Installing Windows XP via boot camp

[nateo200]

I'm interested in installing XP on my MBP so I can play PC games. I just have some questions

1) It wants to partition but do I honestly need to back up my harddrive? I mean does it whipe the whole thing or is there just a small risk?

2) The copy I have of XP I used on my old PC, I assume I can still use it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[celticpride678]

1) Just a risk of losing data
2) Should be fine

 

[vistadude]

You can't use XP if it came with the computer, you can if it's a retail disk and it's not currently being used on the old computer.

I'm interested in installing XP on my MBP so I can play PC games. I just have some questions

1) It wants to partition but do I honestly need to back up my harddrive? I mean does it whipe the whole thing or is there just a small risk?

2) The copy I have of XP I used on my old PC, I assume I can still use it?

Thanks in advance.

 

[balamw]

You can't use XP if it came with the computer, you can if it's a retail disk and it's not currently being used on the old computer.

More specifically, the license prohibits you from transferring an OEM license that shipped with the machine to another machine. Even though the license prohibits it, you can often get it to work after a call to Microsoft to get it to activate.

That said, if the disc is labelled with the brand of your computer (i.e. Dell, HP, Toshiba, Lenovo, Gateway, ...) os says anything like "system restore disc", be really sure that you have a good backup of your OS X partition, because many of these discs will only restore the previous PC to factory conditions and may include customizations for the hardware they shipped with. Something you do not want on your Mac.

Basically, by trying to reuse the copy from your previous PC you siginicantly increase the risk of wiping the drive.

If the previous PC shipped with a pre XP OS and you upgraded it to XP using a retail upgrade, you will generally be able to use that on your Mac with a bit of extra work.

B