When you use a Macintosh and need to run Windows programs, what is the best way to run Windows 7 on a Mac? What are the problems for which you need to prepare? How do you exchange files between Windows and Mac? How do you assign hard disk space? How do you change the allocation after installation if needed? Here are choices that work great. Some of the Windows programs I needed would not run in virtualization mode. VirtualBox, a free emulator by Oracle, is quite good, but I needed the installation of Windows 7 on the hard drive of the Macintosh.
How To Run Windows 7 On A Mac
Bootcamp is included with the operating system in the utility folder, and the installation procedure is straightforward. You need a Windows DVD installation disk, and a basic or manufacturer’s installation disk is fine. Next, print out the Bootcamp instructions and partition your hard drive to make space for Windows. Bootcamp will reformat the partitions on your existing hard drive with no data loss. To minimize the chance of irregularities during this procedure, running a couple of maintenance utilities is a good idea.
I used Cocktail to clear caches, run maintenance scripts, and repair permissions. Then I ran Disk Warrior to rebuild the existing directory on the hard drive to ensure it was in pristine, perfect condition with zero errors before proceeding. The directory file structure is a map of all the files on the hard drive, optional safeguards. At a minimum, restart the Mac with the shift key pressed to start up in a safe mode and check the system files. Then, continue and use Disk Utility to verify the disk structure for safety.
While slow, the installation proceeds smoothly. Remember to hold down the Option key on Mac and select the new Windows disk on each restart during the setup. After starting up in Windows, use the Macintosh Software Update control panel to update everything from the Windows side. I also installed MSSE – Microsoft Security Essentials, a free anti-virus program.
The problems began a few weeks later when I noticed my hard drive ran almost constantly when using Windows Global Amend. I had allocated 27 GB, around 10 GB over the minimum. Still, with both Apple and Microsoft installing “important” and “recommended” updates, my free space was down to approximately 1.5 GB, less than ten percent of the overall drive capacity, leaving little working room for the files to be written.
READ MORE :
- Computer Performance – 7 Ways to Speed Up Windows Computers
- Millennium Education Development – Ways To Achieve
- The Pride Of A Woman
- 10 Things to Hate About the iPhone
- 10 Recommendations to Make Your Computer Run Smoother
