**GUIDE** Installing Windows XP on 2011 MacBook Air

[hackerwayne]

GUIDE HAS BEEN CREATED! READ POST #15!!

Hi everyone, first off, i apologize for my bad english :X Anyway, I just got a brand new 13" i7 MacBook Air. And i have an idea to hack Windows XP on the latest 2011 MacBook Air.
As you know, all Mac products after the 2010 MacBook Air or after 10.7 Lion CANNOT support Windows XP.

Before i get a lots of replies saying why am i still using 10 year old Windows XP. That simply because i have an unused Windows XP Pro license lying around. And I don't wanna go out there n spent $100++ on a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium or $79 on Parallel Desktop. Since i have some free time, ill take it as a challenge to try to hack it (Ive successfully hacked Mountain Lion on old Macs before, search for my thread).

Anyway, lets get to the main point.. Ive tried:
- Booting it off via Superdrive stuck at Checking System Configuration.
- Booting it off USB via REFIT same result

The idea:
Install Windows XP on a old Mac.. Say.. a 2007 MacBook White? I have one lying around which i used it to hack mountain lion. Clone the partition and paste it back on the Air n try booting it up. Anyone has any other suggestions/warnings before i proceed to try this? I have a copy of 10.7.4 on standby so anything goes wrong ill just wipe it off.

Problems i might be facing (if the above method works):
Drivers

If this works, this will also apply to ALL Macs that runs on Lion and needs Windows XP. Including 2011 MacBook Pro

 

[joec1101]

Good luck cloning any Windows OS. You will probably waste more time trying to restore it to another drive and getting it to work properly. Windows doesn't backup and restore like OSX does with Time Machine.

You will save yourself a lot of time and headaches if you just bite the bullet and get a copy of Win7 and do a clean install. Win7 is much better than XP anyway.

 

[hnzxdv]

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I was able to install XP alongside Lion on a 2006 MBP simply by using a Windows 7 disc to start the process. I used the Windows 7 disc while using Bootcamp Assistant in OS X, but once the computer rebooted I ejected the disc at the EFI screen and put in the XP disc. From there the install was completely normal. Bootcamp has been functioning normally ever since.

I'm not sure if the same method could be used on more current hardware as I don't have any to test it on. But I imagine if it does work you could accomplish the same thing with a Windows 8 Beta disc.

 

[charlieegan3]

OP: brush up on your definition of hack.

I think you are wasting your time.

 

[hackerwayne]

Good luck cloning any Windows OS. You will probably waste more time trying to restore it to another drive and getting it to work properly. Windows doesn't backup and restore like OSX does with Time Machine.

You will save yourself a lot of time and headaches if you just bite the bullet and get a copy of Win7 and do a clean install. Win7 is much better than XP anyway.

Theres a software called Winclone. It clones from from Lion.

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I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I was able to install XP alongside Lion on a 2006 MBP simply by using a Windows 7 disc to start the process. I used the Windows 7 disc while using Bootcamp Assistant in OS X, but once the computer rebooted I ejected the disc at the EFI screen and put in the XP disc. From there the install was completely normal. Bootcamp has been functioning normally ever since.

I'm not sure if the same method could be used on more current hardware as I don't have any to test it on. But I imagine if it does work you could accomplish the same thing with a Windows 8 Beta disc.

Some Macs supports XP. But Macs AFTER 2010 MacBook Air does not support Vista and XP.

 

[joec1101]

Theres a software called Winclone. It clones from from Lion.

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Yes, I am aware. But Winclone is *very* buggy. I have tried it on several machines and different OS's and it has never once worked properly. I wasted more time trying to use Winclone's "restore" process trying to get it to work than it would have taken to do a clean install.

I think Winclone may have worked at one time on older Macs and older Windows OS's, but it doesn't work now.

 

[davidg4781]

Wow, I was not aware I couldn't use XP. Glad I hadn't burned that slipstreamed disc yet.

Now there goes my idea of playing older games on my newer MBP.

