Boot Camp Does Not Void Warranty [Archive]

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MacRumors

Apr 11, 2006, 07:51 AM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

Over the weekend, some users had expressed concern that Boot Camp installations would void their Mac's warranty and there were scattered reports claiming the same.

Macworld.co.uk reports (http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?home&NewsID=14331) that Apple has confirmed that installing Boot Camp will not invalidate your Mac's warranty. Being Beta software, however, you do assume any risks involved if you were to lose any data, so be sure to backup your data.

jMini

Apr 11, 2006, 07:57 AM

surely it wouldnt void your warranty if its released by apple. would be a bit harshe no? :confused:

Shamus

Apr 11, 2006, 08:13 AM

Its rediculous to think that it would void your warranty if it is apple made. Apple wouldnt release anything if there was a risk of it harming the computer.

Photorun

Apr 11, 2006, 08:18 AM

Who in the heck was spreading FUD that it voided the warranty?

BRLawyer

Apr 11, 2006, 08:34 AM

Well, there is an easier question to that...how would any software void your warranty anyway (apart from overclocking ones, or other stuff that messes directly with your hardware)?

For me, this is just a silly discussion to begin with...not to mention that Apple itself released it...and I don't think anyone has ever been able to claim warranty for lost content or lack of backups...go figure..!

abrooks

Apr 11, 2006, 08:52 AM

Oirectine

Apr 11, 2006, 09:28 AM

Who in the heck was spreading FUD that it voided the warranty?

Well I haven't posted about it before, but when Boot Camp royally screwed up my computer (I could not get the Windows install CD out of my Mac Mini, and it wouldn't boot up correctly), I called Apple and asked for help. The tech support guy told me "we don't support boot camp" and suggested I take it to an Apple store and have them remove the CD for a fee. This made me very angry because I didn't care about boot camp at that point, I just wanted a functional computer. In the end I just bought a putty knife and opened it up myself. Anyway it might be wise to consider that while Boot Camp might not void the warranty, if something goes wrong while installing Boot Camp Apple isn't too interested in repairing it for free.

iMeowbot

Apr 11, 2006, 09:46 AM

It does make changes to the EFI I believe, allowing it to emulate a BIOS or something like that, someone care to let me know what it does actually do?
Apple pushed that part into separate (supported!) firmware updates.

Boot Camp does the partitioning and supplies some device drivers.

Kingsly

Apr 11, 2006, 01:46 PM

Nice of them to let us know AFTER the mac community has collectively installed it!

Doctor Q

Apr 11, 2006, 02:01 PM

I called Apple and asked for help. The tech support guy told me "we don't support boot camp" and suggested I take it to an Apple store and have them remove the CD for a fee. This made me very angry because I didn't care about boot camp at that point, I just wanted a functional computer.You had a hardware issue from testing software!

Their lack of help wasn't due to warranty issues, however, but probably because of the beta status of the product. Of course that doesn't make it less annoying.

calculus

Apr 11, 2006, 02:25 PM

Nice of them to let us know AFTER the mac community has collectively installed it!
I don't think the 'mac commumity', whatever that is, has installed it - just a few people.

phatpat88

Apr 11, 2006, 03:26 PM

this fud was the result of the misinterpritation of the service agreement, thats all

weg

Apr 11, 2006, 03:36 PM

Apple wouldnt release anything if there was a risk of it harming the computer.

Has it actually been released officially? I thought it was a beta?

Mord

Apr 11, 2006, 03:40 PM

according to you lot turning your mac on probably voids the warranty in some way.

topgunn

Apr 11, 2006, 03:45 PM

according to you lot turning your mac on probably voids the warranty in some way.
No joke.

ReanimationLP

Apr 11, 2006, 04:11 PM

In the words of Carlos Mencia...

DEE DEE DEE.

cait-sith

Apr 11, 2006, 06:08 PM

Apple gives you the gun to shoot yourself in the foot, but they make you sign a contract saying you won't make them pay your medical bills.

Fair enough. They warn you.

