I recently updated my wife's iMac to Lion. It was set up to dual boot with XP through Boot Camp from it's Snow Leopard days. I performed the upgrade with little trouble using a USB flash drive and the widely available online instructions. I was relieved to see that my XP partition was unharmed and I was able to load it without difficulty.
In my infinite stupidity, I decided it would be nice to have 3 partitions, OSX, XP, and some common area for mutual files. So I added a partition. -- Let me right now point out that there are many barriers to doing this, most of all the inability to efficiently and safely use any of the partition types across the two platforms - NTFS support in OSX is poor, and FAT32 is problematic for many reasons. The Mac formats are poorly supported in Windows. My advice would be to use an external drive (probably in NTFS with some third party support for OSX to be able to write to the disk). If there are any good suggestions, I'm happy to hear - I don't see why MS and APPLE can't play a little nicer together the only people benefiting from this are the third party software producers. I digress....
Anyway, the third partition messed up the dual boot configuration. I tried to fix this with reEFIt, and with the windows install CD - and I'm certain it was fixable, but I spent too long on it already so I decided to fix it by deleting all the partitions other than OSX. Done.
So I set out to reinstalling XP using Boot Camp. To my dismay, only windows 7 platforms are supported by Boot Camp in Lion. I started reading online and it seemed there were many problems with the XP-Lion setup not the least of which included no driver support for XP! Yikes.
Why XP you ask? Well, it still works pretty well for my needs. I'm sure Windows 7 is much better, but honestly the price is an absolute outrage!
All of this to say, I managed to get an XP - Lion dual boot running with little problem. Here's how:
1. With Disk Utility create a FAT32 partition for Windows. To do this you need to select the hard disk, then go to the partition tab and hit the plus button under the main partition. Choose the
2. Insert your XP CD and boot to the CD using the option key at startup or Command-C at startup.
3. Run the intall of XP (make sure you select the correct partition to install it on)
(also - don't reformat from the install if you want a partition >32gb in FAT32)
4. Once XP is installed you should be able to see it using the option key at startup.
5. Driver installation: you need to get your hands on the snow leopard or leopard drivers for your mac. These can probably be found online. I had the Snow Leopard disk that came with our computer handy, so I used that. I was able to install the drivers with little difficulty. This step is the key to making this all work, so if you don't have a PRE Lion install disk for your computer, make sure you can locate the necessary drivers before you start.
Hope this helps someone.
EDIT: Here is a link to a number of valuable driver downloads from Apple, this includes the range of available bootcamp drivers in separate packages. As far as I can tell, the 3.2 drivers (see step 5 above) are the last ones to support XP.
Hello! I'm trying to install XP on my MBP with Lion using your technique. I have a question that may be silly but here it goes.....When I go to Disk Utility, it does not give me the option to partition in FAT32 format, only MS-DOS(FAT), among other choices....Is that the same thing?
ReplyDeleteYes, MS-DOS(FAT) is the correct one.
ReplyDeleteemf
I'll keep asking if you can keep answering :)
ReplyDeleteThanks to your technique, I installed Windows XP (SP2) on my new MBP with Lion. However, as you warned in your write-up above, not much will be functional without the drivers.
Any instructions on how to get those drivers to work? I downloaded the file you supplied above and dragged it to my new partition. I can click on it within windows, but nothing happens....
Any idea?
Thanks!
Did you upgrade to Lion or did your mac come with it?
ReplyDeleteIf you upgraded, then your drivers are found on the grey Mac setup CD that came with the computer (the osx disc (disk 1)).
If not, then you should be able to install them using the .exe file that I linked to - by running the downloaded file.
Err... actually, try this one: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1333
I updated the link in the post
ReplyDeleteemf,
ReplyDeleteThat link says its an "update" to 3.2 and not a standalone... will it work if I don't have any drivers installed yet?
Your post has been great thus far, thanks in advance!
