Filed under: Hardware, OS, Software, Hacks
An easier method to get Windows Vista to run with Boot Camp
Yes, before you fire off a flaming comment, we know this is The Unofficial Apple Weblog, but we thought it might be nice to post a tip for those of you who either want or need to play with the next generation of Microsoft Windows, reportedly due out within the decade (hey, it was originally due in 2003 - by its present 2007 date they'll be almost half a decade late already). This Apple Discussions forum thread details a slightly more appealing trick for getting Vista, now in a public beta (but overloaded with download requests as of this writing), to install and run with Boot Camp. Basically, you need to have Boot Camp already set up and installed with Windows XP. Then, burn a DVD of the Vista beta you just downloaded. And before you ask: no, unfortunately, Vista won't run on Parallels Desktop - yet. Parallels has publicly mentioned making this work with a future version, but there is no ETA for when this support will land.
Now - and this is the 'at your own risk' part - you need to use some kind of partition manager (the forum poster used one from within XP, but I've heard you can use one that starts up from within the Vista installer when booting from the DVD) to delete an ambiguous partition that Boot Camp creates that is around 180-200 MB in size. Again, we can't stress this enough: this is done at your own risk - you are messing with your boot record and after this step, Boot Camp won't be able to adjust your partitions or blow away and reclaim your Windows partition anymore. Mac OS X and Windows will still boot just fine, but this isn't an ideal setup for the faint-of-heart Boot Camp user.
if you take the plunge and nuke that partition, however, you should now be able to boot from the Vista DVD and use it to upgrade your copy of Windows XP - which in and of itself could spark a discussion as to whether one should upgrade or install clean new versions of Windows; it usually isn't recommended with Mac OS X, who wants to take bets on Windows' ability to have a smooth OS upgrade ride?
If you try any of this stuff out, feel free to post your thoughts on the experience, and then go wash your hands of one of the dirtiest things you can do to a Mac.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mephistophelian said 10:06AM on 6-08-2006
Vista Beta 2 is publicly available as of now.
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Alex said 10:15AM on 6-08-2006
Is that MacBook logo illuminated by the LCD?
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Nate said 10:59AM on 6-08-2006
You don't actually need to have Windows XP installed first. Just create the Windows partition with Boot Camp and boot from the Vista DVD. You can delete the 200MB EFI partition from the Vista installer.
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Josh said 11:01AM on 6-08-2006
Someone should try using a Vista upgrade disc (when they come out) to upgrade from XP
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Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said 11:15AM on 6-08-2006
@Nate: Kinda looks like it, doesn't it? But no, it's not.
As for installing Vista...I'm getting a MacBook TONIGHT and cannot wait to do this. See if Vista is worthy of the hype. :)
One question though...if I munge my disk doing this, wouldn't Disk Utilities be able to reformat the drive and wipe out the damaged partition table? Sure seems to me as if it should...
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Sir Not Appearing in this Blog said 11:17AM on 6-08-2006
Whoops, sorry, meant to respond to Alex, not Nate. It's too bad I never learned to read, huh?
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Adam Tyree said 11:36AM on 6-08-2006
I see that this pic shows the MacBook running Aero Glass. The last build of Vista (the one before this public beta) couldnt run glass on the MacBook. So I was wondering, does this MacBook have more than the base 512mb of ram, or does this newest build have better support of the drivers? Any one know?
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jh said 12:05PM on 6-08-2006
Having already had this experience with build 5342, a bit of a warning for you folks:
You will not be able to perform firmware updates without the EFI partition.
When the first MBP firmware update came out, I was unable to update it and ended up having to wipe the entire drive and use the restore disk. Also keep in mind that no utilities (TTP, DW, etc) work yet on the Intel systems and if you do any diagnotistics or partition work over target disk mode from a PPC mac - you will not succeed and the restore disks will not recognize the disk as a valid destination.
I'm not sure if the new build 5231 has included them, but I was unable to get any drivers for the Atheros wireless chipset, so only ethernet worked under Vista. The Boot Camp driver disk did not work under the build I tested, which is possibly the reason behind some people advocating installing XP first (I was unable to find any way of extracting the drivers from the Boot Camp disk as well).
