Windows XP with new Macbook Air

I have a new (Oct 2010) 13.3" Macbook Air. I have a legitimate paid-for copy of Windows XP and a legitimate paid-for copy of Windows 7 Upgrade. To install these on my new MBA with BootCamp, I must first install XP and activate it's product key, then do the same with Windows 7 Upgrade. The problem is that the new MBA won't run XP. So, it seems my only alternative is to lose what I paid for XP and Upgrade and then spend another $175 for a non-upgrade copy of Windows 7. Does anyone have an alternative?

The upgrade of Windows 7 should install OK without any previous copy of XP or Vista being present. Here's an old article which explains how to do it.

Note: This is perfectly legal since you already own a licensed copy of XP as proof of upgrade. I used the above method to install Win 7 Home Edition upgrade on my MacBook without XP or Vista being present so I know it works.

I'm assuming you have either an external DVD drive or USB stick to do the install?

jimvdn said:

I have a new (Oct 2010) 13.3" Macbook Air. I have a legitimate paid-for copy of Windows XP and a legitimate paid-for copy of Windows 7 Upgrade. To install these on my new MBA with BootCamp, I must first install XP and activate it's product key, then do the same with Windows 7 Upgrade. The problem is that the new MBA won't run XP. So, it seems my only alternative is to lose what I paid for XP and Upgrade and then spend another $175 for a non-upgrade copy of Windows 7. Does anyone have an alternative?

Click to expand...

Why wont the new MBA run XP? I'm new to Mac. Are any of the others limited to not running XP? I just purchased 3MBP's 2 iMac's and the new MBA. I plan to run XP Professional via parallels.

Activating Win 7 with Update Disk Problem Solved

Thanks, CHSCAG,
It worked! I'm very grateful.
The only hiccups along the way were:
--After I completed the suggested procedure and restarted, it said it could not connect to the internet to verify my product key.
--I installed the Apple Bootcamp drivers which fixed that and I connected.
--The next time I entered the product key (from Computer/Properties), it said the product key was not valid and gave me these choices:
-----Buy a new product key online
-----Retype your product key
-----Use the automated phone system to activate
-----Contact Microsoft
I chose the automated phone system option which involved speaking and typing some incredibly long numbers, after which it activated.
Problem solved.

For floraneg,
The new Macbook Air will not run XP or Vista; don't know why. I recently sold my "latest version" white Macbook and had no trouble using XP on that. I also have a iMac 24 and had no trouble there either with XP.

floraneg--- all should be fine using parallels, it's just bootcamp that seem to have dropped the compatibility.

- Simon

Buzzard2010 said:

floraneg--- all should be fine using parallels, it's just bootcamp that seem to have dropped the compatibility.

- Simon

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Buzzard2010 said:

floraneg--- all should be fine using parallels, it's just bootcamp that seem to have dropped the compatibility.

- Simon

Click to expand...

As far as I know and am aware, support for XP and Vista has not been dropped from Boot Camp. The latest BC update (3.1) still has support for XP and Vista.

I would suspect that it is a hardware issue - no XP drivers for the Air hardware. Also I wonder why Vista support has been dropped for the Air since the driver model is the same for both Vista and Win 7. Not that I would ever think of installing Vista! ;P

Good to know re XP. Was about to install XP SP3 in BC on my new MBA 11, in part because it runs fine for my purpose in the 2 GB of RAM on my new Air. Will now install via VirtualBox (which, by the way, I have now adopted in lieu of Fusion/Parallels - the price is right and for a single user, the features are fine), where it only needs 1 of those RAM GB. I still have my Fusion for when things get complicated but I find myself using it less and less as time goes by in favor of VB. Unsolicited and off-topic plug here, but just one man's experience ...

Cheers

SammySlim said:

Good to know re XP. Was about to install XP SP3 in BC on my new MBA 11, in part because it runs fine for my purpose in the 2 GB of RAM on my new Air. Will now install via VirtualBox (which, by the way, I have now adopted in lieu of Fusion/Parallels - the price is right and for a single user, the features are fine), where it only needs 1 of those RAM GB. I still have my Fusion for when things get complicated but I find myself using it less and less as time goes by in favor of VB. Unsolicited and off-topic plug here, but just one man's experience ...

Cheers

Click to expand...

Good call. I'm considering a 4GB new MBA since there is enough RAM for virtualization now. I'd be interested in hearing how well virtualized Windows XP/7 runs on 2GB and 1 CPU on an Air.

Have installed Win 7 previously on my 2007 Blackbook (and XP too) using only 1 GB of RAM each time (out of 2 GB total). It worked fine (Not Aero, of course, in a VM). But then again, I usually only have 1-2 windows open at any one time. Despite what folks say, I don't think you really need 4 GB of RAM to run Win7 or XP (you sure do for Vista though) in a VM.

No harm in getting the extra RAM, of course. Headroom is a good thing long term. But it's not essential based on my personal experience. I wanted to keep the cost down so that I could get another one (yes, addicted I know) when the Airs come out with Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge/Haswell processors in a year or 2 and not feel so bad ...

Cheers

just got the new mba (11").

i have virtualbox installed and plan on installing xp next for the mba. i'm using xp due to the fact that i need lotus notes and our company is only up to lotus notes 6.5 (can't use win 7 with our currnet version of lotus notes).

can i use virtualbox with xp?

it seems from this thread it might not be possible.....?

tks!

The thread information primarily refers to not being able to use XP on the "AIR" with Boot Camp. Probably due to the lack of drivers for the AIR hardware, however, Virtual Box provides an emulation.

I would give it a try as it's very easy to uninstall VB and the XP VM if it shouldn't work. Unlike Boot Camp which partitions the hard drive, Virtual Box doesn't mess with the hard drive or boot sector, instead, it actually creates one large file that contains everything. That's why it's easy to remove.

thanks for the up-date!

if xp/lotus notes does not work...i think my mba will be pointless since i need it for work!

i'll try virtualbox with xp/lotus notes and fingers crossed, it works with our version of lotus notes.....

just have to wait and see.......