Last night, I finally got Apple’s Boot Camp to work properly and dual-boot Windows XP SP2 Professional on my Intel Mac Mini. I ran into a few problems at first so I’ll go through my whole experience so that the same things don’t happen to you. Overall, my only regret was not giving Windows enough space as I found out it runs pretty darn fast.
Boot Camp Preparation
Before you can attempt Boot Camp you need to update your firmware, as mentioned in the Boot Camp instructional pdf, from apple.com/support/downloads. After installing Boot Camp and flashing the firmware you are going to want to make sure you have sufficient storage space for Windows. Boot Camp won’t even install unless you have 10GB free. I have an 80GB hard drive in my mini and attempted the Boot Camp process but was given several errors ranging from some files couldn’t be moved (prompting me to backup my drive, reinstall OS X and restore) to disk errors requiring me to reboot with the OS X disc and perform a disk repair.
Lots of Space
Before Boot Camp can partition your hard drive to accomodate for Windows, it has to allocate that space by moving all of your OS X files scattered throughout the disk, into one portion of the hard drive. If your hard drive is filled and fragmented, this can be a very challenging task for Boot Camp and will likely result in a few errors the first time around. Here’s what you can do. Delete stuff you don’t need and have more than enough space for your OS X partition and Windows Partition. My OS X partition had about 15GB free while the Windows partition was going to use 15GB total. If you really can’t find anything else to delete to make that space, turn to iTunes and look at your podcasts. I had subscribed to many video podcasts taking up gobs of space. I deleted a few, emptied the trash and had about 10 extra gigabytes. I would also recommend defragmenting your hard drive before attempting Boot Camp but that is not yet possible as the defragging application I use, iDefrag, isn’t yet compatible with Intel Macs. If I were able to defrag my hard drive before Boot Camp, I would have likely gotten away with smaller partitions and had no errors.
Close ALL Apps
When you open Boot Camp for the first time there is a small warning saying that you should close all applications. Apple really means it. I thought I could get away with having Adium and Firefox open, but 10 minutes through partitioning my hard drive I was given an error stating that some files couldn’t be moved as they were in use. So try to close everything, Quicksilver, Gmail Notifier, Safari, iTunes, things like that.
You will be greeted with a screen like this once Boot Camp has done its work.
Windows XP Installation
Once the window above pops up, choose start installation after ensuring you have a working Windows XP SP2 Home or Pro disc with a cd-key, as well as the Macintosh drivers CD that Boot Camp prompted you to burn earlier. I popped onto my MSDN Academic Alliance account through Georgia Tech and got a Windows disc before continuing. Insert the Windows disc and click Start Installation.
NTFS versus FAT32
Everything should progress nicely with the Windows installation, I was surprised that even my Bluetooth wireless keyboard worked fine during the installation. You don’t need to hit F6 to install any drivers, as is almost per usual with other PC motherboards utilizing non-chipset RAID or SATA controllers. After some of the menus and pressing F8 to agree with the installation terms, you will be given an ultimatum – use the NT filesystem or FAT32. There are some pros and cons for each so I’ll just make a little list.
- Pros
- FAT32: You can access your Windows partition from within OS X.
- NTFS: Metadata support and overall speediness.
- Cons
- FAT32: It’s not as fast as NTFS and you can’t see OS X in Windows regardless.
- NTFS: Can’t be accessed from within OS X.
I went with a FAT32 filesystem as I found the ability to access the Windows parition in OS X rather attractive. I’m usually in OS X so when I’ve been assigned a programming homework, I’ll download that file and place it on my Windows drive, where all my coding is done.
Another option you have is to perform a quick format or a full format. A full format takes much longer and 0’s out all of the data on the partition where as a quick format only erases the information on the TOC, or table of contents, at the beginning of the hard drive – not touching any physical data on the partition. If you have the time, a full format is safer and ensures disk health. A quick format relies on the new data overwriting the current data on the disk but this can sometimes cause system instability if it gets confused, which happens.
