bootcamp drivers: 2008 mac pro 3,1 with xp64 bit or use windows 7 rc?

[j2048b]

I have a 2008 mac pro 3,1 and wanted to ask if the current boot camp drivers are the most updated for an XP64 bit installation? or windows 7 RC?

if not where could i get the drivers for:

intel chipset (not sure what drivers i need)
ATI drivers ( ati radeon hd 2600, i tried ati and could not get them)
.netframework x64
Avast av 64 or avg free will probably work right?
intel network driver? (what network driver will work?)

Audio driver? which one? realtek or something else?


and do i need to format as windows nt or ms-dos?

thanks for all assistance!

 

[MacDawg]

I have not installed Windows 7 RC on Boot Camp, just as a VM

However, my understanding is the drives with Boot Camp are not up to date for Windows 7 and you will have to search for some of the Windows 7 drivers online to make everything work

and do i need to format as windows nt or ms-dos?

Not sure what you are asking here, format what?


Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[j2048b]

I have not installed Windows 7 RC on Boot Camp, just as a VM

However, my understanding is the drives with Boot Camp are not up to date for Windows 7 and you will have to search for some of the Windows 7 drivers online to make everything work



Not sure what you are asking here, format what?


Woof, Woof - Dawg

awesome quick respons,

only installed as a vm? you can install it only under say, parrelles or fusion instead of using bootcamp?

benefits to doing this?

my other hard drive of course that windows will occupy, should i format it as ms-dos (boot camp assistant formats it as ms-dos) or should i format it as a windows nt format seperatly then go into boot camp assistant and only install instead of format and install?

 

[MacDawg]

I installed Windows 7 as a VM with Fusion because I had a Vista install under Boot Camp I wanted to keep

There are pros and cons both ways
I prefer to have my Windows installed through Boot Camp and accessed by the VM because it gives me the best of both worlds

But Windows 7 works great is a VM only

So you plan to install Windows on a separate drive instead of a partition?
I have not done so personally, but there are several threads with tips for that

You can use MRoogle to search for them and gain a lot of information on that type install

I am assuming your drive should be formated as NTFS since that is the standard for Windows

Check out the various file systems here: MR Guide: File Systems

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[j2048b]

I installed Windows 7 as a VM with Fusion because I had a Vista install under Boot Camp I wanted to keep

There are pros and cons both ways
I prefer to have my Windows installed through Boot Camp and accessed by the VM because it gives me the best of both worlds

But Windows 7 works great is a VM only

So you plan to install Windows on a separate drive instead of a partition?
I have not done so personally, but there are several threads with tips for that

You can use MRoogle to search for them and gain a lot of information on that type install

I am assuming your drive should be formated as NTFS since that is the standard for Windows

Check out the various file systems here: MR Guide: File Systems

Woof, Woof - Dawg

so is fusion better than parallels? i have heard it both ways but not sure what the differences are?

there is no option to format as ntfs, so maybe under boot camp assistant it will do this for me?


i want to run windows on its own hard disk in case something goes wrong, then it wont effect my os x install! even with back ups i want to do them seperatly!

SMART to run windows 7 under vm only, (theres an option for this?)
i just thought about it especially sense it is a beta and has issues still, for that reason i will do the same!! (i am a copier

great idea!

so it will be 7 as a vm, and xp media center edition as a boot camp install!

i am only going to be using windows to do blu ray stuff and a few other things, as i have office and can get openoffice,

thanks for the help!!

 

[MacDawg]

I prefer Fusion, but both have a free trial version for your own evaluation

The Windows 7 install under Fusion was flawless and simple
It really runs well

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[j2048b]

I prefer Fusion, but both have a free trial version for your own evaluation

The Windows 7 install under Fusion was flawless and simple
It really runs well

Woof, Woof - Dawg

awesome thanks again, i will try both fusion and parallels

 

[MacDawg]

awesome thanks again, i will try both fusion and parallels

Not to confuse you, but VirtualBox is free

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[j2048b]

Not to confuse you, but VirtualBox is free

Woof, Woof - Dawg

I did see that but is it any better than the other 2, or are their better pros and worse cons to using the virtual box compared to the other 2?

 

[MacDawg]

I did see that but is it any better than the other 2, or are their better pros and worse cons to using the virtual box compared to the other 2?

I have not used it, so i can't really say
I believe it is not as feature rich as the others

Fusion and Parallels have a "unity" mode where your desktop is seamless too

Personally, I have been very happy with Fusion and I have seen far less complaints about it compared to Parallels too

Each will have its fans and critics based on personal preferences

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[j2048b]

I have not used it, so i can't really say
I believe it is not as feature rich as the others

Fusion and Parallels have a "unity" mode where your desktop is seamless too

Personally, I have been very happy with Fusion and I have seen far less complaints about it compared to Parallels too

Each will have its fans and critics based on personal preferences

Woof, Woof - Dawg

thanks for all the help!!

i purchased both fusion and parallels so i can put a system on each to try them out!!

parallels through macupdate was cheap and fusion through academicsuperstore.com student price was only 39.99!!

yay me!!

thanks for all your help, i will try out the 2 and see which i like better!!

