Installing Windows on a MacBook

My dad decided to convert me to the Cult of the Apple and got me a shiny new MacBook Pro to replace my laptop that had the graphics crap out. I'm still figuring out the UI differences, and only have one major complaint thusfar: This is a business class laptop. What kind of business does Apple think people are going to do where they don't want an optical drive, ethernet port, or more than two USB ports? And they could have put the speakers somewhere else to leave room for a full number pad.

Rant aside, I'm planning to install Win 7 Pro using Boot Camp. First, is it possible to transfer the license from my other, now defunct laptop? Or will I need to buy a new license key? (My searches seem to reveal the later, since this was probably an "OEM", not Retail copy.) Any sources for installer download rather than buying physical media (on account of not having a berkeleying optical drive)? I can't tell if Newegg would ship physically or electronically.

Win 7 license on your old laptop is likely an OEM one and you would need to use OEM media to make it work. That media likely has hardware detection built into it, so if it did work you'd likely still have to call Microsoft to "unlock" it.

I believe you can purchase and download Win 7 directly from Microsoft.

Personally, I don't think I've used an optical drive in nearly 2 years, except to watch DVD's. That's just me though.

You can search for a way to find what the license key is on the old computer, I forget how to do it. Then uninstall windows from that machine to free up the key to use on the mac.

magic jelly bean will find the key for you. If you run into trouble let me know.

I found the key on the old machine. It's hidden under the battery. That's not the issue. I've just read a number of things saying that you can't transfer an OEM key, only a retail one.

I'm currently have the HDD pulled out of the laptop and am using it in an external dock to access the files I want to keep. I'm guessing that deactivating the key from the old computer will require reformatting everything and mean I have to pull all the data I want off that drive first.

I ran TinyXP in my old 2007 MacBook for a long time. It was my traveling LAN gaming rig. I installed it from a thumb drive. That's all I know.

Yeah AFAIK there's no way to transfer an OEM key. You'd have to buy a new retail copy of Windows. And you're stuck on Apple hardware

In reply to Datsun1500:

Does that create a dual-boot environment to run Win7 natively? Or does it run Windows within MacOS?

That runs Windows in a VM on Mac OS.

It's not quite true that you have to have a retail version of Windows to transfer it to another machine - it works with the OEM/System Builder version if it's not locked to the hardware. Unfortunately OEM licenses that come with machines from big manufacturers often are locked to the hardware.

BoxheadTim wrote: That runs Windows in a VM on Mac OS. It's not quite true that you have to have a retail version of Windows to transfer it to another machine - it works with the OEM/System Builder version *if* it's not locked to the hardware. Unfortunately OEM licenses that come with machines from big manufacturers often are locked to the hardware.

Hrm... How do I check if it is locked to the hardware or not? This is coming off of an HP Elitebook laptop.

Why would you want to dual boot a Mac anyway?

yamaha wrote: Why would you want to dual boot a Mac anyway?

Maybe dual-boot is the wrong term. I want to be able to boot into Windows because there are programs I like that run better in that. Like... games...

In reply to Beer Baron:

Gaming on a laptop is probably more of the problem. I recommend building a dedicated gaming PC and not try to make a Macbook into something it isn't.

My BIL did what you're wanting to do and encountered several persistent issues.

In reply to yamaha:

That's in the works, and planned for a few months from now, I understand there is about to be another big jump in technology and I'm going to wait for that to drive prices down.

I know my dad has the dual-install thing done on his laptop and it works well.

FWIW, Apple will sell you an optical drive. I use a Belken Firewire Dock for additional ports and it works great.

pinchvalve wrote: FWIW, Apple will sell you an optical drive. I use a Belken Firewire Dock for additional ports and it works great.

Yeah, but they'll charge triple the price of what I can buy a USB3 drive for at the local electronics shop.

I've been running Macs at home and work for years. I'm nominally an iOS developer (more like, developer manager now...), so I am likely biased.