Kingsly

Apr 11, 2006, 08:56 PM

I don't think the 'mac commumity', whatever that is, has installed it - just a few people.
Which explains why "MacRumors" has practically become "Windows on a MacRumors" :D

By the way, I did spell community correctly. Look at your quote.

imacintel

Apr 11, 2006, 09:04 PM

It worked, and other than the issue that I might want more Mac OS space, I might wanna get rid of windows. And it makes it EASY. so I don't worry.

finalcoolman

Apr 11, 2006, 09:20 PM

This is why I'm not installing Windows on Mac or even touuching an Intel Mac in the first place till Leopard comes out. You guys can be the lab rats instead:cool:

Spinnetti

Apr 13, 2006, 07:52 AM

Well I haven't posted about it before, but when Boot Camp royally screwed up my computer (I could not get the Windows install CD out of my Mac Mini, and it wouldn't boot up correctly), I called Apple and asked for help. The tech support guy told me "we don't support boot camp" and suggested I take it to an Apple store and have them remove the CD for a fee. This made me very angry because I didn't care about boot camp at that point, I just wanted a functional computer. In the end I just bought a putty knife and opened it up myself. Anyway it might be wise to consider that while Boot Camp might not void the warranty, if something goes wrong while installing Boot Camp Apple isn't too interested in repairing it for free.

A putty knife? You have to be kidding. You can eject the disk using regular ole' key combos - actually hitting the eject key right after the start up 'bong' worked for me.

I was one of the stupid ones too. I didn't backup and lost everything.
I think you found out what I did - YOU MUST HAVE THE CORRECT WINDOWS VERSION! I thought I had sp2, but I guess it was'nt (didn't say on the packaging).. what happened is it overwrote my mac partition, and wouldn't complete the windows install, so now my computer is dead. I'm still hoping to recover data if at all possible, but looks like I get to start from scratch :(

milo

Apr 13, 2006, 10:25 AM

Who in the heck was spreading FUD that it voided the warranty?

Idiots on these boards.

Nice of them to let us know AFTER the mac community has collectively installed it!

They've never said otherwise, nobody would have any reason to believe this would void the warranty except for a few people spreading misinformation.

Apple gives you the gun to shoot yourself in the foot, but they make you sign a contract saying you won't make them pay your medical bills.

Fair enough. They warn you.

How exactly are you going to damage your computer? Worst case, you wipe the drive and reinstall OSX (which is exactly what they tell you). Boot camp is harmless.

yac_moda

Apr 13, 2006, 05:42 PM

Why didn't they call it BOOTSCAMP :confused: :eek: :confused:

And have HOT chicky baby talk about how she can't decide which OS she want to run, in a HIGHLY technical way, so NOW she has Bootscamp and run any old OS she WANTS :eek:

Panu

Apr 14, 2006, 12:34 PM

Everyone was surprised when Apple released the public beta of Bootcamp, but it shouldn't have been a surprise at all.

Look at the option key on the MacBook Pro. It says "alt" above "option." The only reason for labeling it "alt" is if someone runs Windows on it. (Mine was manufactured in early March.) So of course installing Windows doesn't void your warranty. That was part of the original design!

So slap your forehead and say "duh." It was obvious all along and we missed it.

Mord

Apr 14, 2006, 01:04 PM

it's always been like that, it's so if you press shift it performs the equivilent of alt on windows.

mtoddy

Apr 15, 2006, 08:35 PM

i'd like to make a few points:

Well I haven't posted about it before, but when Boot Camp royally screwed up my computer (I could not get the Windows install CD out of my Mac Mini, and it wouldn't boot up correctly), I called Apple and asked for help. The tech support guy told me "we don't support boot camp" and suggested I take it to an Apple store and have them remove the CD for a fee. This made me very angry because I didn't care about boot camp at that point, I just wanted a functional computer. In the end I just bought a putty knife and opened it up myself. Anyway it might be wise to consider that while Boot Camp might not void the warranty, if something goes wrong while installing Boot Camp Apple isn't too interested in repairing it for free.

first off, as spinnetti points out in the following quote, the putty knife idea is pretty ridiculous. apple makes it easy enough to eject a cd when powering up your mac

A putty knife? You have to be kidding. You can eject the disk using regular ole' key combos - actually hitting the eject key right after the start up 'bong' worked for me.

I was one of the stupid ones too. I didn't backup and lost everything.
I think you found out what I did - YOU MUST HAVE THE CORRECT WINDOWS VERSION! I thought I had sp2, but I guess it was'nt (didn't say on the packaging).. what happened is it overwrote my mac partition, and wouldn't complete the windows install, so now my computer is dead. I'm still hoping to recover data if at all possible, but looks like I get to start from scratch :(

secondly, apple makes it very clear that sp2 is required. they make it clear over and over again through notices and warnings. while other versions of windows will boot, they will not boot to a point of complete functionality. but to blame your version of windows for overwriting your mac partition simply reflects your inexperience with the windows setup program. boot camp very cleanly produces separate mac and windows partitions, and if you had experience with windows setup, you would have realized this and not have overwritten your mac partition.

sometimes i wish people would actually read into things before they totally ruined everything and blame someone else...

