Yet another bootcamp thread!

[DrewF]

Hey guys and girls,

I got my Macbook Pro the other day, and I want to explore Windows XP for some of my apps that I still, unfortuntely, need (damn you, SQL Server Enterprise manager!).  I have a legitimate copy of Windows XP, but it doesn't have SP2 on it (in other words, if I ever wiped my PC down, I'd install windows, and then SP2).  Is this a valid CD to use to upgrade, or do I need a new copy that has SP2 built in?

Thanks.

[µ]

I got my Macbook Pro the other day, and I want to explore Windows XP for some of my apps that I still, unfortuntely, need (damn you, SQL Server Enterprise manager!).  I have a legitimate copy of Windows XP, but it doesn't have SP2 on it (in other words, if I ever wiped my PC down, I'd install windows, and then SP2).  Is this a valid CD to use to upgrade, or do I need a new copy that has SP2 built in?

You need one that has SP2, but you don't need to buy a new one.  There's a process known as slipstreaming that allows you to combine a service pack with the version of windows that it affects; you need to slipstreaming WinXP with SP2 and burn a new install CD.  This is still a legal copy of Windows.

You can find a detailed tutorial for the process here, or just google "slipstreaming".

Completing this process will yield a WinXP SP2 install CD which you can use for Boot Camp installation purposes.

[zizdodrian]

I have XP SP1 installed perfectly well on bootcamp. I don't see why SP2 is necessary...

[µ]

I have XP SP1 installed perfectly well on bootcamp. I don't see why SP2 is necessary...

Because Apple says so?  *shrugs*

(from http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/)
"What you’ll need

• <snip>
• A bona fide installation disc for Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional
  (No multi-disc, upgrade or Media Center versions.)"

Other than that, no reason since it seems to work with non-SP2 versions.  Wasn't SP2 supposed to give some decent (for Windows) security and usability upgrades to WinXP SP1 and earlier?  It's worth noting that I don't have Boot Camp installed, so all of my knowledge is either second-hand or directly from Apple's Boot Camp page.

[Axilon]

Only reason it needs XP in particular is because XP disregards the system bios and does its own thing.

[Brother Munro]

You need XP SP2 Home or Professional unless you want to go some regiggering, you can make Vista instal via Boot Camp for instance, not sure about SP1 though. You can get SP2 without paying for another Windows license of course

[zizdodrian]

You need XP SP2 Home or Professional unless you want to go some regiggering, you can make Vista instal via Boot Camp for instance, not sure about SP1 though. You can get SP2 without paying for another Windows license of course

SP1 behaves as it should - it installs perfectly through bootcamp, drivers install fine, and it runs as well as XP can. I think the SP2 requirements are arse covering on the part of Apple, and should be thoroughly disregarded.

I have a few MacIntels either in my possession or available for my use, running a couple of different Tiger versions, and not one of them complained when I stuck in the SP1 disk.

[µ]

You need XP SP2 Home or Professional unless you want to go some regiggering...

Rejiggering like what zizdodrian seems to be good at?  I should have known  

SP1 behaves as it should - it installs perfectly through bootcamp, drivers install fine, and it runs as well as XP can. I think the SP2 requirements are arse covering on the part of Apple, and should be thoroughly disregarded.

Possibly; although they make it quite clear that you're not getting any support, they probably tested mostly with SP2 to cut down on testing time.  If this is the case, then SP1 would be a user-beware deal.

You can get SP2 without paying for another Windows license of course

You wink as if you're suggesting something, but as far as I can tell the process is entirely on the up-and-up.  Maybe I'm reading too much into this

...or maybe you're just talking about MS's software update.  Yeah, that's probably it.

[zizdodrian]

SP1 behaves as it should - it installs perfectly through bootcamp, drivers install fine, and it runs as well as XP can. I think the SP2 requirements are arse covering on the part of Apple, and should be thoroughly disregarded.

Possibly; although they make it quite clear that you're not getting any support, they probably tested mostly with SP2 to cut down on testing time.  If this is the case, then SP1 would be a user-beware deal.

Of course - they want to limit the number of people they support, and control all the possible inputs (which OS, for instance) as they do with their closed hardware range, in order to keep the number of possible problematic outputs down.

And another thing...

Only reason it needs XP in particular is because XP disregards the system bios and does its own thing.

Whaaat?

[µ]

And another thing...

Only reason it needs XP in particular is because XP disregards the system bios and does its own thing.

Whaaat?

Yeah, I wasn't going to touch that with an industrial-length 10m pole.  But since it's been brought up again, the OS can't ignore the bios, otherwise it wouldn't be able to boot.  That's pretty much the point of the bios.

I concur that XP is random, evil, and rude, and generally does what it pleases, but it does play nice with the bios.