Done
After XP booted for the first time, I put in the Mac drivers disc and let it install. Everything works fine, although Windows doesn’t know what to do with my iSight and the keypad on my Apple wireless keyboard isn’t active. The coolest thing, however, is the boot loader. By default OS X will boot up, although this can be changed (look at the Boot Camp pdf). To select another OS, holding down the alt key upon boot, select the OS you wish to use for this session and hit enter. If you’ve attempted a Boot Camp install, leave a comment and let me know how it turned out.
Boot Camp’s nifty boot loader
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Nice. I’ll be sure to check this out when I get a mac.
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You made it look easy there Paul. I am yet to give it a shot. I may tackle it this weekend since it is extended. Going home for the holiday?
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I’m on the Greek Orthodox Easter which is the weekend after, but no I’ll be at school either way. =/
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What dedication!
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Heh, home is a 12-14 hour drive or a ~$200+ plane ticket. I only check out during major holidays.
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Ouch! I think I would be sticking around school too. You can always call home.
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Hi paul, have you tried
Parallels virtualization software. From what I read, people claim it is pretty fast. Here is a link to a youtube video.
I just got my macbook pro and am just downloading xp sp2 from MSDN.
Here is a link a video of Paralles in action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC_DuAUTHWI&search=parallels
Drop me a line if you try it out.
Keep up the good work,
Gary
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Hey Gary,
Yes I have attempted Parallels. While installing XP it gave my system a kernel panic. I tried again.. kernel panic. Then I got Boot Camp to work and never really looked back.
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Thanks for the quick response. Well I’m going to try it out. The though of having both run at the same sounds really promising. The only reason I need windows is for my eBay software to re-list my items automatically and keep track of inventory and some small .Net apps I use for barcode generation, otherwise I would be 100% Mac. How is boot camp working out for you? Any problems?
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Hi Paul, I got it work on the mac. After I had to search for about an 30 minutes for this one little detail. On my new MacBook Pro you had to press ” F8 = Continue Installation on windows.”
Turns out, on Parallels you had to click FN+ F8. Duhhhh!!!!
At any rate i got it up and working but the networking doesn’t work. It can’t see the router or my other computers. I posted in their forum so hopefully someone will be to come up with a solution.
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Hi Paul, how are you finding the Mini?
I’m looking for a computer to conect to our LCD HDTV which has inputs for a computer. So basically it wouldn’t be used as our main computer but would be as a media player connected to our hifi and for slide shows/light web browsing etc.
Now that the intel macs can have windows too, I’m seriously considering the mini as an option (previously wasn’t an option as all our software is windows based).
Do you think the Mini would be a good option as a basic media Player/web browser, or for the price is it overkill?
My install was without a hitch. Bluetooth is working as well as my wireless Apple mouse but can’t get the keyboard to work. Bluetooth see’s it and shows it connected but it won’t work!
Try turning your keyboard off then on, that’s what seems to work for me.
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Another disadvantage to using FAT32: you can’t have files bigger than 4GB, which could potentially be a big problem if you intend to use XP for producing DVD images, or downloading Linux distros on DVD, or whatever. Not sure why you’d want to do within Windows rather than OS X, but never mind…
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Installed with NTFS and OSX sees it just fine. Can browse, copy, etc… Nothing else is installed, boot camp was the first thing I did when i brought the duo home. No need for old school FAT32.
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RT, you can read just can’t write.
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Agree with the problem of file size limit on FAT32. 4GB is less than 1/2 hour of ATSC TV recording and probably smaller than some .vob files from ripped DVDs.
Why I need to view/record ATSC in Windows is because I’m switching and have an ATSC USB tuner that’s only supported under Windows. That’ll have to do until I can afford an eyeTV 500.
Why I want to rip and store DVDs in Windows is because I use TheaterTek with PureVideo codecs and ffdshow for viewing. I’ve heard DVD Player on OS-X isn’t near the quality. Maybe I’ll get used to it.
In the meantime, I’ll be able to view the NTFS files read-only from OS-X.
Can anyone help me, bootcamp sayss it partition the hardrive but the partition is nowhere to be found. when i go to disk utility it says that it can mount the partition. Has anyone had the same problem, if so what can i do?
