Ideal Vista Install on new Mac Pro

[inktomite]

So my mac pro is arriving soon.. 2.8 quad. I have vista ultimate and want to install 64 bit. Had some questions

1. Will I gain anything by keeping the vista install on a dedicated drive? If so, what file system is ideal?

2. I'd like to use VM Ware in addition to boot camp. Should I do the vista/boot camp install first and then try VM Ware.

3. Is there an ideal recipe to get the above done correctly (possibly in some other thread)

Heard of the horror stories so want to get this right the first time..

Ashim

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

1. Will I gain anything by keeping the vista install on a dedicated drive? If so, what file system is ideal?

First part is really up to you. In Windows Vista, you can have its partition formatted in any file system that you want so long as it is NTFS.

2. I'd like to use VM Ware in addition to boot camp. Should I do the vista/boot camp install first and then try VM Ware.

Yes.

VMware Fusion will just automagically recognize your Boot Camp partition once you set it up.

 

[wpattison]

Not really a horror story, but if you go with Windows on the same drive, make sure you give yourself at least 50GB's of space.

I originally took the default 32GB's for Windows. After installing Steam/Team Fortress 2, and Lord of the Rings Online, I had all of 10MB's of space left. That's right: megabytes. Hardly usable.

BootCamp makes it very easy to delete and start over, but that is kinda crappy. I wish they had a feature like Partition Magic where you could change the partitions on the fly.

So my mac pro is arriving soon.. 2.8 quad. I have vista ultimate and want to install 64 bit. Had some questions

1. Will I gain anything by keeping the vista install on a dedicated drive? If so, what file system is ideal?

2. I'd like to use VM Ware in addition to boot camp. Should I do the vista/boot camp install first and then try VM Ware.

3. Is there an ideal recipe to get the above done correctly (possibly in some other thread)

Heard of the horror stories so want to get this right the first time..

Ashim

 

[Fornothingelse]

I have actually been looking into this as well. I was thinking of getting an 80 gig drive (for like $45) and dedicating that just to run vista off of. Also that way, I wont be crunched on space for OSX later.

 

[XianPalin]

So my mac pro is arriving soon.. 2.8 quad. I have vista ultimate and want to install 64 bit. Had some questions

1. Will I gain anything by keeping the vista install on a dedicated drive? If so, what file system is ideal?

2. I'd like to use VM Ware in addition to boot camp. Should I do the vista/boot camp install first and then try VM Ware.

3. Is there an ideal recipe to get the above done correctly (possibly in some other thread)

Heard of the horror stories so want to get this right the first time..

Ashim

1. No gain

I have Vista setup on a separate 320 gb drive. I used NTFS, I think that's all Vista will let you do.

2. Yes, get all the boot camp stuff setup first and then install VMware.

• Setup bootcamp
• Install Vista
• Activate Vista
• Boot Into OSX
• Install VMWare
• Boot Vista in VM
• It should auto-install Vmware Tools
• REBOOT Vista in VM (important)
• When it comes back up, Activate Vista in VM (my computer.. then "computer properties up top.. it lists activation stuff there)

3.

• Get all your OS X stuff setup
• Shutdown, Install the drive in second bay
• Boot back into OS X
• Run Boot Camp Assistant (applications/utilities)
• Select the second drive, tell it to wipe it
• insert Vista Install DVD, choose to restart and install Windows (makes it boot off the dvd)
• Go through Vista Install (NOTE: Boot camp seems to make two partitions on the drive, a 200MB partition, and then a partition filling the rest of the drive. The first time around when I installed XP I wiped that 200MB partition and could never choose the windows disk as a startup disk in OS X. When I installed Vista i left it there and I can choose the startup disk in OS X, so I would leave the 200 MB partition there, and just format the huge partition as NTFS)
• A problem I had when the Vista Install rebooted, was that it kept booting off the DVD and running the installer again, instead of booting off of the Windows Hard Drive and continuing the install. If this happens, once you hear the Mac Chime on reboot hold down the option key, and then choose the Windows Hard Drive. You don't have to go through the Vista install a second time off the DVD if this happens, just cancel the install since you've already done it, reboot, and hold the option key down.
• The install reboots several times, so you'll probably want to sit there and every time it reboots, hold down the option key and ensure it boots off of the Windows Hard Drve.
• Once you are in Vista (setup is complete) and logged in, eject the Vista DVD, pop in the Apple DVD, and let it go to town on your Vista install and install a bunch of drivers. If any "New Hardware Found" stuff pops up, just don't touch anything and let the Apple Installer deal with it, everything will go away in a minute or two. Don't touch anything until the installer asks you to reboot. Note that you can right click on the drive in "My computer" to eject it, but until you install the apple drives your eject key won't work. You'll have to push the drive tray a little until it starts to shut on its own.
• Reboot Vista and make sure everything is running fine, activate Vista.
• Reboot into OS X (right click the icon in the system tray and choose "Reboot in OS X") and then do the stuff I listed above to get VMWare setup.

