What's the best alternative to using BootCamp?

[Cjshino]

Because I dont have an external hardrive for bootcamp.

[kylera]

Originally Posted by Cjshino

Because I dont have an external hardrive for bootcamp.

You don't need an external for Boot Camp - it splits the internal drive.

[mobilehaathi]

An alternative would be a VM or something like CrossOver, but indeed you don't necessarily need an external HDD for bootcamp.

[thejadedmonkey]

Probably buy a PC. Most companies' small business class machines are crapware free and built very well.

[wolfpuppies3]

External HDDs are not needed for Bootcamp which partitions your internal HDD. I personally prefer Parallels which allows you much more flexibility in partition size and allows you to simultaneously run windows software as well as OS X software rather than demanding, as Bootcamp does, that you boot up in one OS or the other.

[blanka]

First try Virtual Box. It is free, and is as mature as VMWare or Parallels, comes with 3D drivers. You can even use hard drive images of the 2 other programs with Virtual Box.
It allows you to run Windows programs on the Mac full screen, in a window, or even as seperate apps from your dock.

[theSeb]

Originally Posted by Cjshino

Because I dont have an external hardrive for bootcamp.

Your question makes very little sense. You cannot install Bootcamp on an external drive, by default. You can get around this by doing a lot of hard work that requires a fair bit of computer knowledge.

[Cjshino]

i just wanna use windows 7 for games

[Stetrain]

Originally Posted by Cjshino

i just wanna use windows 7 for games

If you want to play games then you really need to use Bootcamp. Bootcamp will let you install Windows on a portion of your internal drive, you don't need an external.

The alternative to Bootcamp is to use Virtual Machine software, like Parallels or Fusion, but virtual machines are really not going to give you good game performance.

[2012Tony2012]

Bootcamp stuffed up my booting, had to reinstall MacOS

I cannot get Battlefield 2142 to work under any virtualization software.

Does there exist an alternative to bootcamp that actually allows windows to be installed onto it's partition and booting into windows?

[Stetrain]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Does there exist an alternative to bootcamp that actually allows windows to be installed onto it's partition and booting into windows?

Not really, that's exactly what Bootcamp is for. If you're having problems with bootcamp I'm sure you can get help over in that section of the forum:

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by Stetrain

Not really, that's exactly what Bootcamp is for. If you're having problems with bootcamp I'm sure you can get help over in that section of the forum:

http://forums.macrumors.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86

too scared to touch bootcamp ever again! It made my mac unbootable and restoring an CCC image didn't even fix the boot error. I had to restore from original DVD MAC top get it up and running again! Never touch bootcamp again! Have heard many horror stories from people who couldn't even get the Mac to boot after using the original install DVD either, scary stuff!!!

[phrehdd]

I understand your apprehension about using Bootcamp but it is the best way to play Windows game on a Mac. Some of the virtual software mentioned are very good but still at a disadvantage when playing games.

If you don't want to do Bootcamp yourself, go to an Apple store or an Apple resaler that will do it for you for a price.

There are other ways to get Windows running on a Mac other than virtual and Bootcamp but if you are having problems with Bootcamp, the advanced hacks are not going to be your cup of tea.

[TheRealDamager]

Sorry to see you had an issue with Bootcamp, but millions of people use it every day. It's pretty easy to install and use in most situations.

[Stephen Dowling]

I'm too poor to afford a 512GB SSD, so I've settled for a 250GB Samsung 840.

My point is, if you're worried about space, make a 40gb partition or so large enough to accomodate the windows installation and then some.

After that, you can do what I do, and buy a cheap external drive with a decent capacity and install all of you games to the external drive. The only downside to this, is that you'll need to be connected to the drive in order to play the games.

I know you mentioned that you don't have an external at the moment, but for the money you would spend on virtualization software, you could easily pick up a solid terabyte or more of external storage.

Best of luck,

~Steve

[designs216]

Though Parallels gives the option to install Windows in one of its subfolders, I prefer to go the Bootcamp route first. This allows the option to keep the Windows partition intact if one decides to discontinue the virtualization software. Also virtualization never performs as well as booting in the OS, so if I've got several hours worth of work, I like the option of a native boot.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by TheRealDamager

Sorry to see you had an issue with Bootcamp, but millions of people use it every day. It's pretty easy to install and use in most situations.

If it's so easy to install properly, record yourself doing it and let me see. I followed a video on youtube when I did it and it made my Mac unbootable

Or can you point me to a proper bootcamp video that will properly show me how to install Windows XP on my Mac.

[TheRealDamager]

I've done it at least 10 times. It's not difficult.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc....1.PBg9-pcRlcA

[TheRealDamager]

BTW - Windows XP?

[Stetrain]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

Or can you point me to a proper bootcamp video that will properly show me how to install Windows XP on my Mac.

A 32-bit or 64-bit (full version) of Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, or Windows 7 Ultimate are the only versions of Windows supported on the MacBook Air (Late 2010) and later

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4410#

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by TheRealDamager

I've done it at least 10 times. It's not difficult.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc....1.PBg9-pcRlcA

I don't see those screens. When XP starts installing, I get a blue screen that only shows C: and the main Mac hard drive, I am NOT shown the BOOTCAMP partition!

So Bootcamp doesn't work with XP?

I am runing Snow Leopard and want to install XP, but BOOTCAMP FAILS and makes my Mac unbootable! I am never given an option to install XP onto the Bootcamp partition, why?

[TheRealDamager]

Isn't your answer in the post right above yours?

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by 2012Tony2012

I don't see those screens. When XP starts installing, I get a blue screen that only shows C: and the main Mac hard drive, I am NOT shown the BOOTCAMP partition!

So Bootcamp doesn't work with XP?

I am runing Snow Leopard and want to install XP, but BOOTCAMP FAILS and makes my Mac unbootable! I am never given an option to install XP onto the Bootcamp partition, why?

Boot Camp has supported only Windows 7 for quite some time now. XP is no longer supported by Microsoft (only basic security updates, and only until mid-2014), and Apple sees no real reason to support it, either.

[2012Tony2012]

Originally Posted by TheRealDamager

Isn't your answer in the post right above yours?

What answer? Why aren't I seeing the BOOTCAMP partition when XP begins to install?

----------

Originally Posted by KPOM

Boot Camp has supported only Windows 7 for quite some time now. XP is no longer supported by Microsoft (only basic security updates, and only until mid-2014), and Apple sees no real reason to support it, either.

So I need to get W7 to be able to use bootcamp?

[TheRealDamager]

Yes - according to Apple, XP isn't supported in Bootcamp. There - it's now been said for the 3rd or 4th time.