Dual Booting

Mesalline · 06-28-2009, 09:22 AM

Hello everyone,
I have a copy of Windows Vista Business 64 bit that I want to Dual boot with my MacBook, but I only have 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. I only really want Windows so that I can play my computer games again, plus I realize that I will need both OS's at some point when I start University.

What I'm asking is this mainly: Is 2GB of ram enough to run both OS's? I would probably be only using one at a time, either to play my games on Windows or my work/personal stuff on my Mac.
I would give 1GB of memory each to each OS, I am planning on upgrading to 4GB of Memory when I have the money.

I know I have another, maybe cheaper option, with Windows Parallels. The only thing is I have no idea how Parallels actually works. Do I have to install Windows on my main computer anyway, and the software to run parallels? In that case, won't it take up more memory than simply dual booting with 2GB of memory?

I'm planning a trip to the Apple store tomorrow anyway to see what they say, and if I'm going to dual boot it I'll get them to do it for me so I don't mess it up.

I'd love some advice with this before I go traipsing up to the Apple store. Many thanks! :)

sinclair_tm · 06-28-2009, 09:25 PM

If you dual boot, then only one OS is running at a time, so the loaded OS will use whatever RAM you have installed. You have 2GB or RAM, so when you are in OS X, it'll have all 2 GB. If you are in Vista, it'll have the 2GB. Parallels is a software package that allows you to run Windows inside of the Mac OS, and yes, then you will have to "share" the RAM. I quote it because OS X will still be in charge of all the RAM, but Parallels is a program, and it will request to use whatever amount of RAM you tell it to show Windows it has. But for playing games, you will want to boot into Windows, which means you have all you need. Just run Boot Camp found in your Utilities folder and it will help you partition the hard disk so you can install Windows. Just remember though, the Macbook has an Intel GPU, and you are not going to get the best frame rates on newer games.

Mesalline · 06-29-2009, 08:52 AM

Thanks, There's another question I wanted to ask, I know it's wise to back up data, but is it necessary? Will I actually loose anything when I partition it? because I have nothing to back up my data on, no hard-drive and my pen drives too small. I really should buy an external but I haven't got the money :/

**sobeit** · 06-29-2009, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesalline

Thanks, There's another question I wanted to ask, I know it's wise to back up data, but is it necessary? Will I actually loose anything when I partition it? because I have nothing to back up my data on, no hard-drive and my pen drives too small. I really should buy an external but I haven't got the money :/

it is always wise to backup your system before doing something this drastic. If nothing else, backup any files you cannot afford to lose. Anytime you do anything on your computer, there is always a possibility that something could happen.

Mesalline · 06-29-2009, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sobeit

it is always wise to backup your system before doing something this drastic. If nothing else, backup any files you cannot afford to lose. Anytime you do anything on your computer, there is always a possibility that something could happen.

Ok, thanks. I have quite a few movie files that I would like not to have to download again, but I will only back up a few of them because I don't have enough discs to back up everything. Like I said I have nothing of great importance on here really, college is over and I have no work on here. I'm just really nervous that this will all go wrong...!

Mesalline · 06-29-2009, 09:34 AM

Also, I've decided to give Vista 17GB of space. Will that be enough? (I have decided to back up my important files on CD-R's. Knowing my luck I will loose everything if I don't!

sinclair_tm · 06-30-2009, 01:06 AM

I wouldn't give Windows anything under 30GB. 17GB will get you the OS and a couple of programs, and that's it, not wiggle room. You'll want to have at least 5GB free at all times for the virtual memory swap file. I have XP Pro on 30GB and some of my games and have less than 8GB free.