 

[\-V-/]

Wow, I was not aware I couldn't use XP. Glad I hadn't burned that slipstreamed disc yet.

Now there goes my idea of playing older games on my newer MBP.

You can run your older games in Windows XP via Parallels or VMware. They should work just fine.

 

[davidg4781]

You can run your older games in Windows XP via Parallels or VMware. They should work just fine.

Oh, alright. Sorry to hijack the thread about this. Does it run rather smoothly using virtualization? I remember way back when it wasn't that great.

 

[\-V-/]

Oh, alright. Sorry to hijack the thread about this. Does it run rather smoothly using virtualization? I remember way back when it wasn't that great.

It used to be kind of crappy, but with current gen hardware (and vast improvements to virtualization software) games run pretty great... even with some modern games.

 

[davidg4781]

It used to be kind of crappy, but with current gen hardware (and vast improvements to virtualization software) games run pretty great... even with some modern games.

I may look into it. I just bought a new(er) MBP and found some of my old Windows games. Wish I had bought that bundle a few months ago that included Parallels. Actually I'm thinking of buying a PowerMac G4 to play some older games.

 

[\-V-/]

I may look into it. I just bought a new(er) MBP and found some of my old Windows games. Wish I had bought that bundle a few months ago that included Parallels. Actually I'm thinking of buying a PowerMac G4 to play some older games.

You can't run virtualization software on a PowerMac G4 since that uses a PowerPC processor and can't run Windows XP natively. You can use an emulator, but it would be slow as frack. You'd be better off getting a Windows machine. If you meant you'd get the G4 to play old Mac games then that makes sense.

 

[davidg4781]

You can't run virtualization software on a PowerMac G4 since that uses a PowerPC processor and can't run Windows XP natively. You can use an emulator, but it would be slow as frack. You'd be better off getting a Windows machine. If you meant you'd get the G4 to play old Mac games then that makes sense.

Yup, older Mac games/software. And just a hobby type stuff. I'll probably play around with it for a few months then pop it back on Craigslist.

 

[hackerwayne]

Got it working! BootCamp Windows XP on MacBook Air4,2!

Theres a software called Winclone. It clones from from Lion.

----------

Yes, I am aware. But Winclone is *very* buggy. I have tried it on several machines and different OS's and it has never once worked properly. I wasted more time trying to use Winclone's "restore" process trying to get it to work than it would have taken to do a clean install.

I think Winclone may have worked at one time on older Macs and older Windows OS's, but it doesn't work now.

Finally got it working. No drivers whatsoever YET. At least, I got it to the desktop pictures will be up in a while. I will post the guide if anyone is interested.

 

[hackerwayne]

*GUIDE* Install Windows XP on 2011 MacBook Air

Only Windows 7 is officially supported for install via Boot Camp on the 2011 [[MacBook Air]]. Many users would still like to use Windows XP on their MacBook Air as it is capable of running in a smaller footprint. Here is an incomplete guide on running XP on these new MBA. This guide looks similar to RyanL's guide on 2010 MBA installation in a first glance, but they are completely different!! Do NOT use this guide for 2010 MBA and do not use RyanL's guide for 2011 MacBook Air!
Warning
Similar to RyanL's guide on Windows XP on MacBook Air 2010, 'This is not a guide for beginners. As you are performing an install that is unsupported by Apple, there is a risk at every step that you will lose data or render your MBA incapable of booting. It is highly recommended that you back up your system entirely before starting this guide, and use Winclone to back up your Windows XP partition at intermediate steps along the way so you may return to them easily should anything go wrong.

