Comments on: Install Vista on a MacBook WITHOUT BootCamp

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 03:02:10 +0000

Billy,
You need GPT “GUID Partition Table” to use OSX. You need MBR for windows. To run both you need a bootloader like refit. Instal refit from within OSX then you can access both OSX and Windows partitions.

By: Billy

Billy — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:18:50 +0000

Hi,
I am lil confused with this. If I use MBR scheme would I still be able to install OSX on it or not? I guess OSX doesnt work on MBR partition table. It has to GUIDED or Apple. Please help.

By: heckler01

heckler01 — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:00:31 +0000

Hi Derek,
I installed like the way you said to, but on start up, between the white screen and the windows start up screen, is get a black screen with the flashing white bar on the top left hand corner (similar to what you would see on command prompt). Is this normal? It’s annoying because it seems like there is an added delay for no reason.

By: Ramona

Ramona — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 15:01:14 +0000

hi Derek!

Could you help me I have a macbook pro and once I deleted mac osx which was originally installed when I bought it. I would very like you to help me. I would like to install mac osx and vista as well with boot camp but once I could do that but I forgot how and when I try it and the end put my vista and would like to install it it says that NTFS could not installed or something like that.

I would be more than grateful if you could tell me step by step how should i do it.

By: selva

selva — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:34:12 +0000

For me it is entirely different! because i don’t have leopard installation disk and want install windows 7 on my macbook without using boot camp.

Here, what i did in my macbook late 2006 edition.
Step 1.
Open you Tiger, go to terminal window, type the command
“sudo diskutil resizevolume disk0s2 50G” (if you have one partition, even if you don’t know, just carryout, since always macbook have one System partition, one EFI Partition)
the above command shrink you mac OS X system partition to 50GB, if you want to keep your mac OS X system partition more space, simply modify the numeric part like “XXG”.

Step 2.
if it is successful (it must succeed to carry on further), then reboot your system using any Ubuntu live boot CD, for that you have to press & hold “C” before boing/bang sound in the boot sequence. (Forced boot from CD/DVD). After boot, go to system preference, administrative tools menu, click disk utility, Create new partition in FAT/NTFS file system and exit (if you want more than one partition, you can create here, but need only on NTFS/FAT partition)
The Step 2 is obsoletely necessary since, windows 7 / vista is not capable of creating partition in EFI (GUID boot) systems.

if both step 1 & 2 is success then you are ready to proceed installing windows 7 / Vista / XP (prefer windows 7, since, it automatically recognize most of the mac hardwares, including Airport, nothing but WLAN)

shutdown the ubuntu, it will automatically eject CD and it will ask to press enter key to shutdown. now put your windows boot DVD into drive & proceed to shutdown.

Step 3.
turn on the macbook while holding Alt/Option Key before boing/bank sound for 5 to 10 seconds and release. you will come up with graphic interface, now select windows CD icon. Then the windows 7 installation will begin. If the above procedure not working then hold down the “C” key while turn on your mac (Forced boot from CD/DVD??)

In installation menu select custom (Advanced), then select the FAT/NTFS partition we created in ubuntu, if if is NTFS no need to format, if it is FAT then format in NTFS file system. hereon everthing else is windows straight forwards procedure. when installation complete the windows 7 installation reboot. but don’t expect the macbook straightaway boot in windows 7, so prepared to holddown the alt/option key to boot windows, now you can see 2 harddrive icon in boot menu select the one says “windows” & complete the installation of windows 7 and again it will reboot and press & holdown for few seconds the option key and boot windows.

Now it will prepare windows for first time use.
Straightaway go to control panel press windows update. you may have some updates in optional component, like hardware, intel board infs etc, not necessarily the language component. complete it.

That’s it. you have working windows 7 OS in Mac.

Ps. some hardware like sound may not work, but graphic, Wi-fi (WLAN), LAN will perfectly work (95% of the hardwares). you can always google it for work around.

You always to press option button to enter windows 7, otherwise your system automatically boot in Mac OS X.