(I'm on practically dial-up internet, so its tough for me to just download and try it!)
jeffsu,
ReplyDeleteI can't guarantee that the linked file will work as a standalone, but I'm inclined to think that it will - the previous "updates" did function without a prior install: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL73
Please post back if you try this out.
I'll take my laptop into town and find some free wi-fi and download that one this afternoon and get back to you then. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo dice thus far. That update file did the same thing... Looks like I may be having to go find original discs on eBay. Do I need Snow Leopard disc or original "restore" discs that were gray and with the pre-Lion laptops?
ReplyDeleteThe gray restore disc is what I used. You need to get the disc that corresponds with the model of mac you have though. (Macbook disc wont work on iMac)
ReplyDeleteI might try to reformat the partition and give it another try with the exe. When I try, it takes a while but eventually an install dialogue comes up.
Did you try the 2.1 drivers?
http://support.apple.com/kb/dl830
Hope you can get it all sorted.
emf
For some reason when I create a MS Dos partition or even when leave some empty space for my windows partition. XP setup can't find it, which is weird. It only shows me OSX partition?
ReplyDeleteAny way around it?
Thanks
irf
hey Emf thanks a lot for your page, this is great help!
ReplyDeleteI do have a question though. I get the install to start using the XP cd but after a few minutes the machine needs to reboot to carry on the install. This is where I have a problem:
-if I let the machine restart, it automatically goes in Mac mode
-if I press option and select my new Windows disk, I've got an error message saying "error disk"
Could you tell me what I'm doing wrong?
I've got my answer, I had a random 200MO partition on my disk (something that showed up in the XP install section, but not in Disk utility). I deleted it and it all works fine.
ReplyDeleteThanks again.
Thanks a lot for the guide, i had no idea how to do it but i'm having a really simple problem; my keyboard is not working in boot menu so i cant press enter to start the windows setup. It seems like a very simple problem but i couldn't find any solutions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, this helped me out today.
ReplyDeleteI deleted my XP partition so I could create a larger partition for it and restore with win clone. Thanks to your writeup I got it to work. If anyone is interested just follow these steps and let the drive reformat (I used ntfs), when it reboots (after the blue screen) let your computer boot back into OSX, then you can restore the winclone image.
Emf,
ReplyDeleteI tried installing windows XP but I get a "could not load hal.dll" error.
Is my .iso corrupted or should I find the hal file and put it somewhere in the iso?
That happened by creating a windows xp usb drive with wintoflash (via parallels).
If I create a winxp usb drive with boot camp (on Lion) I get another error when trying to install (something about bootmgr).
Any tips?
AO, I have another post on here about not being able to use the startup keys. The gist is: shut down and unplug your mac for a few seconds.
ReplyDeleteRemember to start the keypress when you hear the chime, I usually hold the button until the menu comes up.
hope that helps.
emf
Orfeas,
ReplyDeleteI tried desperately to install windows from a usb on my mac but it just never seemed to work - I put a post on here somewhere about that.
Save yourself the trouble, burn/get an xp cd.
emf
What's your policy on posting torrents to missing files? i.e. bootcamp 3.0, for those that need it?
ReplyDeleteAlso--any way to "trick" Lion into seeing the Windows partition/getting it to play nice and show up in the Finder? Setting it up for my folks, and it needs to be easy to access.
ReplyDeletethatoldfool,
ReplyDeleteThe links for bootcamp files are in the post. All available on the apple site.
As for using the windows files in OSX - I looked into this quite a bit and though it's possible, the process is problematic. NTFS requires 3rd party software and Fat32 results in a bunch of empty and truncated files. But, in any case to see the drives in finder:
Finder>Preferences>Side bar>Hard disks
A few comments and questions:
ReplyDelete1. I, too, had a weird rebooting problem in XP, and also noticed an unusual 200mb partition only on the windows side. As per the user abodes suggestion, I deleted it. This allowed for windows to reboot into itself without relying on "option," but--woe is me--corrupted something, and I get a blue screen after windows tries to boot. Reinstall time?
