Parallels question

Hi folks, my first posting on the forums....so please be gentle with me :Blushing:

I have Parallels 5 installed on my imac i5 along with Windows 7. I have tried to run Lord of the Rings Online on the Windows partition, but I had a few display and general gameplay problems. I have now uninstalled it.

I understand that Boot Camp would be a better option to run Windows based games.

My question is, if I uninstall Parallels to replace it with Boot Camp, do I need to uninstall Windows 7 and other Windows applications first. Would I also need to delete the Windows documents folder and any other traces aswell?

Nope.

Bootcamp creates a new partition on your hard drive which is where Windows and all of your apps/data live.

You can leave your Parallels 5 and Win7 virtual machine intact with no problems at all.

Thanks martp, does this mean after installing Bootcamp will I need to install Windows 7 again into the new partition?

How will I access Bootcamp, will there also be a new icon on my Dock?

timeferret said:

Thanks martp, does this mean after installing Bootcamp will I need to install Windows 7 again into the new partition?

How will I access Bootcamp, will there also be a new icon on my Dock?

Click to expand...

You will access the bootcamp (Windows) partition by holding down the "Alt-Option" key when you boot the machine. It will give you two icons. Select Windows and it will boot to it.

I'm pretty sure when you install bootcamp it will ask you at some point to insert the Windows disk in order to install it. I'm running XP in bootcamp but it was already installed when I bought the computer.

I have about 50 gig dedicated to Windows which is more than enough for me but if your going to install a lot of programs or store pic's and videos you might need way more. I dont think the partition can be resized after you commit.

Once you open up the Boot Camp Assistant (found in Applications > Utilites), print out the installation instructions - believe me these come in handy!

Before it installs Windows you will need to choose the size of the partition for Windows and also insert the Windows DVD into the Mac. Bootcamp can be fussy with OEM and copies so its best to have a 'retail' disc.

Once the computer restarts read through the instructions you printed off and work your way through the installation. Its not difficult really.

When Windows is installed insert your Mac OS X DVD and install run the Boot Camp setup, this will install all the necessary drivers and a little boot-camp app.

As droflex said, to choose which OS to boot, hold down the option/alt key when the computer is booting.


Bear in mind though, you can not access OS X when using bootcamp it is purely a Windows environment. You will need to reboot to go back into OS X.

Thanks for your help guys, just a couple more questions.

I'm I right in saying that there will be two copies of Windows on my mac HD?

Will still be able to use Parallels as well as Boot Camp, or should I remove.

timeferret said:

Thanks for your help guys, just a couple more questions.

I'm I right in saying that there will be two copies of Windows on my mac HD?

Will still be able to use Parallels as well as Boot Camp, or should I remove.

Click to expand...

You can use 'em both. Just run your game in the bootcamp partition so you dont have any lag (for killing the other players). If you want to uninstall windows from the OSX partition, I have no clue.

You just cant have the same copy of windows on two different machines.

Any changes you make to either "copy" of windows will not effect the other.