Running Windows on a Mac: Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop & VMware Fusion

I don't really have the money for a new macbook pro, but I was thinking ebay is a possibility! idk what do you guys suggest, I kinda need to stay under $1000, if thats possible?

 

$1000 for a MBP? That would be really hard...and if anything I'd regard any eBay listing of a MBP under $1000 as a scam...probably the cheapest you'll be able to find is a Core Duo MBP for maybe $1200?

 

Really aww shame =(

 

Sticky Update

Just some renewed dates, taken out now-irrelevant information; noting that VMware Fusion's current deal of $20 rebate off Fusion is U.S. only and will expire on December 31, 2007.

Once again, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions regarding this guide or any other guide I have written/will write, feel free to PM me about it .

Post 4700...which is actually a little screwed up as I remember passing 4750 two days ago...

 

Just installed Fusion. Works pretty well. Solves the writing to and from NTFS issue. Allows me to use OneNote from the Mac.

I did not try to play my game, "Company of Heroes." I'll just use BootCamp to game.

I just upgraded to 3GB of ram, and it seemed beneficial. I tried Parallels under 2GB of ram a couple of months ago and things seemed a little cramped. Once Fusion got settled in, I could tell that while it probably would run fine with 2GB, it def benefited from 3gb.

On upgrading to 3GB ram... if there is any performance hit from losing the dual channel, I can't tell in normal use, and I can tell that the extra ram has been coming in handy in normal use, which after an hour or two means I have ~10 apps running... With the prices they way they are, I have to give 3GB of ram the BIG thumbs up.

If you have a newer MBP, consider the 4GB...

 

Just a question to you, count_schemula, do you actually find OneNote useful on non-tablets? I mean, why not just use Word? I don't really get the purpose of OneNote for non-tablets...or at least how its any more useful.

 

I do not like Microsoft software. I find it insulting. However, I really like OneNote. I use it to outline and refine ideas.

I leave a lot of the features that kids are prolly using in school on the table (tablet/handwriting, indexing notes to recording and recording) but as a simple projects/tabs/pages outlining/research/mindmap I really like it.

I have 1 business plan, 2 web site designs (outline, goals and research), 1 video production project, an outline of 20th Century Art (each tab a decade) and some ideas related to a film project in it.

In Word I would prolly end up using the outline feature, but that's in OneNote and I appreciate the tabs, pages and subpages metaphor.l

For whatever reason, I really like OneNote. I tried a lot of other braindump and mindmapping software and didn't like any of them. OneNote is like Word/Powerpoint but not as in the way. I find it lightweight and easy to organize.

 

I've got a windows on Macbook Pro question.

I've got XP installed on a bootcamp partition, and Parallels 3.0 running from the boot camp partition. This is a completely legal copy of XP, so let's be clear on that.

My question comes from an issue I'm having when switching between boot camp to virtual machine. I've got parallels set up to use 512mb ram, so every time I go from boot camp to parallels the hardware profile changes and causes Windows to want to be reactivated. It really sucks to have to call Microsoft and talk to non-english speaking people everytime I switch the way I run windows.

Is there any known way to bypass this?(I asked the microsoft representative, but that was just completely useless as there was no information about that on her script).

 

Maybe this was answered, but I really don't have time to sift through 20 pages and searching turned up zilch. I just downloaded a demo of Fusion and am trying to use my Boot Camp partition, but Fusion is asking for activation. Has anyone gotten XP to work in both Boot Camp and Fusion without needing to activate everytime?

 

That's what I just asked .

I asked the microsoft registration assistant, but she had no idea. I think I may call M$ tomorrow and try to talk with an English speaking person on the matter.

 

Hi, I just bought my first mac and am trying to install Windows XP on my macbook using bootcamp. I repeatedly get a stop error when trying to install XP. I have read that you should first create an image of the XP CD and then burn it to another CD. I have done that, but the burned CD isn't even recognized when I attempt to install XP. Can anyone help a frustrated novice? I need step by step instructions since I have never used a mac before.

 

I guess I'll just repeat what I said in the other thread. There is an Installation Guide (PDF). Does your copy of XP have Service Pack 2 (SP2)?