-------

anyways, i attempted to install windows xp pro on my macbook pro with no service pack preinstalled. there was no keyboard functionality in windows setup. so i obtained a copy with sp2 preinstalled and voila, windows setup started exactly as it would on any pc and i installed on the boot camp-made windows partition

let me say, this installation of windows runs better than what i had running on my p4 2800 with HT and loaded with everything else. i am thoroughly amazed with it. the only software i had any trouble with at all was AIM, which is shady anyways because of AOL's new system-takeover method. it caused the computer to restart and windows disk repair actually removed all of the AIM software automatically before it booted back up. odd thing is, i reinstalled AIM and it works perfectly, like everything else.

that's all for now... just thought i'd share my success story.

iEdd

Apr 15, 2006, 08:56 PM

I was one of the stupid ones too. I didn't backup and lost everything. I think you found out what I did - YOU MUST HAVE THE CORRECT WINDOWS VERSION! I thought I had sp2, but I guess it was'nt (didn't say on the packaging).. what happened is it overwrote my mac partition, and wouldn't complete the windows install, so now my computer is dead.
Secondly, apple makes it very clear that sp2 is required. they make it clear over and over again through notices and warnings. while other versions of windows will boot, they will not boot to a point of complete functionality. but to blame your version of windows for overwriting your mac partition simply reflects your inexperience with the windows setup program.
Hey man, give him a break. He already called himself stupid without others doing it. Yes it does make it clear SP2 is required, but it sounds like he knew that, and assumed he had SP2. I think having a screwed OS installation is punishment enough :o :p

mtoddy

Apr 15, 2006, 09:05 PM

Hey man, give him a break. He already called himself stupid without others doing it. Yes it does make it clear SP2 is required, but it sounds like he knew that, and assumed he had SP2. I think having a screwed OS installation is punishment enough :o :p

i wasn't trying to be harsh... my main point when i mentioned his inexperience with the windows setup program is that windows setup allows you to select a specific partition to format and install windows on. no matter what version of windows, this is the case.

so i do apologize, spinnetti, if i sounded harsh. just pay more attention as you go through windows setup... and study the available partition list and available commands very carefully next time so you don't write over your mac partition. boot camp has already pre-partitioned things for you, so you needn't modify, delete, or create any partitions... just select the one already designated for windows and format! good luck!

Ripmax2000

Apr 18, 2006, 08:33 PM

Its rediculous to think that it would void your warranty if it is apple made. Apple wouldnt release anything if there was a risk of it harming the computer.

I'd have to disagree with you slightly there, remember when Apple first released iTunes for Windows?
People who had old iPods assumed they would work for them, but it made their iPods completely useless. Apple refused to support them, saying that those old iPods were sold as Mac only, and therefore shouldn't have been used in Windows at all.
Ofcourse that is a different matter, as Boot Camp is advertised to work on the machine that you will have installed it on, but the point is that Apple do at times release things that can harm the computer, and then tell you they don't support it.

tfh1013

Apr 23, 2006, 08:03 AM

Sirin

Apr 30, 2006, 02:17 PM

Who in the heck was spreading FUD that it voided the warranty?

It was no other than:

http://www.netzmafia.de/service/bilder/ballmer.jpg

Spinnetti

Jun 1, 2006, 04:53 PM

I was just surfing around and tripped back over this thread...

I have boot camp working just fine now, but if you do what I did, the overwriting of the mac partition is NOT obvious - if you have the wrong version of XP, nothing happens as you expect...

I took a risk, and got hammered - my fault/no biggie, but for your average joe, this will bite you unless you do everything exactly right; there is no feedback that its going to hose you... Good lesson learned. try it yourself and you'd see what I mean.

paleck

Jun 1, 2006, 05:21 PM

it's always been like that, it's so if you press shift it performs the equivilent of alt on windows.
Grr...You beat me. I think the alt has been on there for sometime to facilitate switchers buy showing hem which keys are equivalent to the same ones they are used to.

etoiles

Jun 1, 2006, 07:24 PM

i'd like to make a few points:
first off, as spinnetti points out in the following quote, the putty knife idea is pretty ridiculous. apple makes it easy enough to eject a cd when powering up your mac

the bad part is that Apple tech support wouldn't even mention that there is an easy way to eject CD's on startup (pressing the mouse button on startup)... assuming it came up during the phone call.