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Windows 7 install worry

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Ferret71

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 14, 2011
2
0
Hello all,

Firstly sorry for asking such a daft question but im new to computers and have just bougt a macbook pro 15” with the 4gb ram and te 1gb graphics card.

My question is that my son wants to play his pc games on the mac as our old laptop has sort of died. Now I know that I can buy windows 7 and install using something called bootcamp what my concern is, how easy/painless is this process before I go out and spend more money on windows 7 and is there any pitfalls I need to be aware off.

I realise I may be worried over nothing but I don’t want to ruin a very expensive macbook as im not very savvy when it comes to computers and it slightly concerns me that I could mess up the new macbook.

Thank you in advance.
 
There's nothing to worry about. I have Windows 7 installed on my 13" MacBook Pro and it works like a treat. The install process is is painless and is actually far quicker than installing Mac OS X.

The only thing to take note of is when it comes to select the partition to install Windows on, you'll have to format it to NTFS, as Boot Camp will format it as FAT32. You can find the Format command under Drive Options (advanced) on the screen when you pick the partition.

Once you've installed Windows, install the Boot Camp drivers from your OS X disc and you're good to go. Run Apple Software Update to make sure you have the latest drivers. You won't have to worry about Windows ruining Mac or Mac ruining Windows as they can't write to each other.
 
Ferret71 said:
Hello all,

Firstly sorry for asking such a daft question but im new to computers and have just bougt a macbook pro 15” with the 4gb ram and te 1gb graphics card.

My question is that my son wants to play his pc games on the mac as our old laptop has sort of died. Now I know that I can buy windows 7 and install using something called bootcamp what my concern is, how easy/painless is this process before I go out and spend more money on windows 7 and is there any pitfalls I need to be aware off.

I realise I may be worried over nothing but I don’t want to ruin a very expensive macbook as im not very savvy when it comes to computers and it slightly concerns me that I could mess up the new macbook.

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Nope, nothing to it. The mac should have an application called "Bootcamp Assistant", which allows you to prep the machine for a windows install. Bootcamp assistant will ask you how much space you want to allocate for windows, and then you basically restart the machine with the win7 disc in and hit install. A few key points:

1) When the windows installer asks what partition to format, MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE ONE TITLED "BOOTCAMP". It should tell you that it is about the same size as how much you allocated in Bootcamp assistant. If you don't install on the Bootcamp partition, you will erase OS X most likely.

2)Once the install is complete, you will need to install the drivers for the computer in windows. The drivers are found on Disc 1 that came with your Mac, it should be titled "Mac OS X Install DVD".

3)By default, installing windows will force the computer to boot into windows when the computer is turned on. Pressing the "Alt/Option" key on startup will allow you to boot your computer into OS X or Windows. On the Mac side, if you open SystemPreferences->Startup Disk, clicking on "Macintosh HD" or whatever the mac side is called will tell the computer to automatically boot into OS X when the computer is turned on.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for your quick replies. I will pick windows 7 up tonight and run the boot camp tomorrow evening. I have also printed off the superb guide.

Just to be clear
"The only thing to take note of is when it comes to select the partition to install Windows on, you'll have to format it to NTFS, as Boot Camp will format it as FAT32. You can find the Format command under Drive Options (advanced) on the screen when you pick the partition"

Can this be done during the installation??, do i need to do this before i continue or is it all part of the process?

Regards
 
Ferret71 said:
Can this be done during the installation??, do i need to do this before i continue or is it all part of the process?
Click to expand...
This is what is described on page 8 of the PDF guide under the heading "Selecting and Formatting the Windows Partition"

B
 
If your really worried you can buy software to run windows without rebooting.

I use Parallels sure its a few quid, but as i remember you just have to start it select a couple of options and put in the windows disk.

Nothing to it
 
Ferret71 said:
my son wants to play his pc games on the mac
Click to expand...

TheDrift- said:
If your really worried you can buy software to run windows without rebooting.

I use Parallels sure its a few quid, but as i remember you just have to start it select a couple of options and put in the windows disk.

Nothing to it
Click to expand...

VM solutions are usually not the best solution for gaming. Office, Programming, etc... sure, but not so much for gaming.

B
 
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