 

[inktomite]

Very helpful responses.. Will try it out soon

 

[inktomite]

Sleep problem with Fusion/Vista

I followed the instructions and it's working out great. Using Spaces (one for os x and the other for vista through fusion).

My computer doesn't seem to go to sleep now. The os x screen saver runs but no sleeping with the virtual vista running..

Any tips?

 

[srl7741]

1. No gain

I have Vista setup on a separate 320 gb drive. I used NTFS, I think that's all Vista will let you do.

2. Yes, get all the boot camp stuff setup first and then install VMware.

• Setup bootcamp
• Install Vista
• Activate Vista
• Boot Into OSX
• Install VMWare
• Boot Vista in VM
• It should auto-install Vmware Tools
• REBOOT Vista in VM (important)
• When it comes back up, Activate Vista in VM (my computer.. then "computer properties up top.. it lists activation stuff there)

3.

• Get all your OS X stuff setup
• Shutdown, Install the drive in second bay
• Boot back into OS X
• Run Boot Camp Assistant (applications/utilities)
• Select the second drive, tell it to wipe it
• insert Vista Install DVD, choose to restart and install Windows (makes it boot off the dvd)
• Go through Vista Install (NOTE: Boot camp seems to make two partitions on the drive, a 200MB partition, and then a partition filling the rest of the drive. The first time around when I installed XP I wiped that 200MB partition and could never choose the windows disk as a startup disk in OS X. When I installed Vista i left it there and I can choose the startup disk in OS X, so I would leave the 200 MB partition there, and just format the huge partition as NTFS)
• A problem I had when the Vista Install rebooted, was that it kept booting off the DVD and running the installer again, instead of booting off of the Windows Hard Drive and continuing the install. If this happens, once you hear the Mac Chime on reboot hold down the option key, and then choose the Windows Hard Drive. You don't have to go through the Vista install a second time off the DVD if this happens, just cancel the install since you've already done it, reboot, and hold the option key down.
• The install reboots several times, so you'll probably want to sit there and every time it reboots, hold down the option key and ensure it boots off of the Windows Hard Drve.
• Once you are in Vista (setup is complete) and logged in, eject the Vista DVD, pop in the Apple DVD, and let it go to town on your Vista install and install a bunch of drivers. If any "New Hardware Found" stuff pops up, just don't touch anything and let the Apple Installer deal with it, everything will go away in a minute or two. Don't touch anything until the installer asks you to reboot. Note that you can right click on the drive in "My computer" to eject it, but until you install the apple drives your eject key won't work. You'll have to push the drive tray a little until it starts to shut on its own.
• Reboot Vista and make sure everything is running fine, activate Vista.
• Reboot into OS X (right click the icon in the system tray and choose "Reboot in OS X") and then do the stuff I listed above to get VMWare setup.

This is great and came a just the right time for me.

Thank you.

 

[Just sayin...]

Not really a horror story, but if you go with Windows on the same drive, make sure you give yourself at least 50GB's of space.

I originally took the default 32GB's for Windows. After installing Steam/Team Fortress 2, and Lord of the Rings Online, I had all of 10MB's of space left. That's right: megabytes. Hardly usable.

BootCamp makes it very easy to delete and start over, but that is kinda crappy. I wish they had a feature like Partition Magic where you could change the partitions on the fly.

I installed XP SP2 in a 32 GB partition for Bootcamp - with all the updated drivers and everything. Then, I installed the entire Orange Box software load (HL2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2). I've got a few saved games, and the Steam directory is 14.25 GB in size. With XP SP2 and the full Orange Box software load, I've got 11.8 GB free. Works for me...