Running Win on a Mac...??

bmike

A questions:
If I would run Windows both from Dual boot and Parallels, do I need two separate installs of Windows and all the windows software or are they one and the same?

All the same. Parallels points to the BootCamp install. It uses the same license of Windows (as well as AutoCAD, etc.).

Not sure how VMWare handles this, but thus far, working swell with Parallels and Win7.

Aerilius

I doubt it is a question of whatever virtualization solution you use.

The issue is that the authentication server recognizes a genuine installation by a list of hardware characteristics, if you change one component (RAM etc.) it doesn't matter, but if all hardware suddenly change then it's very suspicious and you need to re-authenticate. Virtualization software usually is not able to simulate all sorts of hardware but just some includes generic hardware, so the installation in VirtualBox/Parallels/VMWare is recognized as a different system and requires a its own license.

(A trick that works in an XP in VirtualBox is to never "shutdown" XP, but to pause(freeze) the virtual machine. XP asks only at boot/login for activation, so as long as it doesn't reboot you can use it longer than 30 days.)

bmike

@aerilius said:

I doubt it is a question of whatever virtualization solution you use.

The issue is that the authentication server recognizes a genuine installation by a list of hardware characteristics, if you change one component (RAM etc.) it doesn't matter, but if all hardware suddenly change then it's very suspicious and you need to re-authenticate. Virtualization software usually is not able to simulate all sorts of hardware but just some includes generic hardware, so the installation in VirtualBox/Parallels/VMWare is recognized as a different system and requires a its own license.

(A trick that works in an XP in VirtualBox is to never "shutdown" XP, but to pause(freeze) the virtual machine. XP asks only at boot/login for activation, so as long as it doesn't reboot you can use it longer than 30 days.)

No.

I'm running 1 copy of Win7 in BootCamp, and the same copy in Parallels.
When doing the Parallels install it points at the BootCamp partition and eventually installs tools there to make it all work.
AutoCAD is also authenticating fine, whether under BootCamp or virtually in Parallels.

A friend who is running VMWare (and not happy with the 3d support) is having issues with BootCamp and his virtual setup, specifically when using AutoCAD. He is switching to Parallels so that he has a smoother setup when switching between a clean boot (for CAD intensive stuff), and when he runs VM.

michaliszissiou

@unknownuser said:

so as long as it doesn't reboot you can use it longer than 30 days

Thanks.

sepo

Frederik
I would recommend boot-camp. I run it on my mac book pro, desktop pro and Imac 27". It works really good and you do not have any lagging which people experience due to sharing RAM.

Frederik

Thanks again all...!
Much appreciated...

I gave my sister in law all your advices...
She tried making a boot camp, but the system failed...
What she'll do now - I don't know...

michaliszissiou

Well

Jean Lemire

Hi Frederik, hi folks.

Tell your sister to follow exactly the procedure given by Apple:

1 - Buy a windows disc. I bough Windows 7 Family Premium Edition last year for 224 $ CAN.

2 - Start the Mac.

3 - Open the Utilities folder.

4 - Start the BootCamp assistant.

5 - Follow the BootCamp assistant instruction. When prompted to set-up the Windows partition on your hard drive, think about which softwares you will need and how many space for your file you may need. Don't use a too small partition. On my Mac Book Pro, I have a 750 Gigs hard drive. I set up the windows partition at 200 Gigs and left the remaining 550 Gigs for the Mac OS.

When everything will be completed, you will be able to boot as follow:

1 - Start the Mac and do nothing. The Mac OS will boot.

2 - Start the Mac and immediately press and hold the Alt key. When you see two icons, one for Mac OS and one for Windows, use the right arrow key to select Windows and then press the Return key to boot Windows.

In either operating system you can use the Restart function to restart in either system and also to tell the Mac to always start with the operating system of your choice. Of course, you can still press the Alt key on startup and change your mind and, of course, you can also use the startup control pannel to tell your Mac from which partition it should start.

Just ideas.

Frederik

Thanks for the advice, Jean...!
I've sent it to my sister in law...

caronte01

On my macbook I have parallels and an old copy of windows xp. I use it to run autocad (2008, if i'm not mistaken) and other misc sofware. I have 8 GB of ram on this machine and have allocated 3 GB to parallels. Windows does not see the internet, for security reasons, just my home folder.

I had bootcamp and parallels at one time, using the same windows install, but windows complained, because it thought there were two different machines and asked to be reactivated. I switched to windows xp-parallels only. I use autocad for 2d work only, and the performance is more than acceptable.

You probably have an unused windows license laying around somewhere, so that can be less expensive than buying windows 7. And, xp is a lot faster than 7 under parallels.

My advice, parallels, unless some heavy 3d intensive app is needed.