07-29-2009, 05:06 PM

I'm a bit of a n00b with Mac (about 1 month) and I want to run Vista with SP1 on BootCamp. Any suggestions on doing so would be great. (I already purchased the vista package from Microsoft by the way) It comes up with errors (sorry can't remember which they were).

-Jeremy

07-29-2009, 05:45 PM

How far along are you in the process? Did you partition your hard drive using the Boot Camp Utility? You need to do that first, then start installing Vista on that partition.

07-30-2009, 12:21 PM

I have partitioned it.

07-30-2009, 01:59 PM

When does the error occur? After partitioning? I know you said that you don't know the error message but knowing it would be a great help to us.

07-30-2009, 03:04 PM

And what size is said partition, you need at least a good 40Gb clear for install to happen correctly.

07-30-2009, 05:02 PM

That's a little much. The installation guide says 10GB (p. 4).

07-30-2009, 05:26 PM

For your typical Vista installaton please refer to Microsoft's minimums and then add some, sure you can easily get XP into a 10Gb partition, but Vista has a much different instalation routine where it copies compressed files from the DVD then expands them on the same hard drive/partition, then it creates things like the swap file which in most cases is equal to the amount of RAM you have, it also creates the Hibernation file, again, same size as the amount of RAM you have in your machine, then there's the issue of System Restore reserved space... I am a long time WIndows user from 3.11 al the way to the unreleased Windows 7, Vista should have at least a 40Gb partition for installation, Gives the setup routine a lot of space for the junk it creates during instalation.

XP, you can get away with 5Gb.....just something about Vista. Besides, hard drives are large nowadays. If you want an honest useable Vista installation in Bootcamp on a Mac, go for atl east 40Gb, gives you some room for a few apps post setup. Personally, I'd do at least 60Gb for a really useful setup, allowing space for games and the aps you need.

07-30-2009, 05:31 PM

Fair enough but the system requirements for Vista do say 15GB of free space for each edition. It all depends on what you're installing in Windows. To the OP, what are you planning on installing?

I realize HDs are fairly large now but there is no point wasting space if you don't need to do so. For example, there is no point giving Windows 60GB if all you want is Windows to run a few programs. Now, having that extra space might be nice if you decide to install more later but a lot of people interested in BC from what I've seen do it to run a few programs and that's it.