Help Please Adding Windows to a MacBook - Grad School

[apeacock]

If you're being security paranoid (and all the other posters are right about Windows - if you take care of it you're not going to have all that many issues - especially if you're only using it for one or two pieces of software and keep it up to date), run everything in a virtual machine, not boot camp. In theory* a piece of malware could take out your mac partition from boot camp, since the operating system will have direct access to your hard drive. When running in a VM, the guest OS can only see it's own virtual drive** and can't effect the parent OS (the mac operating system).

If you get there and never end up needing Windows, great! You'll never use your virtual machine and never even have the possibility of an issue with it (trust me, it won't get slow by just being there). If you end up needing to use Windows only software, then it will be a good thing you were prepared and had your Windows VM ready. You really have nothing to lose.

*I haven't yet heard about a virus doing this yet, but it is possible
**Theoretically there could be an attack from within windows against the Parallels/VMWare Fusion VMs, but I haven't yet seen even a proof of concept for parallels yet. I have heard of them for server grade virtualization, since that is a much more lucrative target, so I know it is possible.

 

[Tomorrow]

In theory* a piece of malware could take out your mac partition from boot camp, since the operating system will have direct access to your hard drive. When running in a VM, the guest OS can only see it's own virtual drive** and can't effect the parent OS (the mac operating system).

*I haven't yet heard about a virus doing this yet, but it is possible
**Theoretically there could be an attack from within windows against the Parallels/VMWare Fusion VMs, but I haven't yet seen even a proof of concept for parallels yet. I have heard of them for server grade virtualization, since that is a much more lucrative target, so I know it is possible.

I think the reverse is true - when you install Windows under Boot Camp, it's installed on its own partition, completely separate from the OS X partition. Out of the box, Windows can neither read nor write to an HFS+ partition, and by extension neither can Windows malware; so the OS X install is quite safe in this scenario. Yes, the malware has access to the physical drive, but the OS X partition is completely separate from the Windows partition, which doesn't even know the OS X partition exists.

When Windows is installed through virtualization, it's running on the same logical partition as OS X (although as far as OS X is concerned, it's still a virtual drive), and then the logical partition is theoretically vulnerable.

Either way, install something like Onecare and you'll be fine.

 

[secondfox]

So, are your questions answered Illinidiva?

 

[bruinsrme]

Hello! I have a Mac, which I love deal, but the evil people at the MBA program I will be attending next year are dead set on me having a PC (They have a "special deal with Dell" that isn't a deal). The compromise is that I can just add Windows to my Mac. I know that this is possible through Parallel, but am really concerned about performance issues and viruses. I have the entry level computer, not the Pro, so I'm very concerned about this proposition. I'm hoping to fight them on this issue, so I'm really looking for your adding Windows to an entry level Mac horror stories.

See what software they are using.
My Son's college insisted on a PC based computer. The only thing I can thing of why it had to be a PC based is the software encryption keys that are needed for some of the programs to work.
If they have a special with Dell, that more than likely includes on site, same day repair/parts. Also, the school gets a quote which is not subject to the fluctuating prices of hardware.

See if you can talk to some of the students currently enrolled in the program and see if they can give you some feedback regarding if a PC is really mandatory.

 

[Illinidiva]

If you're being security paranoid (and all the other posters are right about Windows - if you take care of it you're not going to have all that many issues - especially if you're only using it for one or two pieces of software and keep it up to date), run everything in a virtual machine, not boot camp. In theory* a piece of malware could take out your mac partition from boot camp, since the operating system will have direct access to your hard drive. When running in a VM, the guest OS can only see it's own virtual drive** and can't effect the parent OS (the mac operating system).

If you get there and never end up needing Windows, great! You'll never use your virtual machine and never even have the possibility of an issue with it (trust me, it won't get slow by just being there). If you end up needing to use Windows only software, then it will be a good thing you were prepared and had your Windows VM ready. You really have nothing to lose.

*I haven't yet heard about a virus doing this yet, but it is possible
**Theoretically there could be an attack from within windows against the Parallels/VMWare Fusion VMs, but I haven't yet seen even a proof of concept for parallels yet. I have heard of them for server grade virtualization, since that is a much more lucrative target, so I know it is possible.

Yes, but I thought that I was keeping everything up-to-date with the Dell (virus scans and spyware scans) and it was still incredibly slow. So you can see my point there.

 

[22Hertz]

I have been to two colleges and about to transition to another one.
Trust me, you will not win this battle.

Just download Windows 7 and put it on using bootcamp.
If you never have to use it then delete it...problem solved.
If you do infact need to use some Windows only software you will have Windows like they require and be able to use it...problem solved.

If they have a problem with it being a mac let them know when its running Windows it is just like any other PC

Your in the major leagues now, no excuses, and part of college is learning to eat crow. You will not win this one so just put Windows on and be done with it.

