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running 64 bit windows ( XP or Vista) on Macbook

M

mossyfiber12

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 5, 2008
5
0
Hi,

I have a 2.2 GHz Macbook Core 2 duo with 4 GB of 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.

I have read that bootcamp "officially" only supports 32 bit windows for the Macbook. However, I was wondering whether anyone has been able to dual boot with either of the 64 bit windows. I am only interested in bootcamp as it offers native speed unlike parallel and vmware. I will not need access to two-finger scrolling, iSight, and wireless internet while I am logged onto windows.

Is it possible to download the drivers for the XP/Vista 64 from online and then force bootcamp to dual boot with one of the 64 bit versions?

using 32 bit is not an option due to the markedly improved performance of the software in 64 bit windows.

Thanks for your help!
 
Vista x64 can work with x86 (32bit) drivers if you boot it into unsigned drivers mode, but that doesn't mean it's happy.

The system will run fine as it's on an Intel CPU but there is no guarantees that you can use things like the trackpad and the iSight without the drivers.

I strongly recommend using the x86 version of Vista as it'll be far easier to work with driver wise and will utilize 3.5Gb of RAM (only lose out on 0.5Gb)
 
Just to clear up this issue.

Bootcamp does two things, it allows you to partition your harddrive in OSX and it contains drivers for your apple hardware.

Bootcamp has nothing to do with the Mac's ability to boot any version of windows.

Basically you don't actually need bootcamp to install windows on a Mac, you only need the custom drivers it contains which you install after windows is running on your Mac.

You can install x64 windows on a Mac (as long as the mac is 64bit). There are drivers (un)officially available for Vista 64 from apple for the Mac Pro which work on some versions of the Macbook. XP 64 will work too but there are no official drivers from apple for it.
 
Well.... according to Apple only Pro Macs can run any 64bit Windows version!
 
Apple Ink said:
Well.... according to Apple only Pro Macs can run any 64bit Windows version!
Click to expand...

That may be according to apple but I know for a fact that people have installed 64bit os's on macbooks, we have at my work for testing. However, it's horror trying to get all the drivers to work.
 
KoolStar said:
That may be according to apple but I know for a fact that people have installed 64bit os's on macbooks, we have at my work for testing. However, it's horror trying to get all the drivers to work.
Click to expand...

And I'm discouraging you because it WAS DEFINITELY a NIGHTMARE for me to get it to work on my travel companion MB...... after I myself installed it perfectly on my two MBPs...... took a while to find out that Apple doesnt support MBs and you have to personally mod the drivers! Was pulling my hair out at that time!
 
Apple Ink said:
And I'm discouraging you because it WAS DEFINITELY a NIGHTMARE for me to get it to work on my travel companion MB...... after I myself installed it perfectly on my two MBPs...... took a while to find out that Apple doesnt support MBs and you have to personally mod the drivers! Was pulling my hair out at that time!
Click to expand...

I absolutely know what you mean. We at work spent a better part of week getting 64bit vista on a MacBook. My personal Macbook I have Vista Business 32-bit, and i can live with the 3.5gb of Ram. I never want to go through that mess again.
 
Apple Ink said:
And I'm discouraging you because it WAS DEFINITELY a NIGHTMARE for me to get it to work on my travel companion MB...... after I myself installed it perfectly on my two MBPs...... took a while to find out that Apple doesnt support MBs and you have to personally mod the drivers! Was pulling my hair out at that time!
Click to expand...

It would be very nice of you to post the modded drivers for the OP :)
 
Apple Ink said:
Well.... according to Apple only Pro Macs can run any 64bit Windows version!
Click to expand...

That is because the OS restore CDs for the (2008) Mac Pros and MacBook Pros include the drivers for Vista x64. I have seen where folks have extracted those drivers from the (2008) Mac Pro restore CDs and posted them on the web, but I have not tried them (since I have a [2008] MacBook Pro with the drivers).

