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New to Bootcamp - First question - Can Windows install damage my OSx (Mountain Lion)

New to Bootcamp - First question - Can Windows install damage my OSx (Mountain Lion)


I’m not a big fan of Windows, but I need it from time to time.


Can Installing Windows render my OSX unstable or damage it in any way and if something goes wrong at one point with Windows can I just wipe it out and reinstall without affecting my OSX.

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)

Posted on Nov 22, 2012 7:06 AM

Reply
6 replies

Nov 22, 2012 7:09 AM in response to Chacapamac

Yes, you can corrupt the OS X volume if you do it wrong. If you only use it from time to time perhaps you should consider the alternatives:


Windows on Intel Macs


There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.


1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows

XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. For Boot Camp

4.0 and above you can only use Windows 7 or later. Follow

instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on

installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and

installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the

computer into OS X or Windows.

2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business,

Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software

virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently

with OS X.

3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate,

or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that

enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.

4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows

applications without having to install Windows. The

Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.

5. VirtualBox is an Open Source freeware virtual machine such

as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris.

It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM

Fusion.


Note that VirtualBox, Parallels, and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.


You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

Nov 22, 2012 7:40 AM in response to Kappy

Thank’s Kappy 😁


I use Windoze from time to time third party software that run only in Windoze and add a Wamp (server environment) to test my web sites on Explorer...


Less time I pass in there better I feel, but I have no choice to use it.


If I understand well, even if Windoze is install on a different partition (and probably even if you do the things right...) you can endup with problems in your entire Mac.


I think I will forget the BootCamp alley and use The Parallels way.


My idea is to find the faster drive I can find - Probably, ideally maybe Thunderbolt — Install mountain Lion on it and partition it for multiple OS — I need at least XP and 7 and install them and use them with Parallels. I can add another partition in ther for my Time Machine


Do you think this is a good way to go?.


I want to have another mirroring drive to keep a pristine clone (With Carbon Copy Cloner) of my entire Mac for safe Keeping...


You think all that will work well together.


I’m upgrading from a PPC Tiger machine, I have to catch up with all that.

Nov 22, 2012 9:33 AM in response to Kappy

Kappy wrote:


There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) The latter tend to be a little slower (not much)


yeah but one needs to have enough memory as osx will use it's share and the vm will have to settle for the leftovers

Nov 22, 2012 9:52 AM in response to Rudegar

Rudegar wrote:


Kappy wrote:


There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) The latter tend to be a little slower (not much)


yeah but one needs to have enough memory as osx will use it's share and the vm will have to settle for the leftovers

And memory is very cheap and easy to fit.

New to Bootcamp - First question - Can Windows install damage my OSx (Mountain Lion)

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