Hi,
I’ve been reading a couple of pages about installing winXP on a mac, but i can’t create that winXP+sp2 cd. I’ve tried a couple of times with two different methods, never worked. I always get a message about checking if the path is ok or if any error occurs during the process. I read somewhere on the net that I may not be able to do that famous cd because my winXP cd comes from a major distributor (like Dell, HP,…)
I’m not a deep insane geek in cpu, so if anyone can help me that would be great. You know, something like a walk through, or even better a place to d/l the whole deal.
Thanks
Paul,
I’m trying to install boot camp on my MacBook Pro, but I get a message that I need to update my firmware. I’ve done that! It’s SMC Version 1.2f10 and my OSX is 10.4.7. My entire machine is up to date, yet when I run the boot camp assistant i still get “You must update your computer’s firmware before using this setup assistant.” Any ideas? Seen this before?
Thanks–
Stu
The Software Update in Mac OS-X does not find and install Firmware Updates. There was a firmware update 1.0.1 that came out well before the SMC update. Find it at Apple’s download site and install it and you’ll be good for Boot Camp.
Hi there
Same problem as Moe. When I try to install the 1.0.1 update that you sugested. I get a message saying that my computer does not need the update, yet everytime I try to run bootcamp I get the message saying that I need the latest firmware update. Anybody had the same problem?
i got the same problem as milo, but iwth and imac, i have the latest smc update but it wont run boot camp, help plz!!
is there a way i can give more hard drive space to my windows partition after i went through the installation process? at the time i didn’t have much space but i’ve cleared room on my macintosh hard drive and am wondering if i can transfer any over to the windows side?
thanks in advance
Have you heard of anyone having problems accessing certain web sites after installing win xp on a mac. I installed boot camp, and installed win xp (it was an oem disk) but the installation went fine. But when I go to my alma mata’s website http://www.utep.edu and click on the athletics link, I get a page cannot be displayed error. I have uninstalled and reinstalled but no solution. I asked my local mac store rep and his system works fine. So, I think I might just have a bad win xp sp2 disk, but again I get no error messages on installation. If I boot in OSX and access the page through Safari it works fine. Just for grins I tried loading mozilla and netscape but got the same errors. I went to Microsofts website, looked at several articles related to the error and tried changing the Firewall settings as suggested by one article to allow exceptions to ports 443 80, I downloaded and ran a winsock repair utility program, I tried pinging the ip address of the server but it failed. I then read a technical article about certificate authentication, found it very difficult to follow. My conclusion is that my OEM disk is somehow at fault, but before I go spend $199 for a new disk I was hoping that someone might have experienced this and solved it????
Paul,
Just installed Boot Camp on a Mac Mini Solo (2G RAM). Got a couple of Kernal Panics at startup of MacOS, do you have any idea why? Also, I guess I didn’t name the partition when I created it, so it says ‘untitled’. Is there anyway to change the name of the partition that shows up on the desk top hard drive icon?
Thanks
I’ve installed Boot camp and windows xp on my new imac but for some bizarre reason when in windows i can’t download Firefox from the firefox website. The windows file wont download but have no problem downloading the version for the mac. Has anyone else encountered this issue? some help would be great because this is doing my head in :(
I managed to download and install Opera 9 without any problems at all using windows xp on the mac.
Hey,
I’m trying to install windoes on my new macbook. My bluetooth kboard doesn’t work in the windows installer, as the instructions said, but I’ve tried 4 external usb kboards and none of them worked. Please help!!!
Thanks,
Ian
Hello,
Just tried to partition hard drive for Windows XP, but it won’t let me partition HD saying that it has to be repaired. When I went to repair disk through “utilities”, Repair button was not lit up at all, even if I inserted my instalation disk.
What to do next?
Thanks, Marin
I have had only two problems after installing Windows XP using Boot Camp 1.1.2 Beta on my 20″ Imac Intel. The Clock is messed up every time I switch OS. (this has been addressed in previous posts), and my bluetooth keyboard and mouse must be reinstalled every time I startup in Windows. Anyone have this problem or know a solution?
