Can it be done....

Etherton

Etherton

Will Bang for Poof
Joined
Aug 7, 2006
Messages
6,996
Please forgive me for this but I need to know if I can dual boot Windows 7 on my MBP without using Parallels or Boot Camp. I have Win7 and Ubunutu on my IBM and would like (i.e need) to do the same with my MBP. I need it for work. Absolutely love OSX but the company I work for uses Internet Explorer for everything and I am having way too many compatibility issues in Parallels now. Something to do with ActiveX according to our IT. That and the USB air card they gave me won't recognize in Win7. Thanks for any help!
 
I don't think so, but don't quote me on that. Some hack might exist to run windows nativly on a mac without bootcamp. What about something like VMware?
 
Thanks. I am not familiar with VMware. Will take a look at it.....
 
You can use bootcamp to dual boot windows and OSX. Setup is very easy and straight forward. Once installed you can boot into either OS and use it without having to run any virtual machines. Some things (like the touchpad) won't work exactly like they do in OSX, but it all functions well enough for most things.

As far as running windows in a VM within OSX, VMware, Paralells, and Virtual Box are the most popular solutions. If they don't work right, dual booting is advisable.

This looks like a decent enough guide for bootcamp, although the process is fairly simple.
 
You can do Bootcamp but you shouldn't need to...there is no issue running Windows in Parallels or VMware Fusion. It will not affect ActiveX in any way...that's a BS answer.
 
NetJunkie said:
You can do Bootcamp but you shouldn't need to...there is no issue running Windows in Parallels or VMware Fusion. It will not affect ActiveX in any way...that's a BS answer.
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Yep that's the standard we don't want to support a mac answer from tech support. I run an entire windows environment out of a Windows 7 vm on a MBP.
 
I thought it was BS. Why is there not a IE for Mac? If there was then for me this would be a non-issue.
 
Virtual Box is an open source virtual OS program very similar to Parallels and VMWare. I would try that first since it's free and easy. VMWare also has a trial version so you can try before you buy.

Just to clarify, running operating systems virtually is not called dual booting. Dual booting means you have two or more operating systems on a computer and you choose which one you want to launch when you start up your computer. Boot camp doesn't have to do with running virtual OS' on the Mac except that VMWare and Parallel will convert your Boot camp version of Windows into a virtual one.
 
eth3ton said:
I thought it was BS. Why is there not a IE for Mac? If there was then for me this would be a non-issue.
Click to expand...

There was. Surprisingly it was forward thinking for Microsoft, whom at the time was still pushing proprietary code on their Windows based version. The long story short is that the adoption rate of IE on Mac was low. Also in the age of excellent alternative browsers, there is no reason to use IE on a Mac with the 1 exception for testing browser compatibility. Even then however, IE for Mac was different enough that you would have to test that version in addition to testing Windows versions.

Also, like other posters have noted, there is no reason that Bootcamp, VMware, VirtualBox, or Parallels won't work in your case.
 
dr.stevil said:
I don't think so, but don't quote me on that. Some hack might exist to run windows nativly on a mac without bootcamp. What about something like VMware?
Click to expand...

All bootcamp is a program that makes the partition for windows and on the windows side a package of drivers. Its nothing special. Just use it to install windows. The performance of a native boot is nice anyway and you get full hardware acceleration.
 
VMWare Fusion FTW. I run it alongside OS X during school to take notes on OneNote. Overkill? Sure, but it gets the job done. Parallels is crap compared to VMWare. Mucks up OS X and Windows after install and was generally unstable.
 
eth3ton said:
Please forgive me for this but I need to know if I can dual boot Windows 7 on my MBP without using Parallels or Boot Camp.
Click to expand...

Boot Camp IS dual booting. There's no reason not to use Boot Camp to dual boot, especially because it injects several Apple-authored drivers into Windows to ensure that your Mac's hardware works.
 
Working on Boot Camp now. I didn't realize what BC exactly does. Here's hoping!

ninja edit : how do I COMPLETELY remove Parallels and Win7 now? Mac newbie here if you didn't already know....
 
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eth3ton said:
Please forgive me for this but I need to know if I can dual boot Windows 7 on my MBP without using Parallels or Boot Camp. I have Win7 and Ubunutu on my IBM and would like (i.e need) to do the same with my MBP. I need it for work. Absolutely love OSX but the company I work for uses Internet Explorer for everything and I am having way too many compatibility issues in Parallels now. Something to do with ActiveX according to our IT. That and the USB air card they gave me won't recognize in Win7. Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

Can't you just use network address translation for your Win 7 VM?
 
eth3ton said:
Why is there not a IE for Mac?
Click to expand...

there was, and it SUCKED.........But like everything else in the MS world back in the dark ages, it was the only browser available....... but as soon as other (better) browsers became available, IE was as dead as a door nail in a 100 year old mule's ass..........and MS knew it because they quickly gave up on development/updates etc of it......
 
partition the drive with boot camp and follow bootcamp instructions to install windows 7. Install reFIT so you can choose when you boot at that grey screen if you want windows or osx. I did this multiple times for people and it takes around an hour to have a new windows partition ready

http://refit.sourceforge.net/
 
bonehead123 said:
there was, and it SUCKED.........But like everything else in the MS world back in the dark ages, it was the only browser available....... but as soon as other (better) browsers became available, IE was as dead as a door nail in a 100 year old mule's ass..........and MS knew it because they quickly gave up on development/updates etc of it......
Click to expand...

You sort of have it backwards. Other browsers appeared because IE development stagnated with IE6. Then Microsoft belatedly re-started IE development after the likes of Firefox on Windows and Safari on OS X began eating away at mindshare.
 
That was true of the old days of virtualization, but that is no longer true today. The performance impact of virtualization on modern systems is not substantial.
 
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