Hey guys, I'm a new member here so please forgive me if this question has been asked, or a similar one has been asked. I tried the search function with no luck, however I noticed that specific searches weren't working, i.e., "windows XP boot camp" displayed results as boot, camp, windows.
Anyway, I'm having an issue with boot camp drivers, which seems to be common, as google tells me, although the fix doesn't seem to be so common.
I've installed Windows XP SP3 on my late 2008 unibody macbook pro. This is a CD I got from my university designed for install with boot camp, so everything was packed in with no user interaction necessary.
Windows installed perfectly, no issues at all. Windows boots just fine and I can click around, although it's very difficult since I have no drivers. The snow leopard dvd doesn't seem to give me any option to install drivers. So, I went around and found the drivers listed from apple's website. (If links aren't allowed here, I apologize and will remove this -- http://support.apple.com/kb/DL830).
I do notice this message, which I don't quite understand.
Important: Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Well, I have boot camp 3.0.4 running on snow leopard. I'm not sure how this translates to Windows OS, but I'd assume I already meet the criteria of this Boot Camp 2.1. From what I can gather, this is in regards to Tiger being limited to Boot Camp 2.0 and not being able to install windows XP SP3. If this is incorrect, please someone correct me!
So, assuming that's irrelevant to my situation, I downloaded the XP drivers .exe file and burned to a CD and to a flash drive. I reboot in windows and attempt to install. I double click the .exe file in the Windows explorer window of the DVD drive. Nothing. I drag the .exe file to Windows desktop and double click. Nothing. (Dragging the file was a real pain without these trackpad drivers, btw.) Same thing with the flash drive.
I'm at a loss - what the heck do I do now?! I didn't run into any errors installing and I don't receive an error message when attempting to run the .exe file for the drivers; I don't see anything happen whatsoever. Well, the cursor turns to a cursor+hourglass for about half of a second and then resumes doing absolutely nothing.
I've been searching this for two days and I can't seem to find a fix that will work with my computer. And yes, I've attempted to delete my boot camp partition and reinstall Windows XP and nothing has changed. I don't have a copy of Windows XP without SP3 as my school only offers this version and I'd rather not go pay full retail price for a copy of Windows XP when I already bought this one. I'm also not interested in pirating the software so regardless of whether anyone here condones that act - please don't suggest it to me.
ANY help at all would be appreciated. If it helps, the main reason I want these drivers is for internet. Wifi OR ethernet cable will not let me connect to the internet. I'm assuming that the drivers will allow Windows to recognize these cards, provided there's ever a method to install them.
ALSO - I'm not really interested in trying parallels. I know they have a student discount which makes the software pretty affordable, but from what I've seen (amongst my friends) parallels seems to be a bit more sluggish than running windows native on its own hard drive partition. I have the macbook pro that unofficially supports up to 8GB of RAM, which I've ordered and have on the way. I know Windows XP will not be able to recognize most of that RAM but if anyone using parallels can tell me if 8GB of RAM would prevent any sluggish behavior, that's another route I'll consider if this one does not work.
Sorry about the novel, but I've found it best to be descriptive about my issues and the resolution I'm looking for.
Anyway, I'm having an issue with boot camp drivers, which seems to be common, as google tells me, although the fix doesn't seem to be so common.
I've installed Windows XP SP3 on my late 2008 unibody macbook pro. This is a CD I got from my university designed for install with boot camp, so everything was packed in with no user interaction necessary.
Windows installed perfectly, no issues at all. Windows boots just fine and I can click around, although it's very difficult since I have no drivers. The snow leopard dvd doesn't seem to give me any option to install drivers. So, I went around and found the drivers listed from apple's website. (If links aren't allowed here, I apologize and will remove this -- http://support.apple.com/kb/DL830).
I do notice this message, which I don't quite understand.
Important: Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Well, I have boot camp 3.0.4 running on snow leopard. I'm not sure how this translates to Windows OS, but I'd assume I already meet the criteria of this Boot Camp 2.1. From what I can gather, this is in regards to Tiger being limited to Boot Camp 2.0 and not being able to install windows XP SP3. If this is incorrect, please someone correct me!
So, assuming that's irrelevant to my situation, I downloaded the XP drivers .exe file and burned to a CD and to a flash drive. I reboot in windows and attempt to install. I double click the .exe file in the Windows explorer window of the DVD drive. Nothing. I drag the .exe file to Windows desktop and double click. Nothing. (Dragging the file was a real pain without these trackpad drivers, btw.) Same thing with the flash drive.
I'm at a loss - what the heck do I do now?! I didn't run into any errors installing and I don't receive an error message when attempting to run the .exe file for the drivers; I don't see anything happen whatsoever. Well, the cursor turns to a cursor+hourglass for about half of a second and then resumes doing absolutely nothing.
I've been searching this for two days and I can't seem to find a fix that will work with my computer. And yes, I've attempted to delete my boot camp partition and reinstall Windows XP and nothing has changed. I don't have a copy of Windows XP without SP3 as my school only offers this version and I'd rather not go pay full retail price for a copy of Windows XP when I already bought this one. I'm also not interested in pirating the software so regardless of whether anyone here condones that act - please don't suggest it to me.
ANY help at all would be appreciated. If it helps, the main reason I want these drivers is for internet. Wifi OR ethernet cable will not let me connect to the internet. I'm assuming that the drivers will allow Windows to recognize these cards, provided there's ever a method to install them.
ALSO - I'm not really interested in trying parallels. I know they have a student discount which makes the software pretty affordable, but from what I've seen (amongst my friends) parallels seems to be a bit more sluggish than running windows native on its own hard drive partition. I have the macbook pro that unofficially supports up to 8GB of RAM, which I've ordered and have on the way. I know Windows XP will not be able to recognize most of that RAM but if anyone using parallels can tell me if 8GB of RAM would prevent any sluggish behavior, that's another route I'll consider if this one does not work.
Sorry about the novel, but I've found it best to be descriptive about my issues and the resolution I'm looking for.
