SP3 and Internet Connection on Boot Camp XP

Hello,

I've successfully partitioned the hard drive on my MacBook Pro with 10.6 that I purchased this past August. I'm running Windows XP, but find myself completely unable to use it due to a slew of problems that I suspect may be connected.

For starters, I can't connect to wireless internet connections at all. There are no icons to click that would allow me to search for wireless connections or anything like that. All the instructions that I look up assume those are there, so I wasn't sure if that was a byproduct of running XP with SP1 or something to do with the Mac.

So I tried to install SP3 with a disc that came with the XP, and I got the error message saying I need an additional 4 MB of space. I think I've already figured out what I need to do, which is to install a Windows update for Boot Camp (3.2 or lower) that will allow me to install SP3.

The problem is that when I downloaded the application to install the update and transferred it to XP, nothing happened when I double-clicked on it. It didn't run, it didn't give me an error message—nothing. It just makes the clicker a clicker-and-hourglass for a split second, and then it goes back to a clicker.

So I guess my big questions are:
1. Why can't I open the Boot Camp update installer in XP, and what do I need to do to be able to?
2. Will updating Boot Camp and installing SP3 allow me to access wireless internet connections? (Might be more of a Windows question, but I'm giving it a shot.)

Thanks so much. Please understand that I'm not the most computer savvy person, but will gladly provide you with any extra info you might need to help me get to the bottom of this.

Did you install the Window drivers in boot camp? Since you're running Snow Leopard, boot into Windows then insert your SL install disk. The driver installer should start running. After installing those drivers, you should have access to the wireless. Once that's done, then update your Boot Camp version with the Apple download (also from within Windows). That may solve your SP3 problem and allow you to update.

However, in my experience, SP3 doesn't add much to SP2 in a BC installation so you may find that you don't need it.

let us know how this goes.

Cheers

Sorry it's taken a while for me to get back. I'm living on my college campus and I had to go home to get my OSX install disc.

Anyway, the problems keep coming. When I put the install disc in, Windows told me I needed to update Windows Installer. After much trouble, I was finally able to, and now when I put the install disc in, it tells me that Boot Camp requires Windows 7. So did I just blow $80 on this XP, or is there something else I can do?

Late model MacBook Pros and iMacs (2010 and 2011) can only run Windows 7 due to a lack of Windows drivers (XP and Vista) for the Mac hardware. That's why Apple states that you must be running Windows 7 for which it does provide drivers. As soon as you run the Boot Camp Assistant, you'll be advised to download a driver image from Apple which you can either burn to a CD or flash drive.

Depending on the Windows applications you intend to run, you could install XP in a virtual machine - VirtualBox from Sun is free, and both Parallels and VM Ware Fusion have a free trial period. Since you've spent the $$, you might as well download one of them and give it a shot. If it works for you, then you'll be fine and you won't have to muck about with all that rebooting.

Cheers

I got it to work on a VM. It's not ideal, but it works. Thanks so much for your help, all.