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Is it possible to install Windows XP on a new Macbook Pro running OS X Mavericks?

Hello-


I am looking into buying a new Macbook Pro w/ Retina display since my current Macbook Pro just died. I will be using bootcamp to run a version of Windows, but the only version of Windows I have is a Windows XP installation disk. I have recently found out that Bootcamp 5.0 is not compatable with installing/running Windows XP, and I am wondering if that is true. It is not necessary for me to have a more recent version of Windows (like Windows 7 or 8), so I would like to use Windows XP if possible. Am I struck to using alternatives like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion? Would those even work? Am I stuck having to buy a new Windows OS? There is another issue with the fact that the Macbook Pro w/ Retina doesn't have an optical drive included. Will that be an issue? Even if I buy a Superdrive for external CD/DVD capabilities?


Thank you!

-Jeff

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Sep 12, 2013 7:55 AM

Reply
2 replies

Jan 11, 2014 9:32 PM in response to jefflowell12

XP is not "Supported" by the bootcamp *assistant*, but if you have an old BootCamp XP partition from an install that was supported (from a previous version of Mac OS), then it still works - so clearly it can be made to work on a new computer as well.


Also, think about it. Windows itself has nothing to do with OS X, so the question isn't whether OS X 10.9 supports Windows XP, but whether Windows XP supports running on your hardware. The only possible issue might be that if the BootCamp drivers for your hardware don't work on XP, then you might possibly have some reduced functionality.


Anyway you can easily install XP on any OS X 10.9 machine without the BootCamp assistant by using the following steps:

1. by creating a second partition in the Disk Utility. Name it BootCamp and set the filesystem type to NTFS.

2. Reboot and hold down the option key to boot from your XP installer CD

3. When the installer reboots your computer, make sure to hold down the option key and boot from the BootCamp partition to complete the setup.


Then you can try to get the bootcamp drivers from elsewhere and see if they work. Even if not, Windows will run well enough to allow you to use a Windows 7 upgrade DVD/ISO - which is much cheaper than buying the full install if you already own XP.


You could also back up your old XP BootCamp from your old computer using an image tool and then restore it to your new computer by similar methods - and that would include the BootCamp drivers (for your old computer, at least).


You can find some tutorials like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7zLhN1oulw

Is it possible to install Windows XP on a new Macbook Pro running OS X Mavericks?

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