Limitations

Before we start, heres some limitation(s)

1) No control of display brightness, so its on full brightness at all times
2) Never, never use software like Parallels / Fusion to call this XP partition. This will result the boot looping and you have to restart the whole installation again.
3) Backlit keyboard does not work.
4) Multitouch trackpad does not work (will be resolved)

Tools Required

Let's see the tools required:

- Windows XP SP2 or SP3 installation disc
- A compatible MacBook that officially supports Windows XP
- A OSX Lion partition
- WiFi Internet connection
- Boot Camp 3.1 from SL 10.6.3
- Boot Camp 4.0 from Lion 10.7
- A copy of Winclone 3.3 on both MacBook Air and the compatible Mac! (Released late 2011)
- A 1GB or larger thumb drive.

Brief Explanation
MacBook Air 2011 will not be able to boot into Windows XP CD directly, usually, it gets stuck at "Inspecting Systems Hardware". So instead of installing directly on the the MacBook Air, we will install Windows XP on a compatible machine (any macs before 2011) then clone the fresh Windows installation back to the MacBook Air. In this case, i will be using a MacBook Pro 2010.

Installation Process
Here is the installation process (I will split it in 2 phases to avoid confusions)

Phase One MBP (Installing Windows on 2010 MacBook Pro or any compatible Macs)

All steps in Phase One needs to be done on the compatible Mac, in this case, the MacBook Pro 2010.

1) Create a boot camp partition at the size of your choice. Name it "XP" without quotes. (Note, this must be the same size as the MacBook Air, you will not be able to resize in the future! e.g.: MBP 20GB, MBA also 20GB.)
2) Install Windows XP as usual, format it as NTFS partition.
3) After the installation, do not install any drivers and restart the MBP back to Lion/Snow Leopard
4) Open up WinClone 3.3 in Lion on the MBP.
5) In Winclone, select "XP" from the side bar and click Image, select the thumb drive as the destination, the process should takes less then 10 minutes. If you did it correctly, you should get a 600MB+ WinClone file in the thumb drive.

Phase Two MBA (Pasting the image you just cloned onto the MacBook Air)

All steps in Phase Two needs to be done on the MacBook Air 2011.

1) Open up disk utility, click on Partition and click the + button. A new partition should appear, click on it and name it "XP" without quotes. This MUST be the same size as the partition you created earlier on the other Mac.
2) Plug in the same thumb drive on the MBA, copy the 600MB+ Winclone file and paste it on to your desktop.
3) Double click the file, it should open up WinClone.
4) Winclone should show "Restore Volume" click "XP" as your the partition destination and hit Restore, this should take roughly 5 minutes. If you did it correctly, Winclone will ask you to select Start-up disk.
5) Restart into "XP" It will ask you to check drive C, let it check. When its done, you need to reboot into windows several times as display resolution at strange scale, mouse and keyboard will not work, windows will automatically install the drivers for it. (To reboot, wait till windows loads to the desktop wait for 2 to 3 minutes and hit the power button once. Keyboard and mouse should be working after 3 times.
6) Next, with keyboard and mouse now working, get back the files for Boot Camp for Win 7 for your MBA (Boot Camp 4.0), go to \Boot Camp\Drivers directory. You can see all the folders. Even though Apple says the drivers only work for Win 7, many of them will also work with Windows XP 32-bit version.Some of drivers you have to install:

*\Apple\AppleBluetoothBroadcomInstaller.exe
*\Apple\AppleDisplayInstaller.exe
*\Apple\AppleiSightInstaller.exe
*\Apple\AppleKeyboardInstaller.exe
*\Apple\AppleMultiTouchTrackPadInstaller.exe
*\Apple\AppleNullDriver.exe
*\Apple\AppleODDInstaller.exe
*\Broadcom\BroadcomEthernet32.exe
*\Broadcom\BroadcomNetworkAdapterWin7_32.exe
*
*\Marvell\MarvellInstaller.exe
*Intel HD Graphics from Intel
*\Intel\Chipset\Setup.exe

Install Boot Camp 3.0 after those drivers were installed.

After installing those drivers, you should have cleared all the yellow exclamation marks and have a working install of Windows XP on your MBA.

Sleep
If your MBA hangs when it goes to sleep, disable all sleep settings.

I will also post this to macrumors MacGuides.