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Just bought Virtual PC 7 for my Mac with Intel Core... Need Help!

B

Blammo300

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 17, 2006
2
0
I just bought Virtual PC 7 for my Mac notebook for $130 from Frys. When I try to install it, the program will finish install and restart but will not Quit Unexpectadly after the restart. I read this on Microsoft support:

SYMPTOMS
When you install Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac on a Macintosh computer that uses an Intel processor, the program may appear to install correctly. However, when you try to start Virtual PC for Mac, the program unexpectedly quits. Additionally, you do not receive an error message.
CAUSE
This issue occurs because Virtual PC for Mac is incompatible with Macintosh computers that use Intel processors.

What are my choices? I am going to try and return Virtual PC 7 to Frys since it will not work. What are my options?
 
Virtual PC is not designed to run on Intel Macs.

It is a program designed to emulate (very, very slowly) an x86 processor environment within the PowerPC instruction set so that you can run Windows on a PPC Mac. It is designed for use with very light programs because it's just so damned slow.

Your choices for an Intel Mac are Apple's free Boot Camp software that sets up your Mac with the appropriate drive partitions and device drivers that allow you to run Windows in a dual-boot situation (you have to shut down and restart to change operating systems) and fully natively (Windows runs at full speed and with full access to the hardware) because there is no emulation or virtualisation - it's as though you were running Windows on any other PC with the same specifications.

You can also use Parallels Desktop which uses a virtualised environment within the processor's instruction set allowing you to run Windows and OSX simultaneously. There is a small performance hit and you don't have full access to all the Mac hardware (you can't play current 3D games etc unlike with the Boot Camp solution) but if you're only using basic to moderately complex Windows programs (even Photoshop, Office etc run well) then it's a very convenient solution.

Virtual PC has reached the end of the road and will not be updated in the future.

The Boot Camp software is currently in Beta but the full, final version will be included in Leopard. The Beta download from Apple's website is free.
 
Thanks for the advice Chundles. I am a PC user so I was not familar with this sort of issue. The Virtual PC 7 box did say it supported OS X which is what our Mac has.

You said we could install windows using Apples software. The big question I have is: Will our current Operating system and programs remain the same if I install Windows XP as a dual boot or does it have to reformat the whole drive?

Frys would not take back the Virtual PC 7 software since it was opened. They gave me Microsoft's number since I have not used the Serial Code yet they should refund my money right?
 
Blammo300 said:
Thanks for the advice Chundles. I am a PC user so I was not familar with this sort of issue. The Virtual PC 7 box did say it supported OS X which is what our Mac has.

You said we could install windows using Apples software. The big question I have is: Will our current Operating system and programs remain the same if I install Windows XP as a dual boot or does it have to reformat the whole drive?

Frys would not take back the Virtual PC 7 software since it was opened. They gave me Microsoft's number since I have not used the Serial Code yet they should refund my money right?
Click to expand...

Yes, Virtual PC supports OSX but it's a PPC-only application. It says this on Microsoft's website and the people who sold it to you in the store should be aware of this. MS stopped Virtual PC development much earlier this year when it became apparent to them a new Universal build was going to be too hard to make and there were newer, better solutions.

When you use Boot Camp to partition your drive it's non-destructive so you simply drag a slider to designate how much space you want to give XP and how much you want to give OSX. Your OSX partition is left untouched so you won't lose any data. Of course you should back up your stuff anyway just in case.

After installation of Windows via Boot Camp, when you boot your Mac, hold down the "option" key (I presume you're using a Mac keyboard) and you'll be given the option of loading into XP or OSX.

I have no idea how such a refund would work in the states.

I would also do some research here and on Apple's Boot Camp website.
 
u need to call microsoft, virtual PC is discontinued, and there will be no any version of VPC for intel mac.
 
Good luck getting a refund. You may want to try telling Microsoft you don't accept the EULA provided it was not shrink-wrapped with the product.
 
I'm adding a third recommendation for Parallels. I know you're new to Mac, so you've likely never seen Virtual PC on a PPC-base Mac... but it was dog-slow (understandably). Parallels runs extremely fast since it doesn't have to emulate the actual processor instructions - it's smokin' in comparison to Virtual PC.

Really for most people Boot Camp is overkill. Unless you need full graphics card support (basically want to run the latest high-demand games), you will find Parallels meets your needs. You can go to their website and download a trial version to be sure it'll do what you want, too - so you're not out anything if it ends up not fitting the bill for you.
 
Westside guy said:
I'm adding a third recommendation for Parallels. I know you're new to Mac, so you've likely never seen Virtual PC on a PPC-base Mac... but it was dog-slow (understandably). Parallels runs extremely fast since it doesn't have to emulate the actual processor instructions - it's smokin' in comparison to Virtual PC.

Really for most people Boot Camp is overkill. Unless you need full graphics card support (basically want to run the latest high-demand games), you will find Parallels meets your needs. You can go to their website and download a trial version to be sure it'll do what you want, too - so you're not out anything if it ends up not fitting the bill for you.
Click to expand...

I gotta agree. I need XP for a few apps and I don't game on my laptop so I only needed basic functions in XP. Also, I don't need them continuously, but only occasionally. Parallels was the exact fit for me and works perfect. I think most people's use is more common with Parallels than bootcamp, but hey, free is free.
 
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