 

[MacDawg]

Good for you!
Let me know how it works out for you!

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Gabriel GR]

MacDawg, may I ask what kind of programs you run in windows, how much ram you have and if a VM is good enough for anything except for gaming?

I am 25 and been using windows for 15 years. And this is my first mac. I also study statistics, develop and manage databases, and have some software licences purchased making my "conversion" a bit tricky. I wanted to install Win7 on a partition but I hear that with apples drivers the machine runs very hot and inefficient so I am starting to lean towards a VM.

 

[Infrared]

I have a 2008 mac pro 3,1 and wanted to ask if the current boot camp drivers are the most updated for an XP64 bit installation? or windows 7 RC?

if not where could i get the drivers for:

intel chipset (not sure what drivers i need)
ATI drivers ( ati radeon hd 2600, i tried ati and could not get them)
.netframework x64
Avast av 64 or avg free will probably work right?
intel network driver? (what network driver will work?)

Audio driver? which one? realtek or something else?


and do i need to format as windows nt or ms-dos?

thanks for all assistance!

You will be better off with Windows 7. Apple doesn't support XP64.
They do support x64 Vista. Most drivers compatible with Vista are
also compatible with Windows 7.

I previously installed the Windows 7 Beta on a 2008 Mac Pro and
pretty much everything was working (perhaps not optimally) even
before installing any Apple supplied drivers.

For audio you should get the latest realtek drivers from their website.

ATI 2600 drivers here:

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=win7/windows-7-64bit

 

[j2048b]

You will be better off with Windows 7. Apple doesn't support XP64.
They do support x64 Vista. Most drivers compatible with Vista are
also compatible with Windows 7.

I previously installed the Windows 7 Beta on a 2008 Mac Pro and
pretty much everything was working (perhaps not optimally) even
before installing any Apple supplied drivers.

For audio you should get the latest realtek drivers from their website.

ATI 2600 drivers here:

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=win7/windows-7-64bit

whatabout a video card of hd 4870? I am going to be flashing mine so i can use a dual monitor and use it for windows and my mac.


thanks

 

[Freyqq]

thanks for all the help!!

i purchased both fusion and parallels so i can put a system on each to try them out!!

parallels through macupdate was cheap and fusion through academicsuperstore.com student price was only 39.99!!

yay me!!

thanks for all your help, i will try out the 2 and see which i like better!!

not to burst your bubble, but i believe both have 30 day trials =\

also, both are very slow compared to a bootcamp install. If you are doing anything remotely intensive, you will be deeply disappointed with virtualization. Virtualization is running both OSX and Windows at the same time..splitting the resources between both. Bootcamp is native, so you get full resources devoted to windows.

 

[yezza]

Whichever OS you choose, you will be able to utilize it natively via bootcamp or through your VM (Fusion/Parallels) within the Mac OS.

So, you then have the option depending on the performance/convenience you require, and whichever way you access it, changes are made to the same Windows install.

 

[j2048b]

not to burst your bubble, but i believe both have 30 day trials =\

also, both are very slow compared to a bootcamp install. If you are doing anything remotely intensive, you will be deeply disappointed with virtualization. Virtualization is running both OSX and Windows at the same time..splitting the resources between both. Bootcamp is native, so you get full resources devoted to windows.

I figure, i have 10 gigs of ram and 2 monitors, moving up to 3 in the near future, and 8 cores, so it wont really be that big of a deal?

 

[cluthz]

With my Macbook Pro with 4GB ram VMWare Fusion runs really decent with 1.5GB for the win xp and rest for the mac. I'm using XP with different chemistry drawing apps, while i run browser, office etc on OSX.

XP takes a bit to load, but once it's loaded it's running fine.

With 10GB ram and a dualcore/8-core you'll run even faster, so I wouldn't worry.

 

[j2048b]

With my Macbook Pro with 4GB ram VMWare Fusion runs really decent with 1.5GB for the win xp and rest for the mac. I'm using XP with different chemistry drawing apps, while i run browser, office etc on OSX.

XP takes a bit to load, but once it's loaded it's running fine.

With 10GB ram and a dualcore/8-core you'll run even faster, so I wouldn't worry.

AWESOME TO THAT!!

NO WORRIES!! everything should run pretty smoothly.

one thing i remember reading though is that isn't there a max memory amount you have to allow to xp or vista through fussion/parallels/bootcamp?

or is it just what amount you want to put forth for each vm or bootcamp?

thaqnks