Now Apple might very well have a "system check" in the Boot Camp Assistant drivers installation program that prevents it running on MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Minis, but it should be possible to boot in "Unsigned" or "Safe" mode and then manually install the drivers. Also, some sites list the drivers necessary that can be downloaded directly from the component OEMs (Intel, Broadcom, nVidia/ATI) to enable at least much of the functionality.
 
I for one highly discourage 64-bit OSs until there is 64-bit software for the consumer. But the reason people usually buy macs, ... is to experience the Mac. But that's just my 2 cents...

Anyway, macbook/air/mini/imac = no no but macbook pro/mac pro = yes yes. Stick with 32-bit windows, it should be good enough.
 
CWallace said:
Also, some sites list the drivers necessary that can be downloaded directly from the component OEMs (Intel, Broadcom, nVidia/ATI) to enable at least much of the functionality.
Click to expand...

Do you know where to find these driver/websites? I am too very very interested in installing Windows XP 64 bit on my MBP
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
I for one highly discourage 64-bit OSs until there is 64-bit software for the consumer. But the reason people usually buy macs, ... is to experience the Mac. But that's just my 2 cents...

Anyway, macbook/air/mini/imac = no no but macbook pro/mac pro = yes yes. Stick with 32-bit windows, it should be good enough.
Click to expand...

Highly discourage? OSX is 64bit, do you discourage that too? I highly encourage the use of 64bit windows, if more people use it then the manufacturers have to start supporting it. It's the chicken and egg scenario, no one will support it because no one uses it and no one uses it because there is no support...

CWallace said:
Also, some sites list the drivers necessary that can be downloaded directly from the component OEMs (Intel, Broadcom, nVidia/ATI) to enable at least much of the functionality.
Click to expand...

rrijkers said:
Do you know where to find these driver/websites? I am too very very interested in installing Windows XP 64 bit on my MBP
Click to expand...

Well... Intel drivers are on the Intel website, Broadcom drivers are on the broadcom website, nVidia drivers are on the nVidia website and um ATi drivers... well they are confusingly* on the AMD website (which you get redirected to after you go to the ATi website).

* Not confusing though when you remember that AMD bought ATi.
 
Thanks for everyone for your feedback. Its really helpful to hear from experienced users such as yourself. It would be great if someone could post the modded drivers :)
 
rrijkers said:
These do not work, you have to have Apple signed nVidia drivers, so whats next? Laptop2go drivers? these give me headaches...
Click to expand...

You don't need apple signed drivers. You just need drivers which include Apples specific hardware ID in the .inf file. You can mod this by hand if you know what you are doing. I did it for years with my old laptop. It's quite easy. You just copy and paste from an apple nvidia driver .inf to the standard nVidia driver.
 
Windows XP only uses 1.95 GIG of Ram on WinTel machines

My big problem with Windows XP 32 bit is that only 1.95 Gigs is seen and useable by Windows! I understand its a restriction caused by the "simulated BIOS" that runs with Boot Camp. OSX doesn't have a BIOS so the designers came up with something that works as one. However you can not see but 1.95 Gigs of RAM no matter how much is in there. This is my biggest disappointment with my MacPro. I can't use more than two gigs of memory in After Effects.

If you go to the Mac side, its all there. I have 4 GIG. I thought I would not see more in Vista 32 bit. If anyone knows for sure that Vista 32 DOES in fact show 3.5 gig in System Properties, please let me know.
 
virtualcharley said:
My big problem with Windows XP 32 bit is that only 1.95 Gigs is seen and useable by Windows! I understand its a restriction caused by the "simulated BIOS" that runs with Boot Camp. OSX doesn't have a BIOS so the designers came up with something that works as one. However you can not see but 1.95 Gigs of RAM no matter how much is in there. This is my biggest disappointment with my MacPro. I can't use more than two gigs of memory in After Effects.