By: thanar

thanar — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:36:26 +0000

Mark, just press OPTION while restarting. It will present you with a GUI to select the OS you want.

By: jaco

jaco — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:36:26 +0000

for me everything seemed to be fine until I start to format to FSNT: when it gets to 2% it does not proceed any more. (I have been waiting for more than 30 minutes now)
Any hint?
Thanks, Jacopo

By: yain

yain — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:56:04 +0000

When I click apply to partition in the first part, it says that partitioning will permanently erase all the data from the disk, meaning my current hard drive… is that supposed to pop up? And will it really delete my hard drive?

By: CurtJ

CurtJ — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:36:12 +0000

Worked a treat for me on a new MacBook Pro (or whatever it’s called) using leopard 10.5 and Vista SP1 DVDs. An earlier bootcamp install was giving a BSOD on shutdown, and wifi was shonky.

This has sorted it out nicely – thanks Derek!

I am slightly concerned by a couple of posts here saying that the OSX install disk Vista drivers are a bit dodgy. If that’s the case, where can we locate better drivers for Vista, if at all possible?

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:46:45 +0000

Hey guys, i got a bit of a problem.

I got a macbook through work and dont have the osx disk. (dont worry, i DO have mac admin pass.)
Without knowing i needed the disk, i created a second partition (through bootcamp) and installed windows xp.
Using the mac startup utilities menu, i told it to reboot on the windows partition. Now i cant get back to the mac partition. windows cant even find it.
Pressing apple+s on startup does nothing.
Pressing F8 gets you into windows advanced starup options.

Please help me!!
Mark

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 20:06:48 +0000

VMWare and Parallels Desktop integrates Windows Vista or 7 with MacOS X

By: Travis

Travis — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:19:43 +0000

seriously, i want to know.
what the hell’s the point of VMware then?

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:27:16 +0000

The problem I am having is that I cannot read from the OSX Tiger 10.4 disc in Windows. It seems that 10.5 and higher is much more adaptable to installing Windows on a Mac.

Is there any way to create this Mac Driver disk without bootcamp (as the old version of bootcamp is no longer avaliable).

By: Travis

Travis — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:05:53 +0000

OH!
Well.
That’s my only beef with VMware.
If Bootcamp uses my graphics card then…
AWESOME!

Wth’s the point of VMware then?
lol

By: Alan Vallis

Alan Vallis — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:16:06 +0000

@ Travis
Windows in Bootcamp uses your GPU normally. It’s totally different to running a VM which uses a “virtual” GPU taken from the VM’s memory.
Windows in Bootcamp is not virtualized, it runs as normal – Vista runs very well on my Macbook.

By: Travis

Travis — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:54:23 +0000

That’s what I don’t want to do.
Does Bootcamp take advantage of my computer’s graphics card?
Because I have VMWare Fusion
and it doesn’t.
It uses a simulated graphics card that can’t compete with the Macbook’s, and I’m in college for video games. I have to have 3d.
So yea… Will it work? I can partition my hard drive and install both, right?
Because, like I said; if bootcamp doesn’t use my graphics card then I don’t want it.

By: Derek Hatchard

Derek Hatchard — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 01:03:30 +0000

Travis, if you want both OS X and Windows, you should use BootCamp rather than the technique documented here.

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:35:07 +0000

I’m going to do this, but I’m going to partition my hard drive.
I can then install OS X on one, and Windows on the other, right?
See, my problem is that I’ve been running windows on a virtual machine and it doesn’t take advantage of my macbook’s graphics card. It instead uses “simulated” 3d graphics, w/e that means.
My question is: Will my plan work? Can I have my cake AND eat it too?
Because I still want osx. I just want to boot into osx or windows separately. trick the computer into thinking it’s two people?

By: laurence

laurence — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:48:32 +0000

Thanks for the great details. I’ve successfully used the method to put Windows 7 on my Intel MacMini and iMac.

By: liang

liang — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:04:55 +0000

Technically, can I use my Macbook Pro 15″ Leopard Disc and overwrite the OSX 10.4 on my Macbook without a license and then run Bootcamp from the Macbook and install Windows 7?