Only Windows OS on a Mac?

outermon · 04-13-2008, 12:52 PM

Don't ask... my friend is really stubborn, but he wants to have Windows as the only OS on his Mac Pro. He currently has OS X Leopard with a 32GB Windows XP partition. He doesn't need any data from either partition.

I was wondering, since the firmware should already be patched. Could I simply partition the HD to 1 fresh partition using the OSX Install CD, and then go install Windows to that HD using the Windows Install CD? Would the computer be able to just boot Windows like that?

shuuhen · 04-13-2008, 01:24 PM

There might be a way, but I'd say probably not. New Apple hardware (anything with an Intel processor in it) does not have a BIOS. Instead it has something called an EFI. Boot Camp is needed to make Windows "think" there's a BIOS. If someone made a special bootloader you might be able to only have Windows on the computer.

outermon · 04-13-2008, 06:39 PM

We'll I've read of people manually creating partitions on their macs (without erasing stuff) without using Bootcamp, and successfully installing windows on the partition they created. The Bios emulator is patched on to the firmware by means of some sort of update, but not necessarily though bootcamp.

I don't mean to question you, but I've been under the impression that there is an update separate from Boot Camp that updates/patches the firmware to emulate Bios.

sinclair_tm · 04-13-2008, 10:24 PM

If there is, it isn't supported by Apple, and we are not going to know where to find it. I have heard of someone doing this with a Macbook Pro, in fact they were here asking for help once because there was some Windows update or something, and the Windows install got corrupt, and they couldn't boot the Mac with the Windows disk, and they didn't have the Mac OS disks anymore. The only thing that they could do at that point was buy a copy of OS X and reinstall it, and then install Windows with Bootcamp. Like shuuhen has said, Windows does not support EFI, and Microsoft has flat out said that they have no plans to support it. I think it would be best for your friend to live with the first 15 gigs of his drive being the Mac OS, and the rest Windows. And it would be even better for him to either get the Mac version of the software he uses, or just get a Windows PC.

**scathe30** · 04-14-2008, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Only Windows OS on a Mac?

What you say is practically useless and absolutely unpractical.
Rather get a powerful PC to run Windows. I see no sense in running Mac in windows-only mode.
Parallels and Boot Camp will not be the solution here, because they both need Mac OS

04-13-2008, 12:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
outermon Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 53 OS: Windows XP SP2	Only Windows OS on a Mac? Don't ask... my friend is really stubborn, but he wants to have Windows as the only OS on his Mac Pro. He currently has OS X Leopard with a 32GB Windows XP partition. He doesn't need any data from either partition. I was wondering, since the firmware should already be patched. Could I simply partition the HD to 1 fresh partition using the OSX Install CD, and then go install Windows to that HD using the Windows Install CD? Would the computer be able to just boot Windows like that?

04-13-2008, 01:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 981 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Only Windows OS on a Mac? There might be a way, but I'd say probably not. New Apple hardware (anything with an Intel processor in it) does not have a BIOS. Instead it has something called an EFI. Boot Camp is needed to make Windows "think" there's a BIOS. If someone made a special bootloader you might be able to only have Windows on the computer. __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

04-13-2008, 06:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
outermon Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 53 OS: Windows XP SP2	Re: Only Windows OS on a Mac? We'll I've read of people manually creating partitions on their macs (without erasing stuff) without using Bootcamp, and successfully installing windows on the partition they created. The Bios emulator is patched on to the firmware by means of some sort of update, but not necessarily though bootcamp. I don't mean to question you, but I've been under the impression that there is an update separate from Boot Camp that updates/patches the firmware to emulate Bios.