Hi
can anyone help?!! I’m a new apple user in fact i only bought the compute a few days ago, I also bought parallels as I need windows for some work packages, but as mentioned in other posts it has its limitations. I’m going to try and use bootcamp but the windows xp cd i have doesnt have sp2 on it, can i still use it, i know apple tell you to use the sp2 version, but i dont want to have to spend £100plus when ive already spent loads!! is there anything i can do with my current disc??
pls help
shaz
I have a MacBook Pro 2.16ghz dual core processor’s brand new out of box, updated to 10.4.8, updated all firmware, checked SMC value against apple web site before loading xp 2nd addition. I’ve attempted to install several times but keep getting an error that the windows installation has been stopped to protect the computer, so windows never gets loaded, the error message is *00000006* which indicates an optical drive issue on a windows machine. I never get the chance to choose FAT of NFTS. The message occurs after windows has placed the drivers on the machine and then says loading windows. Anyone else have this problem?
Hello first i would like to commend you on your guide but i have a problem with my macintosh drivers cd when i put it in everything start working but then a box pops up saying fatal error and the driver disk uninstalls and i cant right click,go to the internet or anything please email with help coolkid9054@yahoo.com
I didn’t have a SP2 version of windows (just XP professional) but tried it anyways. bad idea!!!
Everything went fine till it asked where to put windows. The partion that bootcamp said I created didn’t appear in windows setup….there was just one partion which was the entire drive which I had the option of formattting but figured it would delete OSX so I canceled setup.
Now when I turn on my computer there is a blank grey screen and it wont start up from the cd.
Hello,
I have it all setup and running fine…. If i am using a wired keyboard. Does anyone here know if there is a way to make the drive option page come up with every boot of the system? I am sure there is a configuration for that somewhere I just do not know where.
I have the bluetooth keyboard and mouse and the alt/option key will not bring up the disk choice screen for me.
Thanks,
Joseph Crawford
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Hi, I installed Win XP sp2 and after that installed VISTA
My problem seems to be the same… when trying to install new software, my windows writes in temp directory but after that tries to execute the file it just wrote ?!?! (it says that the tmp file is not a valid win32 application)
Does any1 know why I get that error ?
PLease help
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Cosmin,
That may be caused from the upgrade. I know when I installed Vista I had issues unless I did a clean full install. You might want to do more digging but I had no issues when I did the full install.
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I had Parallels installed but didn’t like it. I uninstalled it and have tried to install Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro. Everything seems to work until I get a screen that says hit enter to go to Windows XP, r for repair or F3 to quit. The screen locks and that’s it. I am able to get back to OSX fortunately. I have all of the updates, etc. to my MacBook Pro… I never get to the screens shown in the manual where I should select a partition etc. Oh yes, the partition is 15 GB. Should be ok? Any thoughts? Thanks, Jim
Hey Paul, I’m having a hard time getting windows to install on my 20 inch iMac. I do have windows xp pro w/sp2 and everything runs smoothly until after I agree to the windows installation terms. It gives me a message saying it can’t recognize my windows disc. Any ideas?
My troubles installing Boot Camp came from a bad header on the OSX volume.. Took several attempts with Disk Utility, but it finally cleared. I am using Win XP because of some unique programs that I have. I need them to work with the Apple USB modem. After several attempts I finally figured that when starting Win XP, don’t have the USB modem plugged in. If you do, and have a Bluetooth mouse, the mouse works, but the keyboard won’t!!! Plug the modem in after booting and everything will be fine. This is reminiscent of Win XP not starting up if some USB devices are plugged in before booting…. Live and learn! Jim
Thanks for that tip, Jim. Here’s one in return. I have the Apple USB modem on my Mini at work for faxing, and I experienced the same problem of the bluetooth keyboard not working. Since I had the modem before BootCamp, I never related it to the problem of the Bluetooth keyboard not working after BootCamp boot-up.
What worked for me was to just turn the keyboard off and back on. Then Windows would see it. It’s a hassle to have to do that each time I go into BootCamp, but probably easier than unplugging the modem.
