Change bootcamp to parallels?

Hello,

I'm considering deleting the Windows xp partition on my MacBook Pro and using parallels instead (I was using the windows side more often while in school). I'm doing this while upgrading to 8GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD.

Has anyone done this? Is this a terrible/useless idea?

The primary motivation for deleting the BootCamp partition is I've noticed both sides run slower when I initially switch back and forth. After booting one side repeatedly, the computer speeds up. I thought I would just eliminate the poor performance by switching to Paralleles--I don't do any high-CPU demand stuff on this computer.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

If you don't need to be running Windows natively its a perfectly good idea.

Though you may want to look at VirtualBox rather than Parallels

Thanks! I'll look into that.

ISTR that you can use an existing Boot Camp-assisted install of Windows as your virtual machine in Parallels, perhaps in Virtualbox too for all I know.

Thanks. I ended up using Parallels and the Bootcamp partition, which was really easy; however, the windows VM is waaaaaaaay slower than native. I'm a bit disappointed so far.

Mattbookpro said:

Thanks. I ended up using Parallels and the Bootcamp partition, which was really easy; however, the windows VM is waaaaaaaay slower than native. I'm a bit disappointed so far.

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How much RAM did you dedicate to your VM when it is in use?

...I didn't know you could do that.

A virtual machine will always run slower than bootcamp - but it shouldn't be way slower for most tasks.

You can allocate Video RAM as well to help boost video performance if that is an issue.

To set the RAM allocated to parallels you can go to: Virtual Machine > Configure > General

IMO if you don't need to be switching constantly between both your operating systems then bootcamp will be a better option

Thanks guys!

IvanLasston said:

A virtual machine will always run slower than bootcamp - but it shouldn't be way slower for most tasks.

Click to expand...

Especially with the RAM and SSD upgrade.

Perhaps there is something else slowing down the OP's computer because he mentions in his original post that it was slow in OSX and XP.