i know of several ways such as CrossOver, Vmware Fusion, Parallels and Boot Camp. I want to know the easiest and cheapest (if not free) to use to install windows xp on my macbook. I would prefer the method to be free, as long as its not a trial or demo that will eventually run out. Boot Camp came on the computer and i was wondering if that is a trial and would some time expire. Or will it remain forever until deleted by me?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Best way to install Windows XP on Mac
- Thread starter militaryman911
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Bootcamp is free and is the only way to run windows natively on mac. It is not a trial, it is built into Leopard. So I would say that bootcamp is the way to go for you.
thanks man that was what i was thinking too, but when i try to partition the disc in BC, it gives me a message that says the disc couldnt be partitioned becasue some files couldnt be moved. It is already a OS X Extended (journaled) version, do you know how to fix
I'm not exactly sure how to fix that but the directions that you get when you startup bootcamp are really good and if you follow them step by step, you shouldn't have a problem...
on my MBP, i first installed windows xp through bootcamp but also run vmware fusion, so that i can have easy access to windows without restarting..but the full load into windows comes in handy, especially for any video games..
on my MBP, i first installed windows xp through bootcamp but also run vmware fusion, so that i can have easy access to windows without restarting..but the full load into windows comes in handy, especially for any video games..
with BC can you take a file made in windows (like a movie edited in sony vegas) then import it into iMovie on Mac?
Another option, which will enable you to run windows and macos at the same, is virtualbox. Free as well.
One nice thing about using Bootcamp, and Parallels or VMware, is that you can do your full install on Bootcamp. Then when when in the Mac OS, if you need to run Windows for a typical office type application, you can just launch Windows via Parallels or VMware using your Bootcamp installation.
Doing it this way allows for only one installation of Windows. One one Windows to update and keep current. Very handy.
Also, if you install your Bootcamp Windows installation using a NTFS partition, you can run WinClone from the Mac side to make a backup of your Windows installation. WinClone works great.
I can't remember the exact error I had when I first tried to install Windows on my MacBook, but I think it was similar to the one you mentioned in post 3. To get around that I re-installed OS X on my MacBook to format the drive - that freed up the space I needed on the drive. Didn't make too much difference to me as I had been meaning to do it for ages to get rid of printer drivers, languages etc.
Not sure if there are other solutions or not. I'd suggest googling the exact error message you get to see if you can find other solutions.
what exactly does it mean when it says to back up the disk? can someone walk me thorugh how to do this step by step lol
You can clone your Mac HD to an external using Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) or SuperDuper.
ok i just started copying files from my "Macintosh HD" to a disk image i named MacBackUp ill tell you what happens
wtf! i tried using SuperDuper, and about half way through, it said i need to delete some files, so i stoped SD, and now i only have like 1.7GB free when i used to have about 18. wtf happened!?
Dude...
Dude, it sounds like you backed up your hard disk to a disc image actually ON your hard disk. You're not going to get very far doing that.
Call a geeky friend and have them help you.
Dude, it sounds like you backed up your hard disk to a disc image actually ON your hard disk. You're not going to get very far doing that.
Call a geeky friend and have them help you.
ya the disk image was on the internal disk. do i have to buy an external one to back it up? if so how much are they and what size of one would i need
Although I asked Parallels team and they told me there's no difference in performance, I would like to know your comments guys.
Are there difference in performance (especially for playing videos in WIndows) if you run Parallels to access Windows from a Virtual HD or from Boot Camp?
I'm very thank you in advance for your comments!
Are there difference in performance (especially for playing videos in WIndows) if you run Parallels to access Windows from a Virtual HD or from Boot Camp?I'm very thank you in advance for your comments!
I should have clarified this a bit more. The term external above means to an external HD.
Here are two options, if you want to boot from an external HD clone:
- Get two Firewire external HDs that are equal in size to your internal HD. Then alternate backing up to the two hard drives.
Week 1 to external HD A.
Week 2 to external HD B.
Week 3 to external HD A.
Week 4 to external HD B.
and so on.
Week 2 to external HD B.
Week 3 to external HD A.
Week 4 to external HD B.
and so on.
- Get one Firewire external HD that is double the size of your internal HD. Partition this HD into two equal partitions. You would do the same as above, but alternate between partitions.
If you don't want the option of booting from an external HD, then you can get one Firewire external HD and clone to an image on the external HD. However, this solution will take a few more steps should your internal HD fail.
With the first solution, all you need to do is hold down your OPTION key when you boot and then select the HD you want to boot from. I use the first option weekly on my two Macs (laptop and desktop). I prefer having a complete clone instead of an incremental backup. YMMV.
so how big of an external firewire HD will i need to get. my computer says it has 55GB and about 25 of those still available? how much will this cost?
Well...
Hmm...55 gigs total, 25 free, so...55-25...carry the two, divide by three...hmm....30. I think.
So you'll need at least 30 gigs of space in order to back up about 30 gigs of space.
Cheapest external drive you can get right now is about $60-80 and they are 80 gigs.
Hmm...55 gigs total, 25 free, so...55-25...carry the two, divide by three...hmm....30. I think.
So you'll need at least 30 gigs of space in order to back up about 30 gigs of space.
Cheapest external drive you can get right now is about $60-80 and they are 80 gigs.
is there any way to install BootCamp w/o backing up my disk, cuz i really dont have an extra 60-80 bucks for a 30GB external drive right now