 

[Dr.Pants]

Windows can neither read nor write to an HFS+ partition

True. Although there might be a virus that will completely wipe-out the hard drive by causing a weird sort-of reformat, I would assume that all the safeties in the Windows system would have to be open for the exploit to work - and to what end? It might be for grins to create such an attack vector, but it is a fail - the programmer would be limited only to the website or device as a vector, since an HDD wipe would kind-of ruin the virus's ability to propagate; a virus could spread, but then it starts to become a more complex creature. In summary - the chances that a virus will cause harm to your OSX partition are about the same as the LHC producing a black hole and killing us all.

However, this needs proper safety on your part. Keep in on the university, business, and secure webpages/IPs, and make sure you are usually on an encrypted wifi network (WPA-2) with Windows - that is the best way to keep malware off of your system. Install protection software anyway (just in case). If you are seriously that scared, do a fresh reinstall every month.

Sorry to hear about your experiences with Windows on the Dell. Hate to ask, but can you remember the specifications? Generally a ****** experience comes on a poor, low end machine; keep in mind that this does not represent every Windows machine out there. I hate the Dell Optiplexes in my university library, not even Office 20008 is configured on them correctly (probably an idiot doing a system clone).

Still, on the right hardware, any OS can work. I run Windows and OpenSolaris on my laptop, works just fine. The only time I ever touch a school computer is when I have to print; fortunately, a rare occurrence.

 

[Dr.Pants]

Double-post, apologies.

 

[22Hertz]

True. Although there might be a virus that will completely wipe-out the hard drive by causing a weird sort-of reformat, I would assume that all the safeties in the Windows system would have to be open for the exploit to work - and to what end? It might be for grins to create such an attack vector, but it is a fail - the programmer would be limited only to the website or device as a vector, since an HDD wipe would kind-of ruin the virus's ability to propagate; a virus could spread, but then it starts to become a more complex creature. In summary - the chances that a virus will cause harm to your OSX partition are about the same as the LHC producing a black hole and killing us all.

However, this needs proper safety on your part. Keep in on the university, business, and secure webpages/IPs, and make sure you are usually on an encrypted wifi network (WPA-2) with Windows - that is the best way to keep malware off of your system. Install protection software anyway (just in case). If you are seriously that scared, do a fresh reinstall every month.

Sorry to hear about your experiences with Windows on the Dell. Hate to ask, but can you remember the specifications? Generally a ****** experience comes on a poor, low end machine; keep in mind that this does not represent every Windows machine out there. I hate the Dell Optiplexes in my university library, not even Office 20008 is configured on them correctly (probably an idiot doing a system clone).

Still, on the right hardware, any OS can work. I run Windows and OpenSolaris on my laptop, works just fine. The only time I ever touch a school computer is when I have to print; fortunately, a rare occurrence.

I have a badaxe2, Intel E6600 2.4Ghz Core2Duo, Nvidia EVGA 7600GT, (2)7200RPM Seagate SATA HDDs, Seasonic 650W PS and I cant get Windows XP to load on this machine.
With AHCI turned on in the BIOS forget about it and I have tried EVERYTHING. In IDE mode it crashes to a BSOD near the end of the installation most times. I have gotten it to load twice out of something like 25 tries. After I was finally able to get XP on my computer it would crash periodically atleast once a day, usually more like 10 or 15.
I got Windows 7 RC on once, I wiped to try another OS (OpenSUSE) and tried to put W7 back on....BSOD each time and I tried 3 times with one of those times doing a full HDD wipe before installation.
I have put Ubuntu, OpenSUZE Leopard and Tiger on this same PC several times with zero problems, but thats another story.


Make no mistake Windows sucks and its suckiness is independent of hardware, although outdated hardware can ADD to its suckiness.

 

[Dr.Pants]

22Hertz, Sucks to hear about that. Have you tried installing your MS products on a completely different machine to check if the discs are bad? (lol, I sound like the vagrant defender of Microsoft)

Do I own high-end hardware? To most, no. Have I seen Windows crash? Yes. However, my experiences with Windows 7, XP Pro 32-bit and 64-bit, 2000, and *gasp* Vista Business have all been positive. Are they POSIX? Not really. Can I do with them what I can do in OSX? No. Do I prefer them over OSX? No.

Back to the OP, all I'm saying is that there is no reason he should be afraid to install Windows on a non-RISC machine that already seems to be working perfectly with OSX, and even then, only to use a few key programs (I assume). It won't be the end of the world, and when the OP is done he/she can just restart the laptop or close the VM. Or just install it on there for BS and never use it, leave it there for the intermittent check, and nobody would be the wiser. If you never use Windows, there is no way it can frak up the machine anyway.