Now I’m using Parallels with my BootCamp partition and it works on at least 95% of my Windows software. The notable exception is TheaterTek, which works booted to BootCamp, but not through Parallels.
Hope this helps.
Anyone solved the audio issues. I have a MBP, fully packed and running WinXP via BootCamp. Everything is fine except the audio device can not be found.
The device manager shows a unknown PCI device, and no way to force the sound card drivers onto it.
It is supposed to be a Simtel audio device, or driver anyway.
Any help would be appreciated.
John
I have a 500 gb imac core 2 duo that has one partition and will NOT let me install. Says it won’t – and it is only one partition.
btw – I upgraded the original hd to 500 gb -
i’d just installed boot camp on my newly bought macbook pro 2.16 with 2gig ram. the windows xp professional corporate version disc i’d installed seems fine after installation, but my mac drivers disc cant seem to install itself after i inserted the cd. it reported that my “windows installer” doesnt seem to be up to date. so i went on to install a sp2 package tat i had, but it doesnt seem to be able to install itself… i’m currently stumped. it reported tat i dont seem to have sufficient hd space and says i need an additional 4mb of space even when i had a free 21gig(25gig windows partition) of space. i’d eventually tried again with a bigger windows partition thru reinstalling bootcamp, but it still doesnt seem to work. should i re-purchase another set of windows xp with its own xp2 package? need serious help… seems everyone else has their’s working just fine…
birdbrain.
Al;l I know is I decided to start over. very slowly, I ran the Boot camp installer, partitioned the Hard drive and installed windows.
Now here is the thing i found.
After you get a stable windows login then use the driver CD.
Also, I have found that if you plan on using parallels, restart the OS X system and do all the activation and updates in that enviroment. If you activate and service pask the windows in boot camp, when you try it in a parallels setup, it will ask for another activation, but be out of them.
You need to call, wait through the autosystem, get a bad english speaking tech who will quiz you on why are you installing and activating again and how many machines… yada yada yada.
I hate that.
But if you follow the above, it has worked for me now on about 15 systems I have had to set up at my company.
remember, driver disk is the first thing after windows comes up, or there are some drivers, audio is the worst, that will not install.
good luck
is there any possible way to hide the xp partition as it is on my mac os x desktop under ‘Untitled’ – is there any possible way to rename this? can somebody run me through quick steps? thanks in advance!
Hi, yes have just this second completed the boot camp/windows vista hp installation on my new MacBook Pro, was very simple apart from i did not print out the .pdf which made for a lot of guess work as i went along, everything seems to working fine on windows and the drivers have all fully installed (even the iSight camera!)
Interesting guide, hope everyone else has as much luck as me.
Tim Russell
I have a mac pro and installed the new Leopard 10.5, with the non-beta bootcamp. I have tried to install Xp Pro with SP 2 5 different times. I can install it and have it boot. However, mshtml never installs. At about the 64% point, I get a message that it cannot copy mshtml. I have to hit escape to proceed. This is from a just recently purchased XP . Any hints on how to get it to copy?
The problems with this is that while I have internet access ( system downloaded updates) I cannot launch IE, which means i cannot activate, etc.
Yep I got it to work. Thanks for the help. I was a bit confused on whether to use QUICK or FULL format (doesn’t give any guidance in Boot Camp installation instructions) but ended up going with FULL on my new Macbook with Leopard.
Thanks again. Your instructions were excellent.
Just wanted to add for all those Leopard people out there; it’s MAC OS X DISC ONE (for new Leopard users who got it with their new Macbook) which has the Boot Camp stuff on it.
Putting the wrong disc in may slow you down quite a bit since you can’t eject it until you go back into Mac OS X.
so how did you get the windows cd and did u have to bye it?
so how did you get the windows cd and did u have to bye it?
awesome info you explained so basically that it no longer seems insurmountable
Installed windowsXP/ 32 meg partition successfully on
macbook pro
intel core dual
OSX 10.5.6
everything seems fine
BUT: I can’t connect to the wireless internet.
any help?