This short how-to guide will tell you how to set up Apple’s Boot Camp system on your Mac, so that you can have a multi-boot system with both Mac OS X and Windows.
Introduction
Because Apple switched to Intel processors it managed to run Intel compatible with other operating systems on a Mac and using Apple’s boot camp software can have on your Mac at the same time you installed Mac OS X and Windows, and switch between them easily. This simple guide for boot Macs enter boot camp Setup process you an overview and say what you do.
Before we begin operating let’s talk about why you like this, what are the benefits and what systems are supported. Mac OS X is good for all your needs, and it is most of the time but sometimes do Windows. For example it can be a Web application that you want to use, which requires Internet Explorer, or your favorite game might not for Mac OS X. After exposes both Mac OS X and Windows on your Mac run more flexible, will you want what you want it. You could even installing Linux on the Mac, but this is outside the scope of this guide.
Boot Camp supports Windows XP (Service Pack 2), Windows Vista (all editions), and Windows 7. From now on I’m just going to refer to the new OS as “Windows”, since the installation steps are pretty much the same whichever version you choose.
Pre-flight Checks
Before you install Boot Camp and Windows there are a few important steps to take care of.
- First — and most important — backup your data! We are about to make low-level changes to your Mac’s hard disk and as always with operations like this there is a small risk of losing the disk’s current contents. Always backup and make sure you are able to restore from that backup.
- Next, check your available disk space. According to Apple you can install Boot Camp with as little at 10Gb of available space, but practically you’ll need more than that. How much more will depend on what you want to use Windows for, but a good default to consider is to allocate 32Gb to Windows. This would give you enough space for any version of Windows plus a few applications and games, while leaving the bulk of your disk for Mac OS X. Now is a good time to do a little housekeeping by deleting any unwanted files and applications to free up additional space, because however much space you allocate to Boot Camp you will in effect “lose” that space when running Mac OS X.
- Next, make sure you’re running the latest version of Mac OS software by running Software Update (click the Apple menu, then “Software Update”), then installing any available updates.
- The final piece of prep is to locate the Mac OS installation disc that came with your computer and your Windows installation disc (you need to provide this yourself; it’s not included as part of Boot Camp).
Install Boot Camp and Windows
OK, now we’re ready to start.
- Run the Boot Camp Assistant, which you will find in Applications > Utilities. Once the wizard loads the first thing you are prompted to do is to print the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide, which goes into much more detail than this guide so it would be sensible to print it.
- Click Continue and you’ll be presented with the Boot Camp partition selection screen. This shows your Mac’s internal hard disk represented as a rectangle, with a sliding partition line. To the left of the line is the Mac OS side of the disk, and to the right is the space that you want to allocate to Boot Camp and Windows. Drag the line to left and right and you will see the relative space allocations change. Set the line where you want, either by dragging it or by selecting one of the buttons “Divide Equally” or “Use 32 GB”, then click Partition.
- Once the Boot Camp Assistant has finished creating the partition it will prompt you to insert your Windows disc and restart the computer to begin installing Windows.
- Install Windows in the usual way according to Microsoft’s instructions.
Boot Camp Drivers
By the time the Windows installation completes you should be running Windows on your Mac! You’re not quite done yet though. In order to get your system optimised you’ll need to install some drivers from Apple. Insert your Mac OS X installation disc, and if the installation doesn’t start automatically browse for the file SETUP.EXE in the Boot Camp folder and run it..
The installer includes drivers to make Apple peripherals work under Windows, such as your Airport wireless adapter and the iSight webcam. It will also install a Boot Camp control panel applet and put a Boot Camp icon in the Windows System Tray.
Switching Between Operating Systems
Once the Boot Camp drivers are installed your new installation of Windows is ready to use. Let at now, as you between Windows and Mac OS X. There are a number of ways to do this search. To set your default operating system with the boot volume “in System Preferences (Mac) or the boot camp Control Panel (Windows) use. In one select the hard disk or boot the operating system to default. Windows can also click the boot camp icon in the system tray and choose “Restart in Mac OS X”. Be the new of Mac OS X on standard and do what she says.
You can also from a not switch when the computer starts. To hold the option key (the in between CTRL and cmd), as you turn on your Mac and hold it down until you a boot disk selector to see with icons for each operating system installed on your computer. You just want to start click the and then you then click the arrow beneath it and your selected system the default boot, without changing. For example say Mac OS X as the default set, but you want just Windows for an hour or so… If you new and follow these instructions from Windows choose to boot, and if you are finished with it simply start and your Mac will automatically restart in Mac OS X.
Other Goodies
There are a couple of other neat things you can do once you have Boot Camp and Windows set up on your Mac:
Just go to Finder and you’ll see your Windows disk listed in the sidepane below your Macintosh HD. Click on it and you can browse through the files on your Windows file system.Access the Windows “C drive” from Mac OS X
If you have VMware Fusion you can boot your Boot Camp Windows instance from there, and have Mac OS X and Windows running at the same time (assuming you have sufficient RAM, that is).
Removing Boot Camp
If you ever want to remove Boot Camp and Windows it’s simple. Just run Disk Utility under Mac OS X and delete the Boot Camp partition to reclaim the disk space. Be warned though that this will completely wipe out Windows and any data files that you may have created.
Being able to run Windows as well as Mac OS X makes your Mac even more useful. Following these steps (and not forgetting to print off Apple’s own setup guide!) should make setting up multi-boot on your Mac plain sailing.
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