New MacBook Pro - Tips Before Installing Windows

[techie00]

Hi guys,

Just brought myself a MacBook Pro 13":

2.66ghz intel core to duo
4gb ram
320hd
MAC OS X 10.6.3
+ the normal gadgets

After using it for a couple of weeks, im really glad i made the move to apple and really pleased with the quality and performance of this machine.

I'm about to install windows 7 and thought i'd ask you guys for advice:

1: Im looking to install windows 7, do i need Home, Professional or Ultimate? (My inclination is Professional) - I will be using Windows to develop C++ and .Net applications and will more than likely upgrade the RAM to 6/8 in the near future.

2: After reading the BootCamp 'How-To' and several other threads, i am confused as to whether or not i need an external keyboard and mouse to install the software?

3: Finally, can you offer any tips or advice?

Thanks guys

 

[TheFarmer]

Hi guys,

Just brought myself a MacBook Pro 13":

2.66ghz intel core to duo
4gb ram
320hd
MAC OS X 10.6.3
+ the normal gadgets

After using it for a couple of weeks, im really glad i made the move to apple and really pleased with the quality and performance of this machine.

I'm about to install windows 7 and thought i'd ask you guys for advice:

1: Im looking to install windows 7, do i need Home, Professional or Ultimate? (My inclination is Professional) - I will be using Windows to develop C++ and .Net applications and will more than likely upgrade the RAM to 6/8 in the near future.

2: After reading the BootCamp 'How-To' and several other threads, i am confused as to whether or not i need an external keyboard and mouse to install the software?

3: Finally, can you offer any tips or advice?

Thanks guys

1. This is up to you and what your software is compatible with. If you need to run XP compatibility software you will need Professional or better.

2. You should not need an external keyboard or mouse on a MBP to install via boot camp.

3. You'll be fine If you're really worried, have another computer with the boot camp instruction PDF up and running near you or just print the PDF out so you can refer to it if you run into anything you're unfamiliar with.

 

[techie00]

1. This is up to you and what your software is compatible with. If you need to run XP compatibility software you will need Professional or better.

I'll go with Professional then as Ultimate installs a number of other features i won't use.

Am i ok to download this version - http://www.software4students.co.uk/...fessional_64_bit_Upgrade_Edition-details.aspx (still have students access)

Just a bit worried because it advises that either Vista or XP should be installed first :S

2. You should not need an external keyboard or mouse on a MBP to install via boot camp.

Thanks for clearing that up.

3. You'll be fine If you're really worried, have another computer with the boot camp instruction PDF up and running near you or just print the PDF out so you can refer to it if you run into anything you're unfamiliar with.

PDF already printed

Thanks Farmer

 

[Derango]

I'll go with Professional then as Ultimate installs a number of other features i won't use.

Am i ok to download this version - http://www.software4students.co.uk/...fessional_64_bit_Upgrade_Edition-details.aspx (still have students access)

Just a bit worried because it advises that either Vista or XP should be installed first :S

Here's a fun little windows upgrade version tip. You can install windows 7 up to the point where it starts asking for the CD key. If it says the key isn't valid, restart everything...install again over your first install (don't format the partition, just install right over what you installed before) and it'll "upgrade" itself, making your key work.

 

[TheFarmer]

PDF already printed

Thanks Farmer

Another thing is, don't be afraid if you mess up (just don't format and install it on your Mac OS HD partition). If you mess up, you can always reformat your Windows partition and start over since you really don't have anything to lose during the first install anyway. Reformatting, reinstalling or removing the Windows partition is really easy with Boot Camp.

When I first did it a few years back, it took me a few tries to realize my version of XP I was installing didn't have the Windows Installer included on the disc (OEM XP Pro too WTF!) that I needed to format the Windows partition to make it work. Finally after five or six tries, I figured out I could use the Windows Installer on a friend's disc, format my Windows partition. Shut it down, restart the Boot Camp install over with my disc. What a hassle.

Too bad now with the 2011 models, you can't install XP via Boot Camp anymore Guess I will have to look into Parallels or hiddy up and purchase Windows 7.

 

[mghostsoft]

1: Im looking to install windows 7, do i need Home, Professional or Ultimate? (My inclination is Professional) - I will be using Windows to develop C++ and .Net applications and will more than likely upgrade the RAM to 6/8 in the near future.

2: After reading the BootCamp 'How-To' and several other threads, i am confused as to whether or not i need an external keyboard and mouse to install the software?

3: Finally, can you offer any tips or advice?

Thanks guys

1. Most likely, Home Premium would be enough. You can install any version of Visual Studio 2010 on it. But you can check this for more details about differences between editions of Windows 7: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions

2. No. The touchpad and internal keyboard works very well.

3. As far as I know, before installing Windows 7 with Boot Camp, you should keep your hard drive be only one partition. By using Boot Camp, another NTFS partition will be created. You can create up to one more partition in Mac OS X, but you may need to reinstall Windows by inserting the disk and choosing boot from CD. Unless using third-part tools, in Mac OS X, you can only read NTFS, and in Windows you can only read HFS+ after installing Boot Camp tools for Windows. If you want to share data between Mac OS X and Windows, one solution is using an FAT32 partition, which is less efficient than NTFS and HFS+ and weak fault tolerance.
If you decide to buy a full version of Windows 7, I recommend you to buy COEM ( http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premu...JO4M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1301430913&sr=8-3 ), which is less expensive than FPP.

Another solution is using a virtual machine software such as Parallels, but according to your computer's configuration, I don't recommend you to do that.

 

[squeakr]

Home should suffice unless you need domain support, then I would recommend Professional, as Home doesn't have sufficient Domain support.

 

[techie00]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I successfully installed W7 Pro (64-bit) yesterday. I was thinking to go with Home, but i would have had to of shed out a lot of cash for it whereas i can get Pro for free. Also, i will be upgrading the ram to 6/8gb in the coming months and have read Home won't accept this amount.

After a days use, im more than happy with how it's performing

Didn't think the install would be as easy as it was, but following Apple's Install .pdf and a couple of youtube videos it made things a lot easier.

 

[c1phr]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I successfully installed W7 Pro (64-bit) yesterday. I was thinking to go with Home, but i would have had to of shed out a lot of cash for it whereas i can get Pro for free. Also, i will be upgrading the ram to 6/8gb in the coming months and have read Home won't accept this amount.

Win7 Home Premium 64-bit will support up to 16gb of RAM. The only versions of Windows7 that doesn't support more than 4gb are all the 32bit versions (as a 32bit address space limitation) and Windows 7 Starter (which is 32 bit anyway, and you can only get it on a netbook).