Mesalline · 06-30-2009, 11:09 AM

Well that went... decidedly South. It was almost like my mac was reminding me why I switched to Mac in the first place. I divided up my partition and stuck in the Windows Vista disk, only to have Windows not recognize the product Key. It was a genuine copy of Vista, so I can only assume my friend had written the key down wrong. So I rang him up but he had no idea what the key was :/ There was no quit button, and every time I tried to reboot my mac it just booted from the Vista disk.
So the Disk was stuck and I couldn't use the Mac side of my Mac. I took it into the Apple store today and the Apple Genius guy took the disk out and repaired my partitions, I took it home only to find that when it booted up, a black screen came up, only to say "No boot disk, insert boot disk and press any key" ... I put in the Mac OSX disk and nothing happened... So back on the train I went to the Apple Store. Lo and behold, when I got there, we booted it up, and it was fine :/ Apparently what had happened was when Mac booted up, it was looking for Windows, but it wasn't there and it got confused. He fiddled with some buttons to make sure it wouldn't do it again, and *touch wood* so far it hasn't.
I *always* have bad experiences with Windows, thats why I switched to Mac in the first place. I've had a nice smooth run with my mac so far, no problems with it (I did have a screen saver problem but they fixed that- faulty file or something) so I'm going to leave it as it is. The only reason why I wanted Windows on it in the first place is so that I could play my computer games. The guy who was helping me was talking about a program called 'Cider' or something, but I'm wary now to try anything else.

06-28-2009, 09:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mesalline Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 19 OS: MacOSX	Dual Booting Hello everyone, I have a copy of Windows Vista Business 64 bit that I want to Dual boot with my MacBook, but I only have 2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM. I only really want Windows so that I can play my computer games again, plus I realize that I will need both OS's at some point when I start University. What I'm asking is this mainly: Is 2GB of ram enough to run both OS's? I would probably be only using one at a time, either to play my games on Windows or my work/personal stuff on my Mac. I would give 1GB of memory each to each OS, I am planning on upgrading to 4GB of Memory when I have the money. I know I have another, maybe cheaper option, with Windows Parallels. The only thing is I have no idea how Parallels actually works. Do I have to install Windows on my main computer anyway, and the software to run parallels? In that case, won't it take up more memory than simply dual booting with 2GB of memory? I'm planning a trip to the Apple store tomorrow anyway to see what they say, and if I'm going to dual boot it I'll get them to do it for me so I don't mess it up. I'd love some advice with this before I go traipsing up to the Apple store. Many thanks! :)

06-29-2009, 08:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
Mesalline Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 19 OS: MacOSX	Re: Dual Booting Thanks, There's another question I wanted to ask, I know it's wise to back up data, but is it necessary? Will I actually loose anything when I partition it? because I have nothing to back up my data on, no hard-drive and my pen drives too small. I really should buy an external but I haven't got the money :/

06-29-2009, 09:34 AM	#6 (permalink)
Mesalline Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 19 OS: MacOSX	Re: Dual Booting Also, I've decided to give Vista 17GB of space. Will that be enough? (I have decided to back up my important files on CD-R's. Knowing my luck I will loose everything if I don't!

06-30-2009, 11:09 AM	#8 (permalink)
Mesalline Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 19 OS: MacOSX	Re: Dual Booting Well that went... decidedly South. It was almost like my mac was reminding me why I switched to Mac in the first place. I divided up my partition and stuck in the Windows Vista disk, only to have Windows not recognize the product Key. It was a genuine copy of Vista, so I can only assume my friend had written the key down wrong. So I rang him up but he had no idea what the key was :/ There was no quit button, and every time I tried to reboot my mac it just booted from the Vista disk. So the Disk was stuck and I couldn't use the Mac side of my Mac. I took it into the Apple store today and the Apple Genius guy took the disk out and repaired my partitions, I took it home only to find that when it booted up, a black screen came up, only to say "No boot disk, insert boot disk and press any key" ... I put in the Mac OSX disk and nothing happened... So back on the train I went to the Apple Store. Lo and behold, when I got there, we booted it up, and it was fine :/ Apparently what had happened was when Mac booted up, it was looking for Windows, but it wasn't there and it got confused. He fiddled with some buttons to make sure it wouldn't do it again, and touch wood so far it hasn't. I always have bad experiences with Windows, thats why I switched to Mac in the first place. I've had a nice smooth run with my mac so far, no problems with it (I did have a screen saver problem but they fixed that- faulty file or something) so I'm going to leave it as it is. The only reason why I wanted Windows on it in the first place is so that I could play my computer games. The guy who was helping me was talking about a program called 'Cider' or something, but I'm wary now to try anything else.