[HELP NEEDED] Vista on a Mac?

ikari911 · 08-15-2009, 02:17 AM

Okay, so I just got a new MacBook Pro from Best Buy. I wanted a Mac, but in order to play Windows games, I also got a copy of Windows Vista and was assured that I could run both on the computer. So I opened up Boot Camp, and partitioned 32 Gigabytes on my drive for Windows to run on. I then inserted the Vista installation CD, and selected a drive to install it into. I selected the 32-GB drive with the "Boot Camp" label, but the Windows program told me this drive had to be "reformatted" in order to install Windows on it. So, since this was merely the 32-GB partitioned drive, I figured it made no difference and went ahead with it. Windows did manage to install successfully (albeit with some problems of its own - it interacts weirdly with the touch pad and tells me I have no Internet-connectable devices on my computer) but now I can't switch it back to Mac. I have looked all over the system options, I've searched, I've looked at the startup menu, everything. I can't figure out how to switch it back. This is bugging the hell out of me. Now I can't get on the Internet on that computer, or even use any of the other features it came with for that matter. If anyone can offer some assistance I would be greatly appreciative.

Marth · 08-15-2009, 02:33 AM

i think it was more clever u used darwine which allow u to run exe processus and then plaiyng game son ur mac with it ne?

scsa20 · 08-15-2009, 12:15 PM

I hate Macs but I hate seeing someone who was smart enough to get vista going on a mac with no issues having issues switching back and force so I'll help ya out.

First of all, there's a number of issues installing vista on a mac, luckly you didn't run into any of the install issues, but you are having the issue of switching back and forth and in order to fix this you will have to put in your Mac OS X Leopard DVD in your DVD drive, and install Boot Camp on your now Vista computer. Once you installed Boot Camp on your now Vista computer, you'll have a new icon in your system tray for your ugly Boot Camp from which you can set your startup OS prefence and what not and, oh look at that, you're now able to get online as well...

Doing that "should" also install the needed drivers for getting your wireless working as well but, as I said, "should".

Using Boot Camp to install Vista on your Mac: The Complete Walkthrough - Simple Help

Marth · 08-15-2009, 12:22 PM

Why guys are you so angry against apple im sorry but Mac isnt evil i have one i use it normally its kinda good i dun see problem with it i dun say wow it pawns vista but i say its good too^

Karuro · 08-15-2009, 12:30 PM

As in all my experiences with Mac's, they always crash at the times I really REALLY don't want them to crash.

Vista itself has it's downsides as well, but I'm able to live with it on the laptop.
Least I got XP on my PC.

In the last week of my previous internship, I laughed.
I laughed like a madman.

They only have mac's there, so every day I brought my laptop to work on.
One day, ALL THE MACS CRASHED!!!
The server exploded, savefiles were destroyed and only a backup of before the weekend remained (lucky for them).
I had not a single problem, because I was working on my vista laptop, only hijacking their internet connection. Hooray!

Oh man, you should've seen their faces popping up from behind all those mac's..
It.. it was beautiful..

scsa20 · 08-15-2009, 12:56 PM

hey, you 2 guys, this isn't a mac vs windows war right now, right now it's someone who's having issues with there computer, if you aren't going to help out and instead complain about macs then don't say anything at all.

At least I HELPED out by providing him a path instead of just saying, "macs are evil," gez.

ikari911 · 08-15-2009, 04:07 PM

Alright, so my computer came with two CDs, one labeled "All Things Mac" (or something to that effect) and one labeled "Everything Else". Might one of these be the the CD that you mention, Scsa? Also, thank you.

And by the way, I've heard pretty much the same horror stories from other people, only with the words "Mac" and "Windows" reversed. Also, literally everybody else in my family has been using Mac for years, and I wasn't the one paying for the computer, so there was some pressure. And seeing as I'm not a full-time tech-head and don't plan on becoming one, I find the more easily-navigable interface of the Mac preferable anyhow.

So anyway, what I get from this is that I have to install Boot Camp onto the Vista OS, and I can use that to switch back to Mac? There was a program at the store where I bought it that said it would allow me to run Windows and Mac side-by-side. Might that work as well?
And after I fix this, the next step is figuring out how to get the Windows aspect connected to the Internet... in fact, that may be the first aspect, since I'm going to be away from home for the next couple weeks and I don't know if I'll be able to get the Mac installation CD (or anything like it) before then...

Karuro · 08-15-2009, 04:39 PM

On the school macs, you had to button smash during startup to get an OS selector type thing.
That this Boot Camp you speak of?

scsa20 · 08-15-2009, 06:33 PM

Karuro, if you have nothing nice to say on the current topic of FIXING something, then don't say it and begone, at least I'm putting my differences aside to HELP someone.

Anyways, ikari911, there's a difference between Boot Camp and that "thing" you saw in the store. What you saw in the store is called a Virtual Machine which allows you run a Guest OS under the Host OS (in other words, whatever the current OS you're running will be the host (like at a dinner party) for another OS (the guest of the party that you're hosting)) and those normally involved having more system specs to run. What Boot Camp does is to allow you to install a Windows OS and be completely bootable without having the need to be under your Mac OS. In other words, Dual Booting (something that's been done for a long time since the dawn of Windows OS and Linux).

Anyhow, if I would have to guess, I would think the CD labeled "All Things Mac" would be it but I'm not sure, normally they will come with the original Mac OS Installation CD but nowadays they've been coming out with more and more "Images like" CDs so you might want to check with either Apple or talk with the rep who helped you with your puchased at Best Buy.

If you're still having issues finding it, I guess you could try one of these downloads from Apple (they're boot camp installation thingys from what I can tell)

Boot Camp Update 2.1 for Windows Vista 32
Boot Camp Update 2.1 for Windows Vista 64

Make sure you download the correct version for the version of windows you're running (if you're running a 32-bit windows (aka x86), download the first link, if you've installed the 64-bit version of windows (aka x64), download the second link).

Karuro · 08-15-2009, 07:51 PM

scsa, my first post I answered marth's question with my own reasoning.
My second one I'm asking a valid question to UNDERSTAND what you are talking about.
I have a habit of throwing in sarcasm, hence the "button smashing"-part, as I really cannot remember which key it was to activate it.

But fine, I'm out of this thread. Even though you haven't answered my question and don't seem willing to.