Mac OS X 10.5.8), so I stopped the installation there and un-partitioned my harddrive. I then ordered Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.3, and I just received the CD today. I installed Snow Leopard, then did the same thing that I did before with boot camp and partitioned my drive. However, this time when I got to the part where I put in my Windows disk, the computer reboots and starts, but the Windows installation won't begin. It just sits at a black screen with a blinking cursor in the top left corner. I've tried giving it over 30 minutes to start but it just won't go. Logically I would assume there's a problem with the disk, but I used this same disk less than a week ago and got halfway through the installation without any problems. Why won't my WindowsXP installer disk boot up?
I'm ready to upgrade my MacBook 13" late 2006 model to a new 15 inch pro, and realize that, especially in the college environment where many professors demand windows, I should run it somehow. I've been doing extensive research for the last hour on the best way to run it, however I'm in a complete deadlock. Some people say just do boot camp, but I don't mind paying up to $100 extra if it will really be much smoother. Even when I try to compare the differences between VMware and Parallels (the latest versions of both), I don't see anything hugely significant. Plus, I see just as many complaints about both of them (I'm reading 1-star HORROR STORIES on amazon of each one), and really, really just want a smooth experience. So, my dear MacRumors friends, I come to you for advice. Which of the three programs do you recommend?
I just ordered my first mac and decided to get a iMac 27" Quad Core i7. I am attending college so i thought i would purchase parallels desktop 5 incase i would need to run a windows program for a class. I was wondering if there was a way to install both boot camp and a VM using the same partition. In other words i want to be able to access my files i create in my VM in boot camp and vise versa.
I just updated my (2006 Intel Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz 15") MacBookPro to Leopard 10.5.6 I installed Windows XP SP3 through bootcamp, and everything was fine, but after i was done installing the BootCamp drivers from the Leopard disk and I restarted the computer,and booted back into windows, it would load to windows show my desktop for about 5 seconds then reboot itself (no error messages). So I mounted the windows partition again, same thing, over and over, I must have done it 20 times.I even tried doing the bootcamp 2.1 update and it didn't work. So i restored windows to the previous working settings and the bootcamp drivers were gone. So Windows works now but i am not abled to use the wifi or any multi touch or anything. I have also deleted the Windows partition and reinstalled it from the beginning and the same thing happened after installing the bootcamp drivers.
I'm currently running Parallels 3.0 (XP Pro) off of a Boot Camp partition on my Macbook Pro. I'd like to give VMWare Fusion an audition, and am wondering if I can run it off that same BC partition that Parallels uses -- or if that will create some kind of conflict that might damage the partition. I'm not talking about having Parallels and VMWare running _simultaenously_ -- only installing them both to use the same partition.
I have on my hard drive a Leopard partition and a Windows 7 partition. I am looking to delete the Windows partition and then have the full hard drive as one Leopard partition, hopefully without any reformatting. Firstly when I installed the Windows partition I did so through bootcamp. I also have parallels 4.0 and so I was able to set up a virtual machine (VM) of this bootcamp partition. I want to now completely get rid of windows on my machine though I am not sure of the best way to do so. I guess working backwards is best: delete the parallels VM then delete the bootcamp partition? Is this the best way to do it? Will the deleted space on my hard drive be converted to space on my Leopard partition?
(I wish to get rid of windows because I am having problems with my mac sleeping. I just want to see if windows is the culprit. Hopefully it is as I have tried everything else including an SMC reset, short of reformatting and installing.) I have backups of everything btw.
I have a 1st generation macbook pro running snow leopard 10.6. I've been trying to install windows xp, vista, or 7 using bootcamp but for some odd reason i cannot boot into the cd. I put the cd in and made sure the macbook is reading it (which it is because the icon shows up on the desktop) before i hit "start installation". the laptop would restart but it doesnt boot into the cd, it just goes right into the gray screen and stays there while i hear the cd spinning. I've installed windows xp using this method but that was about 4 years ago, for some reason the hard drive died on me so i have to do this whole process over again. I dont recall having this problem either.
I'm having problems with a Boot Camp partition and XP Professional SP2.
