Running Windows on a Mac: A Switcher's Guide

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cwa107

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I have recently changed to mac pro, and was curious as to how i could install windows 7, this answered everything i could think of. Just a couple of things still puzzle me. I am planning on using the bootcamp utility for the installation.

Firstly i assume the macbook would have 2 operating systems, thus giving me the choice of which one to run...how do you choose which operating system to boot up.

Yes, it would. You simply hold down the Option key when turning your Mac on. Then you can choose which OS to boot into. This is covered in the Boot Camp documentation which you will be prompted to print out during the Boot Camp Assistant process. As much as you might feel that your 'man card' is in jeopardy, I strongly suggest that you print it and read it thoroughly. I'd also recommend backing up before you start.

Do features such as the bluetooth capability and everything else still work, whilst in the windows o/s.

Thanks

Yes they do. The drivers are installed for all of the hardware components by the Boot Camp setup program for Windows that comes with your Leopard/Snow Leopard disc (although you may need to run the Apple Software Update within Windows before everything is fully functional with Windows 7, since its release post dated Leopard/Snow Leopard's release).
 
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i-emulator

Running Windows on a Mac: A Switcher's Guide​
I am a new Mac user. I have a Windows based pdf writer, a Fujitsu fi-4220C2 and an old Palm m505 , none of which offer Mac support. I don't know how much the i-emulator would cost but dedicated Mac software for the scanner is expensive so a single solution would be ideal. Do you know if it would do the job?
 
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Running Windows on a Mac: A Switcher's Guide
I am a new Mac user. I have a Windows based pdf writer, a Fujitsu fi-4220C2 and an old Palm m505 , none of which offer Mac support. I don't know how much the i-emulator would cost but dedicated Mac software for the scanner is expensive so a single solution would be ideal. Do you know if it would do the job?

PDF output is built into Mac OS X. If you go to print a document (any document), simply click the PDF button in the lower-left corner of the print dialog window and you can redirect it to a PDF document. Hopefully that addresses this piece.

The Palm m505 should be supported by the Palm Desktop software for Mac (as I recall), but you might also want to look into The Missing Sync for Palm OS.

The Fujitsu scanner seems to be TWAIN-compliant, so while Fujitsu might not offer specific drivers, it should work with a generic one. Have you experimented with Image Capture on the Mac?

iEmulator is for use with older PowerPC Macs (discontinued since 2005). If you have a new Mac, it's powered by Intel and should work with Boot Camp or one of the VM products as described in the guide.
 
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I ended up formatted my Windows using NTFS, because it's the only option available besides don't change at all, but if I choose "don't change bla bla bla", it will be disk error.

I just wish I could reformatted it again to FAT32, but I have no idea how, anyone?

*problem would be; no option at the Windows setup
 

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Vista and Win 7 will only install to NTFS. FAT is not an option.
 
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Hey, that was an awesome summary. I hate to say this, but I'm such a noob to the "Mac" world..I recently got my first Macbook Pro in May of this year and so far, I am in love with it! And this is coming from someone who has been using windows pcs/laptops for since the age of 8, I am no 24. But the sad thing is, I have only used it so far to just access the web by instaling Mozilla Firefox and have used iPhoto's Uploader for Facebook which makes things easier for me=)

Now I really want to use Windows on my Mac, but what would you honestly suggest for a newbie like me to use? I'm willing to learn more about the MAC since I signed up for that OnetoOne service @ the Apple Store..but to travel 1hr to the store every week to learn something new for an hour..kinda makes me lose interest, and I really want to use this macbook pro to its fullest.
 
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windows ultimate version? 32 or 64?

Hi guys,

I'm looking to partition the hard drive on my new MacbookPro and install Windows 7 Ultimate. I was just wondering what version should I use, the 32bit or the 64bit version?

Here are my MAC specs:
15-inch: 2.4GHz
Intel Core i5 Processor
4GB RAM
500GB hard drive

This will be my very first mac so any help is greatly appreciated. I'm expecting it to be delivered within 3 weeks!! :)
 
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Hi guys,

I'm looking to partition the hard drive on my new MacbookPro and install Windows 7 Ultimate. I was just wondering what version should I use, the 32bit or the 64bit version?

