Installing Bootcamp

January 14, 2010 at 6:38 pm · Filed under General Post

I recently installed Bootcamp and Microsoft Windows XP SP3 on my MacBook Pro.

While this was mostly straightforward, the process got complicated because I did not have my Leopard installation DVD with me, and the cost of traveling to it…well, you can guess. Not worth it.

The lack of the DVD is crucial because it contains Windows XP drivers for the Mac-specific hardware. Fortunately, this page:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1999

helped me run down what drivers I needed (mostly the RealTek sound driver). I got an updated NVidia driver from the Apple web site, so the laptop, when booted into Windows, is now able to display proper video and sound — which is, along with external keyboard and mouse, what one needs for Windows-only video games. Network, trackpad, and other misc items are still not working. It has been a heck of a time, especially since the “updates” to Bootcamp that Apple has available:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL967

and

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Boot_Camp_Update_2_1_for_Windows_Vista_32

don’t seem to run in WindowsXP SP3 (a clean, from ISO install, not an SP2 to SP3 upgrade).

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