Tell me about Boot Camped Macs please!

fretmeister

I have a shiny Macbook Air that I use for work.

But I understand that I can install windows on it too and use it like any PC and swap between them.

Is this easy to do? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Will all Windows programs work on it then?

ta muchly!

guitarfishbay

I've not done it for years, but in my experience it worked really well, and Windows mode works as normal.  If nothing has changed you just hold the correct key when you power on (forgotten it!) and you pick whether to boot Mac or Windows.

You'll have to partition your hard drive for it IIRC, so make sure you have enough space.

Axe_meister

Unless you want to use windows for gaming, I actually prefer to virtualise. Run windows under virtual box or even better Parallels.

fretmeister

Axe_meister said:

Unless you want to use windows for gaming, I actually prefer to virtualise. Run windows under virtual box or even better Parallels.

I like the way you think I know what that means!

TTony

fretmeister said:

But I understand that I can install windows on it too and use it like any PC and swap between them.

Is this easy to do? Any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Will all Windows programs work on it then?

Its how I've got my MBA set up.

Easy to do - yes.

Pitfalls

- you need a separate Windows licence (cost c£40).   I'm running mine with Win7 Pro and now have no issues.  

- you need to be *very* careful to download the correct version of Bootcamp for your OSX/Win combination.  I had no end of problems with Win updates initially because I'd got an incorrect version of Bootcamp.

- switching between OSX and Win is effectively a reboot, so it's not as quick as (eg) Parallels.

All Windows programs will then run on it (provided you've got the disc/Ram/etc specs).

I initially set mine up with Parallels, but didn't like that so much, so went to Bootcamp.  IIRC, you don't get the full functionality of the Windows OS under Parallels, and you've got another set of updates (ie Parallels itself) to keep on top of.

fretmeister

Lovely.

I've ordered an official refurb Win7 Pro disk so when it arrives I'll get stuck in

monquixote

If you combine bootcamp and parallels you have the choice of booting into Windows or running Windows apps within OSX. 

Grunfeld

fretmeister said:

Lovely.

I've ordered an official refurb Win7 Pro disk so when it arrives I'll get stuck in

Can I ask where from?  I need one of these and an initial look yielded iffy results.  I have no desire at all to go Win 8. I've got the key to my existing Win 7 pro machine but it wasn't supplied with a disc.  When I want to rebuild it I'll need one.

fretmeister

Amazon!

johnnyurq

Grunfeld said:

fretmeister said:

Lovely.

I've ordered an official refurb Win7 Pro disk so when it arrives I'll get stuck in

Can I ask where from?  I need one of these and an initial look yielded iffy results.  I have no desire at all to go Win 8. I've got the key to my existing Win 7 pro machine but it wasn't supplied with a disc.  When I want to rebuild it I'll need one.

@Grunfeld

If you have a genuine COA with a Windows 7 number then it is perfectky keage to download and burn a Win 7 disk from these ISO files.

Just match the version that is on the COA with the links below and robert is your avuncular relative.

Microsoft will also send you a disk if you show them the COA, they used to only charge a nominal amount for a disk and postage.

I would be happy to do a copy from my OEM Master disks and snail mail it to you if needed.

Again it is the COA that is the license and important part so as long as you have that it is perfectly legal, I have done it for many customers/clients and MS are happy for it to be done like that.

The only possible PITA is maybe having to authenticate and lcense it via the MS Windows regtistration site and worse case scenario you have to talk to a dweeb, but it is mostly automated wiht you popping in the 25 digit key on the COA license Sticker

Download the corresponding edition of Windows 7 you have a license for from the following link. You can identify the edition on COA sticker attached to your machine, with at bottom or battery compartment (laptop) or top/side if its a desktop computer.

COA Certificate of Authenticity:

http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=coa

What is the Windows Certificate of Authenticity?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Certificate-of-Authenticity

• Windows 7 Home Premium (x86) - 32 bit

• Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) - 64 bit

• Windows 7 Professional (x86) - 32 bit

• Windows 7 Professional (x64) - 64 bit

• Windows 7 Ultimate (x86)* - 32 bit

• Windows 7 Ultimate (x64)* - 64 bit

If the links don't work here is the support site they are from.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/digital-river-windows-7-iso/618efa8a-24b5-458e-b1c6-24c7ba828099

Save yourself a few bucks, you know it makes sense.

Grunfeld

@johnnyurq Thank you!  That is brilliant.

I love this place!

johnnyurq

No worries @Grunfeld glad to have helped.

And yes I love this place too.

fretmeister

My windows disk has arrived, so I'll get stuck in this evening.

guitarcookie1

fretmeister said:

My windows disk has arrived, so I'll get stuck in this evening.

I'd be interested to know how this works out. I've a load of windows only software for work but would love to use a MacBook Air for the portability, battery life, etc.

fretmeister

I'll let you know.

Doing at the mo.

fretmeister

@guitarcookie1

Bootcamp set up completed.

Was pretty painless actually, the online guides (need another screen active on something, or print it) were great.

Only got Chrome and MSE installed so far. I'll do my work stuff tomorrow.

My Mac is a newer one without a DVD drive - so I used an external one. You still need a Memory stick plugged in as well. You mkae an iso of Windows and install from there. the memory stick gets used to hold all the drivers and Apple Boot Camp support software during the installation. When you are done you take off the memory stick.

I've only really done it because of a few issues I have in Mac Excel and some freebie pdf stuff that works so much better than the Mac equivalent.

I've split my drive in half, but with 512GB I should be fine for both sides.

guitarcookie1

@fretmeister ;

Have you got any other windows stuff up & running, is it working ok?

fretmeister

Well, like an absolute tool I installed a few bits from the web before installing anti-Malware and anti-virus on the windows side.

Got a trojan that kept coming back after Malwarebytes kept killing it. Couldn't shift it. Totally my fault as I didn't notice I was downloading VLC media player from a 3rd party site rather than the proper one.

I hadn't installed anything important and as the Trojan is windows only so I've done the drastic fix, deleted Windows, and reformatted that half of the drive and killed everything.

So now I need to run bootcamp from scratch again. Which I haven't done yet - probably tonight though.

But up to that point it was going very well!

This time round it will be - install windows, then activate MSE, then the pro trial of Malwarebytes and then look for other stuff I want!

I am very annoyed at myself - I'm far more used to Windows and I wouldn't have even thought about doing something that stupid on my PC.

guitarcookie1

Doh.. At least it was a straightforward, if time consuming, fix.

TTony

guitarcookie1 said:

@fretmeister ;

Have you got any other windows stuff up & running, is it working ok?

I've got a MBA that's bootcamped with Win7 Pro, and a whole load of standard Windows software (Office, Visio, Project, and a loads of smaller stuff) running with no issues.

fretmeister

Yeah. At least I discovered it before installing all my work stuff.

I'll set it up later on while I'm watching a film and let it get on with it. It's 95% automatic after you get the .iso image done.