Boot camp question

[Tom8]

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I want to boot camp windows vista 32 bit on my MacBook Pro 2010 model. I have 3 questions.
1) can I use the OS recovery disc I got with my dell laptop 2 years ago?
2) will my MacBook run vista well & will it affect the performance of OS X?
3) is it difficult to set up the boot camp?
4) can I delete vista if/when I want to?

Thanks in advance

 

[grapes911]

1. No.
2. Yes/No.
3. No.
4. Yes.

 

[sprtnbsblplya]

1) I've had success using Dell discs with other laptops in the past, but you have to call the tech center and activate over the phone, which they are reluctant to do as using this disc in any other system is against the terms of the Dell/MS EULA.
2) Your Macbook will run it as well as any other similarly spec'ed PC, which is pretty good.
3) Not at all, Apple software walks you right through it.
4) Yup.

 

[Tom8]

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In reference to question 1, how would I go about doing it then?

Also, I didn't buy the Laptop direct from Dell, I got it from a look electronic store, if that makes any difference?

 

[balamw]

In reference to question 1, how would I go about doing it then?

Buy a license that can legally be transferred/installed on your Mac?

Strictly speaking only a "full retail" package license is "the right" license for your Mac. As sprtnbsblplya says pretty much anything else is outside the license such as the OEM license from your Dell or even a brand new Windows OEM/System Builder license. Or even a "retail upgrade" license. You might be able to make them work, but you are operating outside the license.

OEM licenses are tied to the first machine they are installed on and you explicitly do not get "transfer rights" with the license. (Microsoft sells Dell the license at a very low price, but takes away the end user's right to move the license in exchange for that low price). They are also not licensed to end users and require sale to an unrelated third party as a condition of licensing. If you have a generic (i.e. non-Dell/Lenovo/Toshiba/... OEM disc you can make it work, but you are strictly outside the license. You can also use one of the retail upgrade discs and use a clean install workaround to get that to work, but since your Dell license is not transferable you are outside the license...

Whichever path you choose, be very careful about using a disc that was customized for other hardware. At the minimum it might pre-install drivers that are inappropriate for your Mac and might make things unstable, but sometimes it can completely wipe out your OS X partition (because it is intended to restore your Dell to factory conditions).

Basically, if you don't already know what you are getting yourself into, both in the mechanics of the install and the licensing issues, buy a full retail license of W7 and use that.

B