 

Sticky Update

Xander reminded me that I forgot to update the links to Boot Camp...I was still linking to the Beta articles . Anyways, the guide has been updated with links to Apple's new articles on Boot Camp now.

 

Congratulations Windows on a Mac Guide for passing 20'000 views! Thanks everyone .

 

Could you please add to the first page of this thread, the things that do not work with Boot Camp and Windows, especially gaming issues?

Some (most?) of them are mentioned in various places in the thread allready:

"the Apple Remote Control (IR), Apple Wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard or mouse, Apple USB Modem, MacBook Pro's sudden motion sensor, and MacBook Pro's ambient light sensor will not function correctly when running Windows"

"Mac OS X includes power management optimizations that are not available in Windows XP. Boot Camp does run down the battery faster than running OS X. Running the Mac on Windows also makes it hotter as well; however, this doesn't have much to do with the power management as much as it has to do with the default fan speed being set to 1000 RPM (OS X's default fan speed is 1800 RPM). And for now there is no way to adjust fan speeds in Windows. On OS X, there is an application called SMCFanControl to do this.

The Show Pointer Location animation doesn't work on MacBook or MacBook Pro running Windows XP."

 

Hi. New to the forum. Have read most of the 22 pages of this thread and it's been very helpful! Am purchasing a new macbook and want to set it up right in the first place. I want to be able to run both boot camp and VMWare Fusion, probably will choose Windows XP rather than Vista because I understand Vista is a memory hog, unstable, and won't support Unity in Fusion.
Question 1: If I format the Windows partition as NTSF (instead of FAT32), will I be able to work with the Windows volume while in OSX using Fusion? Or do I need to format as FAT32?
Question 2: Will I need to install Windows twice?

 

Dang it. My Vista activation was fine. Now it says I need to activate.

This is under VMware Fusion. In boot camp, this is not an issue.

 

hi i am wakikilady,and ithink that this is going to go a long way way to help since multi operating system users since it talks about two most used in the world.
but i have a question too .
i have an apple macbook G3 powerbook with 64mb memory and 9.21 mac os
can i run windows on it without mac on them

 

Hi wakikilady, and welcome to the forums .

Boot Camp only works with Intel-based Macs, and you say you have a Powerbook G3, so that can't run Boot Camp. Not to mention the specs...64 MB RAM isn't enough to run Windows XP properly, if at all. And you must have at least Mac OS X Leopard to have Boot Camp now, and you're still on Mac OS 9...so that won't work either.

Sorry .

 

Did you install VMware Tools, count_schemula?

 

1) I believe so. If I remember correctly, VMware Fusion and Parallels can access NTFS just fine.

2) No, you don't need to. After installing Windows via Boot Camp, you can just install VMware Fusion and tell it to use the Windows partition you created in Boot Camp.

 

Parallels will mount your C drive as a network share when Windows is running, and you can access it that way. There's also a drive explorer program you can access the filesystem with when Windows is not running. I'm sure Fusion has some means of accomplishing the same thing, if it's not the same method outright.

Certain functionality isn't available in Parallels though if you work off a bootcamp partition. Specifically, you can't use snapshots. I don't mean to imply that Fusion does allow snapshots from Bootcamp drives. I have to assume it doesn't, but I don't know that for a fact.

 

Hey guys, if I run boot camp, and I get a virus, will it affect the OS X side of the Macbook? What about VM Fusion? And how do I install a program/anti virus software in VM Fusion? Will it stay on there? Thanks

 

No, your OS X partition won't be affected by a Windows virus. Same thing with VMware Fusion. It may get into OS X, but it is useless in OS X and just won't activate. So nothing to worry about.

And its easier to make a Windows partition using Boot Camp, and just running VMware Fusion using the same partition .

 

So all the programs I installed on Boot Camp can be run on VMware?

 

Yes, its the same partition. Of course, gaming will depend on whether VMware Fusion supports it. But if you do plan to game, I would say game using Boot Camp, not virtually.

 

Yea, I was thinking the same. I plan to use boot camp for some occasional gaming, and use VM Fusion for Office 2007. Thanks

 

No problem .

 

NEW Boot Camp vs Parallels vs VMware Fusion Benchmarks

And both Fusion and Parallels have already been updated since these benchmarks were completed. I wonder how Vista SP1 and XP SP3 will change things. Note that you can already download both the Vista SP1 RC and XP SP3 RC.

