Question about running windows on a mac

So I don't have a PC anymore, but I need to run windows on a Mac for my HD PVR recorder. Apple's website says to use a utility called "boot camp" which I don't have. I have OS 10.4.11. Apparently boot camp came with later Macs (got mine summer '07). I don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars for snow leopard or any other newer OS, I just need boot camp, that is all. Couldn't find a way to download on Apple's site. Any help is welcomed.

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

Well. Boot camp IS part of Mac OS X. It's a built-in app. Look harder :D

EDIT: if you have Leopard or Snow Leopard that is.

Boot camp came out with 10.5

If you are running an intel mac you can get parallels or fusion and run a windows virtual machine. but alas, you have to pay for the software. 

If you want to legally run windows, you'd also need to shell out some cash for the proper license though. Snow leopard is 29 bucks, but I dunno if you can install it directly from tiger (i'm guessing yes, but i'm not sure).

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You have to upgrade to get boot camp. To be completely legit, you need to get the Mac Box Set, which is $134 at amazon and includes iLife '09 and iWork '09. The Snow Leopard disc that you can get for $25 will work, it just would be be against the user agreement. But Apple doesn't lock it down like Microsoft does. You will also need a license for Windows.

VMWare Fusion requires OS X 10.5 or higher.

Parallels Mac Desktop 5 is supported for OS X 10.4.11

Linque

Looks like I'm going for the $134 Mac Box Set then with Snow Leopard. So I'm assuming I can just jump from 10.4.11 to that one then, right? And if I can get it to work, how do I get a license for Windows? Do I pay for that too? Sorry I'm too technology-retarded :(

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

If you have a friend with system cd's for a higher version of OS X - borrow them!

I believe OSX is not authorized by license keys or anything like that. Hence, any system cd weill let you install on any Mac - as long as they're compatible.

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Looks like I'm going for the $134 Mac Box Set then with Snow Leopard. So I'm assuming I can just jump from 10.4.11 to that one then, right? And if I can get it to work, how do I get a license for Windows? Do I pay for that too? Sorry I'm too technology-retarded :(

The $29 Snow Leopard is a full install.  Technically it's frowned upon that you do it that way, but it works just fine as long as you have an Intel Mac, and Apple is fully aware that it's happening.  And if you don't have an Intel Mac, you can't run Snow Leopard anyway.  Just making sure you know... there's no software difference between the $29 and $129 SL packages.

Alright, went ahead and got the cheap Snow Leopard which works fine. Last step I need is some version of Windows. Haven't used a PC since Windows XP so I need a quick recommendation on something cheap and simple. Is Vista Basic the way to go or should I get Windows 7 Home Premium?

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

I use VMWare and Bootcamp...both are excellent and work great...like the VMWare for the "on-the-fly" use of windows whenever I need it.

"Be careful.  You're a man who makes people afraid, and that's dangerous."

"It's what people know about themselves inside that makes em' afraid."

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Alright, went ahead and got the cheap Snow Leopard which works fine. Last step I need is some version of Windows. Haven't used a PC since Windows XP so I need a quick recommendation on something cheap and simple. Is Vista Basic the way to go or should I get Windows 7 Home Premium?

Windows 7.

I would get Windows 7.

Did I mention Windows 7?

I run XP in a VM with Parallels for light stuff, and for my more intensive EE software I have 7 installed on a Boot Camp partition.

Correct.  Windows 7 runs beautifully in BC (which thinks it's Vista) and should work for ya.

Cool. Windows 7 it tis then...

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

Oh man, I'm really fucked now. I run boot camp, put in the Windows 7 installation disk. The computer restarts. After choosing English language/Agreeing with license agreement etc., I need to remove the installation disk. I can't do that. My imac has no eject button on it. The remote doesn't either. There's no "remove disk" button to click on. The eject button on the keyboard doesn't work, I'm guessing because I'm not in OSX. Since I can't get the disk out, I can't use my imac for regular use either. Since the disk is stuck in there, I can't do anything. 

Normally I can remove disks no problem because I'm always running OSX. But since I have a Windows installation disk in there, I can't get back to it. Please please please please please help....

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

Did you hold down the eject  button? It doesn't work instantly so that you don't accidentally eject the disk. If that doesn't work, hold down the eject button on your keyboard and reboot the computer, the disk will come out.

movie fanatic 86


Oh man, I'm really fucked now. I run boot camp, put in the Windows 7 installation disk. The computer restarts. After choosing English language/Agreeing with license agreement etc., I need to remove the installation disk. I can't do that. My imac has no eject button on it. The remote doesn't either. There's no "remove disk" button to click on. The eject button on the keyboard doesn't work, I'm guessing because I'm not in OSX. Since I can't get the disk out, I can't use my imac for regular use either. Since the disk is stuck in there, I can't do anything. 

Normally I can remove disks no problem because I'm always running OSX. But since I have a Windows installation disk in there, I can't get back to it. Please please please please please help....

restart your machine. AS SOON AS IT REBOOTS...hold down option/eject until it fully ejects.

i had this same problem last week and was scared shitless!

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OK I was able to eject the disk by holding down the button during reboot, and now I'm back to good ol' OSX, which means I'm back to square one. I'm guessing that unless I get the disk out BEFORE rebooting, I won't get Windows to show up.

Phentalmyst, did your computer boot Windows when you did that^?

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

movie fanatic 86


OK I was able to eject the disk by holding down the button during reboot, and now I'm back to good ol' OSX, which means I'm back to square one. I'm guessing that unless I get the disk out BEFORE rebooting, I won't get Windows to show up.

Phentalmyst, did your computer boot Windows when you did that^?

Kinda strange. I've installed Windows 7 in two or three Macs and I don't remember any message telling me to eject the disc during installation...

If you have problems using the Windows 7 CD/DVD, try using WinToFlash. As they put it in their site, "WinToFlash starts a wizard that will help pull over the contents of a windows installation CD or DVD and prep the USB drive to become a bootable replacement for the optical drive..." so you can conect and disconect your USB any time you need. It's free and very easy to use, but as fas as I know it only runs on Windows and some users have reported some problems when you install Windows 7/Vista/XP in 64-bit versions, but you can try doing the installation using the 0.5.0000 version of the program.

If your back in mac OSX, I think you've installed it fine. What you need to do is restart, as soon as your mac shuts off for restarting, hold the option key until 2 harddrive logo's come up - simply select bootcamp and it should boot into windows 7. If not, the installation may have gone a bit strange, so you might have to start again, but its only a matter of 30 mins to do everything again.

Alex.

what jamie said. hold down option as you reboot and you should get the option to choose...

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Success! I figured out what I was doing wrong (get ready for facepalm...) I was choosing "upgrade" instead of "custom" when setting it up. Then I read the huge print on my screen "Only choose upgrade if you are already running Windows on this computer". Wow, right under my nose. Thanks for the help everyone.

Now to install teh Hauppage...

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming

Aaaaaaaaaaand another roadblock. Unless someone here uses Hauppauge you probably can't help anymore at this point, but I'll give it a shot anyway. I put it the install disc and click "Install drivers" and get the message "Drivers have NOT been updated. Compatible hardware not found." I get the same message if I click "Install software". Then it says, "If this program didn't install correctly, try reinstalling using settings that are compatible with this version of Windows". So I click "Recommended settings" and same ol' crap. I'll have another go at it later...

Oh, those frustrating gerbil skins!

XBOX LIVE Gamertag: Eggsngaming