Here are my MAC specs:
15-inch: 2.4GHz
Intel Core i5 Processor
4GB RAM
500GB hard drive

This will be my very first mac so any help is greatly appreciated. I'm expecting it to be delivered within 3 weeks!! :)

The 64-bit version. If you use 32-bit, Windows won't see all of your RAM (pieces of the memory map will be allocate to the video card, netting around 3.2-3.5GB of usable memory). I would also reconsider getting the Ultimate Edition. Very few people need the features. For 99% of even power users, Home Premium does everything.
 
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Another option besides Bootcamp - rEFIt. Gives you a nice pretty boot menu to select your poison of choice. Allows for dual or triple booting of OS's. Kind of like the old System Commander.

rEFIt - Myths and Facts About Intel Macs
 
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The 64-bit version. If you use 32-bit, Windows won't see all of your RAM (pieces of the memory map will be allocate to the video card, netting around 3.2-3.5GB of usable memory). I would also reconsider getting the Ultimate Edition. Very few people need the features. For 99% of even power users, Home Premium does everything.


Thank you so much! Everything is running beautifully. Ironically enough, my macbook is running windows at a higher "windows experience rating" than my desktop PC.

Another small question; I own the game THE SIMS 3, which can be installed on both windows and OS X. Will one system run it better than the other? Since both operating systems share the exact same computer specs, am I correct in assuming they should run the game the exact same way?
 
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Thank you so much! Everything is running beautifully. Ironically enough, my macbook is running windows at a higher "windows experience rating" than my desktop PC.

Another small question; I own the game THE SIMS 3, which can be installed on both windows and OS X. Will one system run it better than the other? Since both operating systems share the exact same computer specs, am I correct in assuming they should run the game the exact same way?

It will probably run fine either way, considering its requirements and the specs of your machine. I would just install it wherever its most convenient.
 
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Switching from mac osx to Windows partition

ok, so i used Bootcamp on my imac... and i installed windows 7 ulti.

from there i was on my windows, and i found out how to switch from windows to mac. but now i am trying to switch from my mac side back to my windows,

i know there is keys i press down when restarting but i dont know when to hold those down... like right when it makes the turn on noise or what? and is there others ways to go back to the windows partition
 
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ok, so i used Bootcamp on my imac... and i installed windows 7 ulti.

from there i was on my windows, and i found out how to switch from windows to mac. but now i am trying to switch from my mac side back to my windows,

i know there is keys i press down when restarting but i dont know when to hold those down... like right when it makes the turn on noise or what? and is there others ways to go back to the windows partition

As soon as you turn on the machine and the screen turns gray, press and hold the option key to show the boot options menu.

You can also change the default startup volume in System Preferences => Startup Disk (under OS X), or in Windows under Control Panel => Boot Camp => Startup Disk tab.

I would recommend reading the manual for Boot Camp, as these items are addressed and it's important to understand exactly how it works:

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/boot_camp_install-setup.pdf
 

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A bootleg copy of Vista would be piracy. We do not allow discussion of Piracy here at Mac Forums. Purchase your Vista DVD. I would suggest Windows 7 over Vista. Get a System Builders version from New Egg and save some $$$.
 
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I bought Parallels but haven't installed it it yet. I have Little Snitch installed because I am paranoid from having so many issues with Windows machines in the past. I wanted to know who my iMac was talking to. So I did the dumb thing and had bought Vista Premium but never broke the seal. Going to see if I can swap/sell it for W7. I realize Windows would have it's own IP address if both OS's are running, but I wanted to know if Little Snitch will alert me when any Windows app is trying to talk to the net and whether I can control that in any way? I want to install Corel Draw 11 and Visio, and that's probably it. Too lazy to learn Illustrator and I haven't seen a Visio OSX knock off that I'd prefer. What are my options?
 
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hi
i ahve installed windows xp vis VM WARE fusion.its working well but speed of macbook while browsing ,has gone down.any solution
 
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cwa107

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hi
i ahve installed windows xp vis VM WARE fusion.its working well but speed of macbook while browsing ,has gone down.any solution

Hard to say since you haven't given us the specs of your Mac.
 
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In Fusion, you can allocate RAM between your virtual machine and your Mac OS. I would allocate 512-1GB to XP and make sure the rest is allocated to OSX. That should help.
 

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