How to Make Your Mac a Dual Operating System Machine with a Windows Install

All of the newer Mac computers ship with a very useful utility which the majority of Mac users are unfamiliar with. I would venture to say it is one of the most useful computer utilities available as part of the Mac computer operating system (OS). Boot Camp, the utility, allows you to create a partition on your Mac hard drive which you can install a copy of Windows operating system on. This gives you the freedom to boot your Mac with either Mac OS X or Windows, depending on your particular computing needs.

Installing a Windows operating system using Boot Camp is not too difficult. It requires you have an installation CD for the Windows operating system you wish to install and access to your Mac OS X, version 10.5 or later, install CD. It is important that your computer has all the required updates and the most recent Mac firmware installed. Go online and log into support.apple.com/downloads to make sure before you begin. If you already have a partition on your Mac Hard drive, Boot Camp will not work. To solve this problem you must erase and reformat all additional partitions present.

Install your Mac OS X install CD and navigate (Control-N) to the Utilities folder and locate the Boot Camp Assistant icon. Double click on it. Locate the Create a partition for Windows screen. You now need to select a partition size for your Windows OS installation. The default size is 5GB (gigabits). This is not sufficient room to install the Windows OS. At least 15GB is required and additional space will be necessary to store the file you create, therefore, a minimum of 20GB of space should be allotted for your Windows OS partition. Drag the divider separating the two partitions to resize the partitions the way you wish. Once you have determined the partition size you desire, click Partition to begin the operation.

When the partitioning is complete the computer will prompt you to install the Windows OS installation CD. Install it and click Start Installation. Your computer will restart and the installation will begin. If the partition is not formatted properly to accept the Windows OS installation, a yellow warning icon will indicate this. Click on Drive Options (Advanced) then click Format and click OK in the dialog box that appears. When the formatting operation is complete click Next and the Windows OS installation will begin. Your computer will shut down and restart a number of times during this process. Read the dialog that appears during the installation, answering the questions and making the selections as requested.

After the Windows OS installation is complete there is one more step to finish the installation, you must install the Mac drivers within the Windows install to support all of the Mac computer hardware. This is a necessary step because you will encounter graphic, networking, audio, keyboard, and mouse problems when working in Windows if you do not install the correct hardware drivers. Eject the Windows install CD and reinstall the Mac OS X installation CD. Run Setup.exe until the Boot Camp window appears. Click next, accept the terms and agreement, click next again. The Choose Additional Features and Settings window will appear, check the Apple Software Update for Windows box and click install. Installation will take a few minutes, when completed click Finish and restart your computer.

Now you have all of the necessary drivers as well as a Windows version of Boot Camp installed. To select which operating system you wish to use you must first select your default operating system, the OS your computer will automatically start up with. To do this, if you are in the Windows OS, click on the Boot Camp icon located in the system tray and click Boot Camp Control Panel. The Startup Disk tab will appear. Select the drive you want to use as your default OS.

If you are in the Mac OS X OS, click the Apple menu and click System Preferences. Under System click Startup Disk, select which system you want to start your computer with from the screen that appears. If you selected Mac as your default operating system, your computer will automatically load the Mac OS whenever you start it. If you wish too convert to your Windows OS install, you have to restart the computer and hold down the Option key during the start up process. You will be given the option to select Mac OS X or Windows OS. Select Windows OS option and click the arrow icon located beneath it. To switch back to Mac OS X just restart your computer.

A dual operating system computer is a tremendous benefit to those who need to use multiple software programs or processes which are only available for each operating system, exclusively. It will greatly add to your creativity and productivity.

Resource: Vista Crosses the Aisle - Smart computing Magazine, September, 2009