twooo

iTrader: (3)

I've heard rumours there is are a couple of resident Mac experts on here, so I am hoping someone will be able to help me....

I know that with the use of Bootcamp and a version of Windows, you can run Windows on your Mac rather than OS X should you wish to. I do occasionally as I have a program that is Windows based (Autodesk AutoCAD).

I have Windows XP professional installed on my old laptop which doesn't work anymore (it's a hardware problem, the HDD is fine). Can I simply take the HDD out, put it in a SATA caddy and then run Windows from it on my mac that way, or does Windows have to be installed on the Mac's hard drive?

I hope this all makes sense, and that someone will be able to tell me before I start mucking about with Bootcamp, caddies and so on.


Cheers,

R

ScoTTyB

VMWare is the way to go, I think it's called fusion for the mac.

twooo

iTrader: (3)

Please tell me, what is this VMWare of which you speak? I've never heard of it.

Markus

Someone mention Macs?

I'm going to assume that we are talking about an Intel based Mac here, as you mention Bootcamp. I want to make sure before I start waffling on

So, from my assumption, you've got two options for running Windows, be it XP or Vista, on a Mac. Bootcamp or a VM (Virtual Machine) application.

Bootcamp is a dual boot setup, you partition your Mac's hard drive into two, or if you have a Mac Pro, you could use another drive in one of the drive bays. You then install Windows onto this partition/disk, then install the Bootcamp drivers, and you then boot into XP. As with any dual boot solution, the host OS has complete control over the machine, so you have the full power of the machine available to you, very handy for running processor intensive apps.

For VM solutions you have a couple of options, the main ones being VMWare's Fusion and Parallels' Desktop For Mac. Both are pretty good and I do have both on my Machine. PDM was first to the market so that is what I primarily used, but I've now switched to using Fusion, mainly because it'll allow me to run a Novel Netware VM, anyway I digress.
The VM solution will run as an Application when you are booted into OS X, thus you can run OS X and Windows at the same time, however, this does mean there will be a performance reduction. You can tweak settings to give more processor time to the VM over the Host, thus making the VM a bit more responsive, but it'll never be the same as dual booting. You may find intensive apps won't work too well in VM's, typically due to the graphics side of things. For example, some games just won't run as the DirectX support isn't perfect.

To actually answer your question about putting the HD into an external chassis and then connecting that up. The truthful answer is that I'm not sure if it would work. For Bootcamp, I can say for certain it will not, as for a VM, I'm not totally sure if you can specify the "disk" of a VM actually being a drive, apart from the special handling the apps have for a BootCamp partition.

ScoobyDoo555

Another confirmation - under Bootcamp, it WON'T work. I tried this before (with a bit of help from Markus!! )

Haven't tried the VMware, but bear in mind that Autocad can be quite processor intensive, running a package within an OS within an OS (X!), might be a bit challenging.....

Bootcamp is the way forward, as XP/Vista runs natively in the computer - it REALLY is a PC
I've got XP Pro running on my MacBook Pro, and it is pretty good (using it as my games install - all the games are installed on my Firewire ext drive). Works a treat.
I've only allocated about 10 gig to Windows - rest of it to the proper computer

Dan

twooo

iTrader: (3)

Ah, okay. Thank you very much for all the info. Does this mean then that I will have to buy a version of Windows and then partition my mac for both OS X and Windows then? I'm fairly sure that means re-formatting my HDD doesn't it. (This isn't the end of the world as I've only had the mac for a week, so haven't got too much stuff on it yet.)

The thing is, AutoCAD is the only Windows application I want to run. It might be simpler just to get a very basic laptop (it doesn't need a sound card, modem, ethernet etc) and install my PC HDD into it and then dedicate the laptop purely to AutoCAD.

While I'm here, another question....

How do I format an external hard drive that I've plugged into my mac through the USB connection. I can delete files, but can't find an option to re-format it.

Thanks once again. This forum is full of great surprises and knowledge.

Ant

Sorry to hijack but I wanna do it the other way mac on vista, can it be done

Markus

If you're not going to be using the other laptop at all then you could install windows (You'll need to make sure you have an XP SP2 install disk though, you cannot install with a lower version, as in original XP disk) and use your existing key. If there is an activation issue then you could ring Microsoft and I *think* they'll allow it to work as you're moving a machine and not using the old one. Worst case, you need a new key, and how you obtain that key is up to you

As for partitioning the machine for Bootcamp, yes, you'll need to do this, but the Bootcamp assistant will non-destructively repartition the drive, meaning that you will not have to reinstall anything on the OS X side of things.

When you're in the Finder, pop to the Go menu and select the "Utilities" item, this will open the Utilities folder (it's actually within the Applications folder) and you'll find an app in there called Disk Utility, this will allow you to see all the disks on your setup and it should list the external drive and allow you to reformat it.

JackClark

Just to throw in another fish I've been using crossover lately - I got a licence for free! - with great success. A few little windows programs that I'd been dying to use on my Mac are working just fine. Best thing, no Windows required.

Windows Applications Seamlessly Integrated on Mac OS X - CrossOver Mac

Markus

Legally? No, it can't be done. Apple's EULA for OS X states it can only be run on Apple Hardware, thus most, if not all, commercially available VM solutions won't allow you create a VM that'll run OS X.

As for the non-legal side of things. If we're talking a VM solution, I'm not sure, there could well be VM solutions out there that allow you to run OS X, but I doubt the performance would be up to much. As for a dual boot solution, this is possible, you'll want to have a read of this site as it should mention what you need to get OS X running on a generic PC.

Markus

Doh! Jack has a good point, I'd forgotten about Crossover. It uses WINE to allow you to run Windows apps on the Mac. The advantage is that it does NOT need an XP install to work. I'm not sure if AutoCAD will work with crossover, might be worth a shot though.

JackClark

Not looking good for Autocad on Crossover, depends on the version

Compatibility - Search

twooo

iTrader: (3)

mmm, bugger. Got all excited about this Crossover thing, then I read your post Jack. I'm riding 2004, so waste of time really. But thanks for your comments. Will dig out my XP discs I think and have a look at this bootcamp thing. Didn't really want to go this route as it eats into my Mac's HDD space, but never mind.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm new to the world of Mac (I only bought my Macbook last week when my old PC died) and although it seems to be a really good system to use, there's a few things that I have absolutely no idea about. Will certainly pick your brains again in the near future.....

Thanks guys

Markus

I think I speak for all the Mac nuts here, if you have any questions, fire away and we'll do our best to answer them.

RichB

VMFusion was half price recently, about £20 or something like that, need Intel based Mac though.
I run XP on my MacBook Pro, it's ok, networking is iffy, I always have to enable/disable things to get the damn thing to work, it's not lightning to restore sessions either which is a pain, I only use it for browser testing though, nothing intense...

twooo

iTrader: (3)

It is an intel based thing, it's one of the new 2.4GHz macbooks (not pro though)

And I'll only be using windows for one program, no networking, and won't even be going on the net when it's open in case it tries to access Autodesk( ) so hopefully it won't be any hassle at all.

judgejules

Just something you might want to look at before you go the Virtual Machine route.

I think Autodesk AutoCAD uses 3D graphics quite heavily and I'm not sure if any Virtual Machines run that stuff at a good speed yet, but I might be wrong. As I said, worth looking into before you commit.

J

twooo

iTrader: (3)

It does, but I don't need it for all the 3D rendering and so on that it is capable of. I just use it for technical and working drawings.