How to install windows xp on bootcamp on new Mac mini?

Apple no longer officially support running Windows XP on the new Mac mini. However this does not mean it is not possible.

While using an external USB CD/DVD drive is the easiest way, another method is to copy the entire contents of the Windows XP install disk on to a USB memory stick and then booting from the memory stick. Obviously you need a computer that has a CD/DVD drive to do this but it could be any Mac or PC. As you have an older MacBook, you could use it to copy on to a USB memory stick.

Another possibility for those with the tools and experience, would be to physically remove the hard disk from the Mac mini and fit it in the MacBook and then do the installation on the MacBook, then return the hard disk to the Mac mini.

You can do as John suggested, but you will probably

still be faced with driver issues that could create major

problems. Best bet would be to just bite the bullet

and get Windows 7.

woodmeister50 wrote:

You can do as John suggested, but you will probably

still be faced with driver issues that could create major

problems. Best bet would be to just bite the bullet

and get Windows 7.

The issue of an optical drive (lack of on the new Mac mini) means the same issue will also apply to Windows 7.

In terms of drivers, the Boot Camp 3.2 drivers (a free download) would get things started for XP, see http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1333 or http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1442 , but Boot Camp 4 drivers are only intended for Vista or Windows 7. Even with Windows 7 and Boot Camp some people find they get better results by finding and downloading themselves newer drivers.

Boot Camp 4 drivers are not downloadable, you generate them from within the Lion Boot Camp Assistant. Again with the lack of a CD drive you would be best writing them to a USB memory stick.

Admiralali wrote:

Let me get this right:

1- copy the exact image of the winxp installation dc to USB

2- start bootcamp assistant, go through everything, till rebooting

3- boot from USB (hold ALT and select the USB volume)

4- go through winxp setup and done!

Am I missing anything?

I think that USB would be readable only on Mac os or winxp, but will the winxp installer read from USB?

Correct me if wrong.

Having read further websites, I am now a bit more dubious you can do this, at least with an XP installer.

However if you have a USB memory stick and an existing Windows computer (even a Boot Camp one) or can borrow one you could try using the free WinToFlash utility to make a supposedly bootable USB memory stick of the installer. See http://wintoflash.com/overview/en/

The problem is XP predates EFI firmare and XP only really knows BIOS firmware. As such (supposedly) XP would have problems booting from a USB device fully - it might lose connection part way through. Windows Vista and 7 do support EFI firmware.

The other approach I mentioned of temporarily moving the hard disk from the Mini to the MacBook so you can use the MacBook internal CD/DVD drive would work - be careful of the cables. Fortunately a new Mac mini and an old MacBook are two of the easier models to get at the hard disk. See http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook-Core-2-Duo-Hard-Drive-Replacement/514/1 (they also list other MacBook models) and http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-Mac-Mini-Mid-2011-Hard-Drive-Replacement/ 6422/1

Regardless of which method you try, the first step would be on the Mac mini to run Boot Camp Assistant and to create the partition for Windows. Then via either method try booting from a Windows XP installer.

As I have taken Macs apart many times, I personally might go the swapping the hard disk over route.

Admiralali wrote:

Having said that, what if I do the following: access the Mac mini from MacBook in TARGET DISK MODE, then treat the bootcamp partition on Mac mini as if it was a volume on the MacBook, then install winxp from MacBook optical drive onto the mac mini bootcamp partition, then reboot Mac mini to run winxp on bootcamp. Is what i said possible?

Unfortunately the answer to this one is definitely not. It is an obvious choice to a Mac person, but on a Mac you can only install Windows on to an internal hard disk, not an external (in this case FireWire) hard disk.

And unless things have changed recently, Windows can

only be booted from an internal drive. This has been a

Windows limitation, even though, even on PC's the

BIOS can be enabled to boot off USB (have done this

on PC's with Linux without any issue), this is forbidden

in Windows. This is more than likely due to the fact

that the Windows licensing is very tightly bound to the

hardware, unlike OSX.