I setup a 20GB partition on my drive (I'm using a MacBook Pro, 3GB, 120GB hard drive). It's the only partition other than the one I use for OS X.
I didn't have full-install SP2 discs, only an upgrade. So I went to Fry's and bought a legal, new OEM disc and license for XP Professional SP2, full-install. I ran the installer and all went well...until I rebooted. At that point, Windows wouldn't load giving me a non-system disc error.
I made my bootcamp partition small at 16 gb (apparently far too small) since I was just going to use it for a couple of programs. I went to install a game and it looks like windows 7 on it's own is taking up 14 gigs. Is this normal?
Followed this guide [URL] and everything went smoothely, except when I came to step 24 I dont see the icon in the system tray. Also tried to run the program in the boot camp folder, but nothing happens. No big deal I think, but would be nice to have everything work properly.
I'm trying to install windows xp professional sp3 from an iso I torrented. I burned it to a disc, but my computer can't find the disc during the start of installation ("No bootable device, press any key").
I have seen in the Parallels instructions that you can create a new Virtual Machine from an existing Boot Camp partition - but is the reverse possible??I have a functioning Windows XP VM in Parallels and have unsuccessfully tried to create a Boot Camp partition (trust me I tried all the conventional ways) but failed. So the question is can I somehow convert my Windows XP VM into a bootable Boot Camp partition? I tried copying the files of my VM into the Boot Camp partition, but when booting I get an error that it is not a bootable volume.
I just purchased a new iMac (2.66 c2d & 4gb of ram), Parallels 4, and Windows XP.
I would like to get great performance whenever I use Windows XP and would like to know which installation procedure would help accomplish that.
Would Parallels provide me with a better user experience by installing Windows directly via Parallels OR by having Parallels utilizing a Boot Camp Partition?
I'm a total Windows newbie and I'm having trouble moving programs that I've installed onto Parallels 4.0 into my boot camp partition. Is this even possible?
If so what is the best way to go about quickly accessing programs from the Parallels virtual machine?
I did a problem free install of Win-doze xp pro sp.2 via Boot Camp and all was well, everything went off without a hitch... However I only partitioned 35 GB for Win-doze which after some thought I realized that having installed windoze for the sole purpose of playing games (which require alot of space) Anyway, I played a few games like "Crysis" and "The Last Remnant" both worked fantastically but I didn't want to get too far in them just to have to re-do the boot camp later and lose the data, so I went ahead and uninstalled the windoze partition and proceeded to go through the motions again, However this time around I set aside a 200GB partition. For some reason everything seemed to take MUCH longer, or instance it sat on the "restarting computer..." screen for 5-10 minutes, finally restarted then windoze loaded and went to the collecting information;Dynamic update;preparing installation;installing windoze
I am trying to install Win 7 through Boot Camp, everytime it gets to installing at 1% I get an error message. Windows cannot installed required files. Files missing or Corrupt 0x80070570. What I've tried:
- Using 32 Bit instead of 64 Bit Windows - Burning both at low speeds (Disk Utilities and IMGBurn) - Tried installing XP then doing an upgrade to Win 7, but only have XP Upgrade and eject key doesn't work during installation when prompted for older version verification.
I've got my MSDN W7x64 Ultimate DVD burned, and when I reboot to install it (after using Boot Camp Assistant) it always hangs and never brings up the graphical installation screen. I tried Safe Mode, only to see that it stops after disk.sys loads. Anyone else having this issue or found a way to fix it?
So my old 15" early 2006 Macbook Pro (1,1) no loger recognizes the primary display. I can use an external monitor just fine, but when I go into System Profiler, it's like my primary display disappeared. I reinstalled Snow Leopard, reset PRAM, NVRAM, repaired my permissions, tried to update my mac, but litterally nothing I have tried has worked.
It started when I tried to install both Windows 7 and Ubuntu. After completing the Windows 7 installation, I restarted my computer and it just hung on the Apple logo. I could feel the fans begining to spin really fast and it felt like my laptop was on fire. I restarted my computer, let it cool down, and it hung at the Apple logo again. I rebooted it a final time, and nothing. Black screen. No backlight or image...nothing.