If you go to the Mac side, its all there. I have 4 GIG. I thought I would not see more in Vista 32 bit. If anyone knows for sure that Vista 32 DOES in fact show 3.5 gig in System Properties, please let me know.
Click to expand...

While i won't argue with the 1.95GB limit (I don't have a machine with more than 2GB), i will argue with this line:

"caused by the "simulated BIOS" that runs with Boot Camp"

Boot camp has, and has never had, anything to do with the BIOS on Intel Mac's. This upgraded firmware was released the same time as the original bootcamp but was totally seperate.
 
Installing Vista or XP 64-bit on a Macbook is neither difficult nor time consuming.

If you hear anyone say otherwise, they have not researched it enough.

All you need do is download the Boot Camp drivers for the Mac Pro. These contain the 64-bit drivers. You can download these from many places. I got mine from thepiratebay.com by seaching "boot camp drivers 64"

Second, to get the nvidia graphic drivers, you need only go to laptopvideo2go.com. They have the latest drivers that work flawlessly with your Macbook if it has the nvidia graphics chip. All you do is uninstall any driver that is already installed. Then use something like driver sweeper to remove any trace of the old drivers left behind. Then you install the new drivers straight from device manager.

On my macbook pro, I set up the partition with boot camp, installed vista, installed the boot camp drivers I downloaded, and installed the nvidia drivers with zero problems and in about the same amount of time any vista installation takes.

All features of my macbook pro work normally. isight camera, trackpad, wifi, lighted keyboard, cd eject button, etc., etc. Plus, now I can take advantage of the full 4 GB of memory. Don't settle for 32-bit when you can use 64.
 
Hi guys,

I'm trying to install Vista 64 (Home Premium) on my new 2008 iMac (nvidia graphics). I was under the assumption that since the Mac Pro supports Vista 64 and the iMac was released after the MP that the iMac would natively support 64 as well - but this is apparently not the case, as using the Mac OS X cd to install the BootCamp drivers gives me the 'must be running 32-bit windows' error.

I downloaded the 2.1 update from the above link (which is a single .exe) and also torrented the Mac Pro drivers and burned it all to a CD, then booted up in Vista. However, when I try to run the .exe, I just get the Vista progress ring animation for a long time and nothing seems to happen. I'm assuming I should just be able to execute that without having any bootcamp drivers previously installed - am I wrong?
 
Zortrium said:
Hi guys,

I'm trying to install Vista 64 (Home Premium) on my new 2008 iMac (nvidia graphics). I was under the assumption that since the Mac Pro supports Vista 64 and the iMac was released after the MP that the iMac would natively support 64 as well - but this is apparently not the case, as using the Mac OS X cd to install the BootCamp drivers gives me the 'must be running 32-bit windows' error.

I downloaded the 2.1 update from the above link (which is a single .exe) and also torrented the Mac Pro drivers and burned it all to a CD, then booted up in Vista. However, when I try to run the .exe, I just get the Vista progress ring animation for a long time and nothing seems to happen. I'm assuming I should just be able to execute that without having any bootcamp drivers previously installed - am I wrong?
Click to expand...

This thread should awnser your question https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/539299/ (It seeems you need some original 64-bit drivers on there before you can update)

Another thread that may be of some help http://forum2.xeeno.com/~forums/showthread.php?t=541481&mode=linear

This is what 'Spankey' did in the thread above (Copy and Pasted His reply in that thread)

I had the same problem loading Vista 64 bit on my iMac last night. Here is what to do.

Go this page:
http://andersonshatch.wordpress.com/...-vista-64-bit/

Download the 4 rar files and unrar them. Copy the folder created to your new installation of Windows on your Mac. Go to the Apple folder and you will see the Bootcamp setup. This runs the 64 bit Boot Camp installation. It will install drivers as well.

Then run the Apple software update in Windows. It should find the latest version of bootcamp and update your current version as well. Reboot and you are good to go.
Click to expand...
 
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