 

Sticky Update

More up-to-date information, updated links, added Xander's link .

 

If I install Windows on my Mac, when I am not running Windows am i still subject to spyware/malware and those damn automatic updates?

 

No, when you are in OS X, Windows is not on at all. So no spyware, viruses, or "damn automatic updates" .

 

Im planning on buying a macbook pro for school and Im thinking of getting parallels in addition to bootcamp. Can i use the same partition for both?

 

Yes, you can direct Parallels and VMware Fusion to use the Boot Camp partition .

 

yeah but the same one?

 

they both get share a partition of,say, 50GB?

 

Yeah, the same partition. So just partition how much room you want Windows to have, and install Parallels and direct it to use the Boot Camp partition.

 

sam how come theres nothin on the quide about Q?

 

Y'know, I considered that (as well as giving a little info on Crossover Mac too), but I decided just to do the three big ones, Parallels, VMware Fusion and Boot Camp. Maybe later on, when I have time, I'll expand this .

 

That's a good idea. CrossOver Mac definitely deserves a mention. And maybe even some information about Darwine. For example, here is a guide from SimpleHelp: How to Install uTorrent [and other Windows Programs] on OS X.

 

Hey, have just read all the 24 pages, thanks for giving me the chance to prepare me for my new life, when i receive my Macbook Air ;o).

Could you guys try to solve this question i have ?

The plan is i need to run Win XP somehow, cause im unsure if Crossover is enough, as long i use Office with Outlook (Exchange) , lotus notes & Adobe Audition ?

If not, is it possible to install XP via bootcamp, i then guess, when i turn on the computer, i can choose between OSX or XP ?.

If i choose to start up in OSX, can i then start XP up with parallels/Fusion, and when i finish the session via parallels/fusion, reboot the machine, and then boot XP up, via bootcamp ? . So bootcamp is not exclusive bootcamp, but the system is also possible to virtualize, and then hit back to bootcamp ?

Thanks for alot of good info ;o)

// Kim

 

You can load Windows XP using the Boot Camp assistant, and then use a virtualization application such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels to run Windows XP (using the partition Boot Camp creates) while in the Mac OSX operating system. You'll then have the luxury of running Windows XP whenever you'd like.

 

Hey, just to be sure.....

If i install XP via Bootcamp, and then later install Parallels, and use XP via Parallels, then i can still "go back" and boot XP via bootcamp, and use the settings, there may have been changed via Parallels ?

My question should problaby be:

Is parallels using the same "XP-file" as bootcamp, or do it make a kind of converting, så bootcamp not working afterwards ?

Hey..... im new to Mac ;o)

// Kim

 

Hi Kim,

I'm not quite understanding, but I'll see if I'm interpreting the question right:

You can direct Parallels to use the same Windows partition that was created in Boot Camp, so that your applications, files, folders and settings that are created inside Boot Camp are the same in Parallels, and vice versa .

 

Hey Sam....

I know i kan start up parallels, by pointing to the bootcamp install.

Im just not if parallels is making some changes to the install, so i cant use Bootcamp after.

So.... can i use both bootcamp and parallels, depending on how i want to boot my XP ?

Thanks

// Kim

 

Ah, absolutely. You can use Boot Camp for Windows when you want to, and you can also use Parallels inside OS X when you want to. It doesn't change anything. You can use both, it doesn't render the other one unusable .

 

Cool cool cool

2-3 weeks is long time to wait....

Kim

 

If you create a Word file in Bootcamp (in Windows Partition), can you access to this file when you run OSX Parallels Window Word application and then continue editing the same Word file? Do you need a conversion or some short?

Do you need 2 licenses of the Windows, one in Bootcamp and one in Parallels?

 

Hi Sam1 (interesting username, by the way ),

Yes, you can continue using and editing that same Word file, if you directed Parallels to use the Boot Camp-created Windows partition.

And no, you don't need 2 licenses, one license will do .

 

Thanks for the reply. Just some more questions, does your above comments apply also to Tiger? I think probably not. If I upgrade from Tiger to Leopard does my old software still usable or I have to upgrade those software as well?