Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

running Win7 question on new MBA

R

rower

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
43
0
There is one program I need to use windows for to interface with a rowing machine, and ideally to save an output file, that I could use in a Mac program.

I am contemplating the 13 or 11" ultimates (hence both 4gb rom), and perhaps using bootcamp or parallels, etc on them with a copy of win 7. I already have the 13" and am about to order an 11", wondering whether I should have macmall install win7 for me. (or should I put it on the 13" if the 11" 1.6 is underpowered)

What's the best way to do this? I hate to sacrifice any performance or use too much memory or ram on this for a one hour dedicated use of the machine. (in other words, when I use the program, I would only be using that program and don't need to go to a mac program).

should I get via macmall already installed? Will macmall install a small version of 7 without all the extra stuff I don't need?

thanks,
 
Last edited:
ReallyBigFeet

ReallyBigFeet

macrumors 68030
Apr 15, 2010
2,952
129
You may need to do a little research on the rowing machine interface and software specs. Most certainly it interfaces to your PC via a cable of some sort? USB I hope? While you should have absolutely no issues running this under bootcamp (which effectively turns your Mac into a full Windows PC), you may find some issues trying to do this under a VM product like Parallels.

That said, when you set up Bootcamp you will be asked how much space to dedicate to the Bootcamp partition. Common wisdom around here is to only dedicate as much space as is absolutely necessary to get the job done. I'd say you could get by with just what you need for Windows and the actual rowing app/utility itself...likely less than a few gigs total all combined.
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,026
7,868
If you won't need to use a Mac program at the same time, then just use Boot Camp. OS X will be able to read your Boot Camp partition. You can always add Parallels or Fusion later if your needs change.
 
R

rower

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
43
0
The rowing program connects via a USB cable. I was using sun's free VM product and tinyxp on a gen B MBA but I was having issues as it kept "losing" the usb drive and it initially took forever to find the right USB driver.

Now, with a D generation MBA I was hoping this would be solved, or by using Win7 and bootcamp.

The other worry is whether I would be able to get access to the saved file when back in OSX after rebooting.

how much ram does bootcamp take up with win7? I wish I didn't have all those extra languages, printer drivers, etc which I just don't need.
 
Last edited:
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,026
7,868
rower said:
The other worry is whether I would be able to get access to the saved file when back in OSX after rebooting.

how much ram does bootcamp take up with win7? I wish I didn't have all those extra languages, printer drivers, etc which I just don't need.
Click to expand...

I think you are referring to storage space (not RAM). Windows 7 uses up about 16-20GB of space for a clean installation, depending on whether you are using the 32-bit or 64-bit version (the 32-bit version should be sufficient). I'd devote 32GB to the Windows 7 partition
 
snorkelman

snorkelman

Cancelled
Oct 25, 2010
666
155
Bootcamp on the current MBA's

Minimum partition size if using BootCamp 20GB

Available RAM if running 32bit 2.75GB

Available RAM if running 64bit 3.75GB

Only Windows 7 is supported no XP drivers are provided

If you're running W7 for a single application then you could get away with the 20GB minimum partition size. I'd disabled wireless and updates if all its ever doing is running that one application, cut the page file down to a couple of hundred meg and remove the hibernation file

to be hones cant help thinking they'd have been better retaining XP support Would probably have been all a lot of folks needed, has much smaller footprint and tends to be more compatible with older/more obscure software/hardware
 
D

dmcdayton

macrumors member
Jan 15, 2008
39
9
Rowing Software

Came across this thread today, I have a waterrower and want to setup the Netathalon software (I suspect same as original poster).

Anyone running this setup successfully on a Mac with either bootcamp or Parallels/VMWare?

WaterRower Classic
S4 (can upgrade to V2 if needed)
Macbook Pro late 2008

Are the USB drivers working correctly with your setup now?
 
Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,076
1,448
Using parallels, I am running windows 7 ultimate in a 11 gig VM. Works fine. Advantage of VM is that they will grow as space is needed.
 
R

rower

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
43
0
dmcdayton said:
Came across this thread today, I have a waterrower and want to setup the Netathalon software (I suspect same as original poster).

Anyone running this setup successfully on a Mac with either bootcamp or Parallels/VMWare?

WaterRower Classic
S4 (can upgrade to V2 if needed)
Macbook Pro late 2008

Are the USB drivers working correctly with your setup now?
Click to expand...


Actually, I am using a rowperfect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom