Installing XP with Boot Camp - questions

[RickyB]

Hi,

I want to install XP on my Mac Mini. I don't have a proper copy of Windows XP but I actually do have a licence for XP, as I previously used it with Virtual PC. I presume that I cannot somehow extract this installation (and upgrade it to SP2) without great difficulty. If I borrowed someone else's disk and used my product key, would this work? I do think that since I have a licence to use XP, this shouldn't be a legal problem. Any thoughts? Having said this, I don't know anyone who has a normal XP install disk, so this is a moot point.

Anyway, the easiest way may be to buy a copy of XP from eBay. I know it has to be SP2, but I'm not sure if there are any other things I should look for. Will OEM disks work? Are there any legal probs?

 

[Mr. Zarniwoop]

I took a Connectix Virtual PC CD, converted it to a boot CD (as it actually isn't!), and then slipstreamed XP SP2 onto it. It was a pain, but I did it out of curiosity when first playing around with XP on my Mac. I later bought an OEM XP SP2 license for my Mac, which of course came with a shiny new XP CD that "just worked" installing it under Boot Camp.

My Connectix XP copy was upgraded to SP2 under Virtual PC, and along the way was activated under Virtual PC, all years ago. As OEM XP, your Connectix product key won't activate on different hardware if it was activated before as the license does not let you transfer it to new hardware. That hardware is virtual however, so it should keep working as genuine on Virtual PC on any Mac that can run Virtual PC.

In practice, I suspect if you called Microsoft during activation on a "real" Mac, since it's not going to let you activate automatically on new hardware, and just said you were "reinstalling", that they'd likely give you an activation code. But technically, they don't have to as you're not following the terms of that XP OEM license by transferring it to a new PC.

BTW, buying a copy online of XP Pro direct from Microsoft during an XP activation, from a "borrowed" CD, a bootable slipstreamed copy of your XP CD, or even a pirated copy, is $149. They even send you a CD afterwards, and I *think* (but am not sure) it's a retail license. If it is a retail license, that means you have the right to uninstall and reinstall on new hardware.

 

[RickyB]

I forgot to thank you for this reply!

I got a copy of XP from eBay in the end and it installed fine.

Thanks for the help.

 

[riscy]

^^ Better late than never