While no two people are the same, neither should their computers. Unfortunately for the business world, Microsoft Windows and PC based computers seem to be the leading standard when it comes to office solutions leaving Macintosh users alienated.
If you are a Mac user, do not fret. There is one simple solution you can perform to have both your favorite Mac Operating System as well as Microsoft Windows.
For this you will need: A valid purchased copy of Microsoft Windows XP with SP3 or better and your original Mac O/S X recovery disc. ~ this will be used later on after windows is installed so that windows will be able to utilize your video, audio and peripheral hardware such as your mouse and keyboard.
*Note-Windows Vista 64Bit cannot be installed on a Mac O/S. You will have to use Windows Vista 32bit. You can however install Windows 7 with the 64bit platform.
1). Using your Mac, click on your Applications Folder. Find the Utilities Folder. You will want to select the BootCamp Icon.
2). BootCamp will offer you an opportunity to print an instructional PDF for Installing Windows. Print this as you may need it later on during the install process. This file has known error codes and what you can do to work around them.
3). Once you have printed the PDF file, click the continue button.
4). Now You will be taken to a screen where you have the option to repartition your Hard Drive to your liking. The two options are “Divide Equally” or “32GB” The 32 GB option will suffice for most people. For others that wish to use windows to be able to play their PC only games on their Mac, I suggest left clicking on the grey area on the partition rectangle and sliding it further to the left. You will notice as you do this the Windows based partition will increase.
5). After all is said and done you will be taken to another screen which will allow you to select a few options on formatting your partition. You will want to select the first option. This will do a quick format and reconfigure the Hard Disk partition to read and write in NTFS format. This will prep your partition for Windows.
6). Insert your Windows Install Disc and run through the guided prompts.
7). Your computer will restart several times during the Install, so do not worry. This is normal.
8). Now that you have Windows successfully installed, your computer will reboot once more, this time booting into the Windows Partition. Do not worry, you can change the Startup Boot so that your Mac will boot to the Mac O/S later.
9). Once Window’s has loaded, you will notice that some features of your Mac are not available such as the volume controls and sometimes your track pad. This is a simple fix. Insert the Recovery Disc that came with your Mac and navigate to the CD/DVD ROM drive under the Start Menu/My Computer.
10). Click on the CD/DVD ROM Drive. It will open a box. Look for a file named Setup.exe. Clicking this will run a version of BootCamp that will install the necessary drivers so that Windows will recognize your video, audio and legacy hardware.
11). Once the software has finished running. You are set to go.
If you would like to have your Mac boot up to Windows every time you turn if not, you do not have to do anything.
If you would like to boot up to your Mac O/S every time but still have the option of using Windows when you need it, do the following.
While in Windows, look on the lower right panel. There you will see a gray cube icon. Click it. You will see a pop up screen with the Hard Drive Icons. Select the Hard Drive you would like to boot up to each time you start your Computer.
If and when you want to boot up to your newly installed version of Windows, here is one simple trick:
When your turn on your computer, press the option button and hold it down until you see two Hard Drive Icons. Select the one labeled Windows and you are set to go.