I haven't needed an optical drive in years. Last year I had to burn one CD in order to archive some software for our "process". That's 364 days of lighter, thinner laptop, one day of "dammit, how do I burn something in Windows?".

I actually prefer not having an ethernet port on my laptop. The Thunderbolt ports are extremely versatile and low-profile. On the rare occasions I need wired access, it's easy to just snap in the ethernet dongle. But on my desk at work, 99.9% of the time that port is hooked up to a 24" monitor. I run three monitors off my Pro, and it's freaking awesome. 24" monitors don't plug in to Ethernet ports :)

You will be assimilated. These things you think are important now will not matter in a few weeks. The only thing that will matter is what new toy the happy white apple shows you next. The Kool-Aid tastes good, drink up.

(more to your original point: if you want to run games on Windows on your MBP, read up on Bootcamp, that is the right solution if performance, especially 3D performance, is important to you. If you just want to run some Windows-only app, look into Parallels or VMWare Fusion)

Beer Baron wrote:

BoxheadTim wrote: That runs Windows in a VM on Mac OS. It's not quite true that you have to have a retail version of Windows to transfer it to another machine - it works with the OEM/System Builder version *if* it's not locked to the hardware. Unfortunately OEM licenses that come with machines from big manufacturers often are locked to the hardware.

Hrm... How do I check if it is locked to the hardware or not? This is coming off of an HP Elitebook laptop.

If the Googlez doesn't indicate if it's locked or not, pretty much the only way is to try it out unfortunately.

peter wrote: (more to your original point: if you want to run games on Windows on your MBP, read up on Bootcamp, that is the right solution if performance, especially 3D performance, is important to you. If you just want to run some Windows-only app, look into Parallels or VMWare Fusion)

That is my thought. And although I will probably build a more potent tower rig at some point. I like being able to engage in LAN parties with some older PC games when I visit friends.

Found a Microsoft site for downloading software if you have a legit key. It doesn't seem to like the one I have. So, looks like I'm going to go buy a new retail copy and an external drive sometime today.

::Grumble::Grumble:: Bootcamp is not working quite as advertised. MacOSX can read from the Windows partition, but can't write. Win 7 can see that there is another partition, but can't pull anything up to even read from it.

I want to be able to access my MP3s and documents no matter which OS I'm in.

Beer Baron wrote: ::Grumble::Grumble:: Bootcamp is not working quite as advertised. MacOSX can read from the Windows partition, but can't write. Win 7 can see that there is another partition, but can't pull anything up to even read from it. I want to be able to access my MP3s and documents no matter which OS I'm in.

There are programs out there that allow for Mac NTFS read/write. Google pulls up Tuxtera, which is $31 and has a free trial. I know there are others.

Alternately, make a partition on your drive that's FAT32. Both OSs can read/write it like a flash drive. The only downside is that individual files can't be >4 GB.

I really didn't like VM stuff when I went through my dual-booting phase. Bootcamp always worked fully w/o issues.

kylini wrote: Alternately, make a partition on your drive that's FAT32. Both OSs can read/write it like a flash drive. The only downside is that individual files can't be >4 GB.

That's what I'm thinking I'll have to do. It's proving to be a bit problematic though. Disk utility doe not seem to want to partition the HD. Bootcamp will, but it will only split it into two partitions. I can't make a third and format it how I desire.

yamaha wrote: In reply to Beer Baron: Gaming on a laptop is probably more of the problem. I recommend building a dedicated gaming PC and not try to make a Macbook into something it isn't. My BIL did what you're wanting to do and encountered several persistent issues.

Gaming on a laptop is no problem once you set your expectations right. My friends and I mainly play stuff we buy on GoG that is a decade old. I've logged a ton of hours on Dungeon Siege, Half Life, TFC, Total Annihilation, and a few more. All played on a 2007 MacBook running TinyXP in a partition. Now if you want to play NEW games, yeah, you need a real gaming rig. There is no substitute. But you can have a ton of fun with the older stuff.