Oh yeah - everything you've heard about Vista's interface being less than intuitive and the new UAC system is ridiculously annoying.
Anyway, forewarned is forearmed.
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jh said 1:22PM on 6-08-2006
Correction: "the new build 5384" and "everything you've heard about Vista's interface being less than intuitive is true"
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RS said 2:06PM on 6-08-2006
I took the back of the screen off my iBook G4 once and the logo was lit by the LCD. If you dim the screen the logo dims and if you get a bright light and shine it through the back and turn off the backlight, you see a silhouette :)
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Brendan said 2:31PM on 6-08-2006
I'm like a fish out of water here!! I don't have a clue what I'm doing. Will I be able to run new firmware update after installing Vista? And what is "the 200MB EFI partition"??? Why do have to delete it? And what are the risks if I delete it? And how does one delete it?????? HELP!!
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Jens said 9:17PM on 6-08-2006
[quote] (update) usually isn't recommended with Mac OS X[/quote]
Just not true unless you use some serious haxies, but then all bets are off anyways. I don't and have upgraded my installation since 10.2 and across three different machines (used CCC and migration assistant to transfer the files). Rock solid. Just use archive & install to upgrade and it just works. I would not accept an OS that requires me to dry erase and re-install everything. But hey, it's an Apple so you're in luck! :-)
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Pete said 12:23AM on 6-09-2006
FWIW, I just tried to install Vista in Virtual PC, and got a message in Windows Boot Manager that "Windows did not start correctly. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. Further down, it listed Status: 0xc0000225, and Info: WIndows failed to load becaus the firmware (BIOS) is not ACPI compatible.
I give up: what's ACPI?
Anyone got any ideas how to make it work in VPC?
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Liquidmark said 2:16AM on 6-09-2006
When I don't know...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI
...I wiki.
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graham fluet said 12:17AM on 6-14-2006
please note that, although boot camp is a free download now, it is still a beta version so it might have some bugs to work out (hence how on the download page one apple.com, apple asks you to email them about bugs). And Vista is still experimental, too. so, if your'e not particulary computer-savvy, i'd recommend waiting until boot camp/rename is standard whith new macs. then it will be easier to install Vista.
P.S.: whoever does the quote thing, it is (Quote)message(Unquote).
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graham fluet said 12:22AM on 6-14-2006
if you are installing Vista on a mac, and you want Aero Glass, i'd recommend at LEAST 1G of RAM
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Zondor said 11:20AM on 6-19-2006
Don't know if anyone has tried running the upgrade whiled booted in to Windows XP. I'm trying it now... Let you know what the results are.
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graham fluet said 9:33PM on 6-19-2006
acually, after using a windows computer for a few months (caught a virus that (apparently, according to the local computer repair shop, made the hard drive go crazy and destroyed itself) and croaked, i switched to a mac and never looked back. although my mac is not compatible with a lot of software, i see the problem as a sieve to filter out lousey software that will cause your computer to crash.
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Jas said 12:40AM on 7-15-2006
Wow, i dont get any of this stuff. First of all, where can i get Vista from anyway?
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Paul Foster said 7:37AM on 7-18-2006
This stuff is all a lot simpler than it sounds when you follow it through. Vista Beta 2 was available from MicroSoft for a limited period, but is no longer available, until the next Beta, or the final version.
I installed Vista on my MacBook (standard spec Black) last weekend, and it all looks good (even without Aero), but uses a lot more RAM than either XP or Tiger. the EFI partition can be deleted from the Vista install disk when choosing the installation volume. I'm having trouble with drivers though - Some installers crash out of Vista (including Apple), though I have had some success repeatedly using the installer for the Apple drivers (and iTunes). This may have been less troublesome if installing XP first (followed by hardware drivers and other software) then using the Vista disk to upgrade (I did a clean install). Thanks to all the previous posts for giving me the confidence to give it a go.
Has anyone got WiFi working on a clean Vista install?
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