Brandon Garrido
Level 1 (26 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Macbook 2,1 (late 2006) - compatibility for Vista Ultimate 32bit? Bootcamp 4.0?

I have a late 2006 black Macbook 2.0Ghz with 4GB of RAM.  I'm currently running OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 with Bootcamp Assistant 3.0.4.  I have the option to upgrade to Lion since I purchased it through the App Store a few years back and is available as a download. 

 

The following compatibility chart shows I can install Windows 7 32 Bit as long I have Bootcamp Assistant 4.0.  Although, under Windows Vista 32 bit, it shows DVD in the chart compatibility for my Macbook (late 2006)?  I'm not sure what that means.  I have a retail copy of Windows Vista Ultimate 32 and 64 bit.  Will this install on my Macbook?  I appreciate it if someone can tell me what will work and what won't.  Also, should I upgrade to Lion in order to install Vista 32 bit?

 

Boot Camp: System requirements for Microsoft Windows operating systems - Apple Support

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.0ghz, 8GB Ram

Posted on Jan 5, 2015 8:48 PM

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Brandon Garrido

Q: Macbook 2,1 (late 2006) - compatibility for Vista Ultimate 32bit? Bootcamp 4.0?

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  • by dalstott,

    dalstott dalstott Jan 6, 2015 9:56 AM in response to Brandon Garrido
    Level 4 (2,625 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 9:56 AM in response to Brandon Garrido

    You should have no difficulty installing Boot Camp / Vista 32bit on an late 2006 MacBook. Easiest is to use Mac OS X 10.6.8 and install the drivers from the 10.6 installation DVD. Then you can download and install the 4.0 drivers if needed. Be sure to allow at least 30GB for Vista and 50GB if considering Win 7 in the future. Print and read the Boot Camp instructions and follow explicitly. There is no room for innovation or proceeding blindly.

     

    If you want to be able to assure recovery in case of a glitch or misunderstood step then get an external usb or firewire drive and clone your Mac OS X 10.6.8

    drive. If here is a problem you can boot from the external clone, reformat the internal drive, and back clone the external drive to the internal drive. You will be back where you started with no loss of data. Both SuperDuper and Carbon Copy Cloner are good and proven applications.

     

    At the moment I have an early 2006 black (core duo) MacBook running OS X 0.6.8 and Boot Camp Win XP for older games mainly. Also I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro (2.66Ghz  i7) OS X 10.9.5 with Boot Camp Win Vista 32 bit. I had Boot Camp Win 7 installed but downgraded to Vista so some Games for Windows such as Halo2 could be played. Mavericks does't like Windows versions before 7 so I needed to reinstall OS X 10.6 from the original DVD followed by Boot Camp Vista installation and finally back cloning from the external drive with a Mavericks clone.

  • by Brandon Garrido,

    Brandon Garrido Brandon Garrido Jan 6, 2015 10:52 AM in response to dalstott
    Level 1 (26 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 6, 2015 10:52 AM in response to dalstott

    Thanks dalstott.  We have similar interests in keeping these older machines to play Windows PC games.  I still love to play the first version of Empire Earth (circa 1999-2000) which will only work with intel chipsets from 2010 and earlier and on Windows XP through Windows 7.  The install of Vista Ultimate 32 bit installed just fine.  I figured out the compatibility chart and this Macbook can install Windows 7 with Bootcamp 4 or Vista 32 bit / XP 32 bit if one has the Snow Leopard install DVD which I still have.

     

    I use Super Duper to clone my Mac Partition.  Although, I need recommendations/steps on how I would clone / restore a bootcamp partition in the event I decide to upgrade my HD.  Again, I appreciate your info especially on the newer Mac Operating Systems compatibility.

  • by dalstott,

    dalstott dalstott Jan 6, 2015 1:48 PM in response to Brandon Garrido
    Level 4 (2,625 points)
    Jan 6, 2015 1:48 PM in response to Brandon Garrido

    Although, I need recommendations/steps on how I would clone / restore a bootcamp partition in the event I decide to upgrade my HD.


    I recently upgraded my 2006 MacBook to a SSD and used Winclone to save and restore the Boot Camp partition. It works when booted into Mac OS X

    both for creation of the image and restore. Easy to use. Winclone 3.x is the version to use with Vista, XP, and 10.6.8.


    http://twocanoes.com/winclone/


    https://twocanoes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200158478-Winclone


    https://twocanoes.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/202857428-System-Requirements