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Help with Windows 8.1 and an iMac

R

RedCroissant

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 13, 2011
2,268
96
Hello PPC community!

I have a couple of issues that I just want some clarification and reassurance on my next move to go completely back to PPC.

My wife got a job and her job requires the use of Windows and preferably Windows 8.1.

I also have my PMG5 Quad suiting under my desk not being used and this is what I want to do.

I want to set up my Intel 27", 3.2GHz quad i5 and 16GB RAM with Windows 8.1 via Bootcamp and have it boot to Windows as the default volume.

I also need new HDDs for my PMG5 Quad and want to get the right ones. I know that the PMG5 is SATA 1, but SATA II and III drives will work as long as the jumpers are set properly, right? And what is the max HDD size that I can use? I was hoping to get at the least 2 x 1TB HDDs but could I go as far as 2 x 2TB drives?

Also, if anyone has an extra PMG5 superdrive, I would love to have it.

Sorry for the long post but tomorrow is going to be a long night of Data transfer that I want to be prepared before I start the whole thing. Even though this involves an Intel Mac, I still wanted to ask my favorite community on MacRumors. Thank you very much in advance for any assistance/clarification/help. Have a nice night!
 
I'll avoid the Boot Camp questions as I've never used it(my only experience with Windows on a Mac is Windows XP in VirtualPC).

There generally are no problems with SATA II drives in a G5. SATA is supposed to be backward and forward compatible, although some SATA III drives are known to have problems.

As far as size-you are limited to a partition size of 2TB for APM, which you will need for your boot drive in the G5. I'm pretty sure you can use a drive larger than 2TB as your boot drive-you just need to partition it to keep the partitions under 2TB.

If you're not going to boot off the secondary drive, you can use MBR or GUID(I'd suggest the latter) and use pretty much any drive size and partition size you would like.
 
bunnspecial said:
I'll avoid the Boot Camp questions as I've never used it(my only experience with Windows on a Mac is Windows XP in VirtualPC).

There generally are no problems with SATA II drives in a G5. SATA is supposed to be backward and forward compatible, although some SATA III drives are known to have problems.

As far as size-you are limited to a partition size of 2TB for APM, which you will need for your boot drive in the G5. I'm pretty sure you can use a drive larger than 2TB as your boot drive-you just need to partition it to keep the partitions under 2TB.

If you're not going to boot off the secondary drive, you can use MBR or GUID(I'd suggest the latter) and use pretty much any drive size and partition size you would like.
Click to expand...

Thanks! So basically my hope for 2 x 2TB HDDs (only one of which would be the boot drive) should work. Awesome. Is there any benefit to using GUID for the secondary drive over APM?

Also, do you know is iTunes 10.6.3 still handles everything with the AppleTV3? I have an iPhone 3GS still so iPhone compatibility hasn't changed and won't for the most part. I just don't want to lose anything when I transfer data from my new Intel Mac with iTunes 12 and the new iLife to the G5.
 
RedCroissant said:
Thanks! So basically my hope for 2 x 2TB HDDs (only one of which would be the boot drive) should work. Awesome. Is there any benefit to using GUID for the secondary drive over APM?
Click to expand...

The first thing that springs to mind is that GUID drive volumes can be resized on the fly, unlike APM.
 
What does the PowerMac G5 Quad have anything to do with the iMac?! :confused: Did you just talk about the G5 to be able to post this here?
 
poiihy said:
What does the PowerMac G5 Quad have anything to do with the iMac?! :confused: Did you just talk about the G5 to be able to post this here?
Click to expand...
Did you thoroughly read his post?

He was asking questions about his G5 Quad because he is no longer using his Intel Mac. His wife is taking that Mac which means he will now be using the G5.

So, he asked specific questions related to his using the G5.
 
eyoungren said:
Did you thoroughly read his post?

He was asking questions about his G5 Quad because he is no longer using his Intel Mac. His wife is taking that Mac which means he will now be using the G5.

So, he asked specific questions related to his using the G5.
Click to expand...

OH I see now
That was very unclear!
 
Thanks to all

Thank you everyone but my wife was very upset with the idea of using my Mac for her work given that I got it for my design work as well. So instead....I bought a DELL AIO for her to use. It's not a great one, but it is 64-bit and it is upgradeable, so it should last for a few years as long as the Pentium in it doesn't die. I still ant to go back to my PMG5 Quad, but with very low offers on my iMac and the fact that it would take another investment to get the HDDs as well s the investment to make the PMG5 my main machine with the proper RAM, a working superdrive, better Graphics card, BT/AP....etc.
 
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