2. I still get a prompt on booting into windows that there is an unrecognized filesystem on drive C, and I must choose between it and my XP proper. Anyone experience this?
3. I can seem to delete my separate partition--wtf? Disk utility created it, but won't let me remove it? Advice?
Cheers,
-tof
Lion creates a rescue partition when it's installed, that might be what you're seeing on the windows install. I would try to avoid deleting this. You may need to reboot from the CD in order to get back into the xp install
ReplyDeleteoldfool,
ReplyDelete1. see my above post for this one. I'm not 100% certain what that partition is, but I would try to leave it alone
2. There are probably 2 entries in your boot.ini, you can probably fix this with fixboot or another xp utility. Editing the Boot.ini can cause your xp to become inaccessible, so I would try other utilities first.
3. You may need to run disk utility from the lion CD or the rescue partition in order to delete your unwanted partition. Failing this, you may have to reformat the partition into a mac format, then delete it.
Good luck.
emf
emf
ReplyDeleteI have it installed and everything. But I can't connect to the internet so I can't activate or update anything. The 3.2 told me to update my bootcamp but I just bought this mac brand new a few weeks ago. I'm trying the 2.1 BootCamp drivers now but things are getting confusing and I'm getting lost because I'm not fluent in computer...
So my bootcamp is 2.1 apparently. But I just bought the mac so I must have been when I replaced the empty partition with the files on my old partition drive (i'm updating computers and I just dragged and droped my old partition's files into the new ones)
ReplyDeleteSo do I have to find a way to upgrade from 2.1 to 3.2? Because each update (3.2 for example) will only update from the previous version...
BScarbs:
DeleteThe bootcamp drivers can be downloaded from the link I posted above. Stay away from 3.3 as it has no xp support. Also you are probably on the 32 bit version of xp so look for those ones.
Once downloaded you need to install them IN WINDOWS. You should be able to put them on a usb or a burned CD - more likely to work by burning the cd because you may not have the drivers for usb support yet (let me know if you get usb to work).
Alternatively if your mac OSX is anything before Lion, you'll be able to install the drivers in windows from the cd.
Hope this helps.
Um, when I boot and press ALT I didn't see any Windows XP CD... I just see my Macintosh drive.... Any idea?
ReplyDeleteYou need to create the windows partition in disk utility (step 1 above). Hope that helps.
DeleteI already did that but it still not working.... :( Please help...
DeleteI would repartition in OSX and repeat the procedure.
DeleteI'm confused with the last step intended for the drivers.
ReplyDeleteI currently have the lastest MBA 2011 with Lion OSX installed.
Assuming i follow steps 1 - 4, all I need to do to install the drivers is to install Bootcamp 3.2 on the windows partition?
I'm really new here so would really need some help with this.
Thank you
Your Lion OSX won't let you install xp with bootcamp assistant. So you need to do it manually (steps 1-4). Once you've done this you need xp versions of the drivers for your mac otherwise your xp experience will be pretty aweful - so you need to install the bootcamp drivers. The latest bootcamp drivers do not support XP so you need to install the old ones (3.2). The only concern here is that as apple rolls out new hardware the old bootcamp drivers will not be able to support it. I can't speak for your computer but I suspect it will work with the 3.2 drivers.
DeleteYou may need to download the drivers from OSX because you will not have internet on xp until the drivers are installed. I hope that clarifies things.
Hi i'm in the midst of installing xp now.
DeleteEverything's done except for step 5.
I tried applying the Bootcamp 3.2 as per your link but it says I need bootcamp 3.1 before the installing of bootcamp 3.2 update installer.
Where can I find a full installer for Bootcamp?
Really appreciate your help!
The older versions of bootcamp are also available through apple - I think you can see them with the same link I posted above.
DeleteThe 2.1 version doesn't need previous drivers installed....
DeleteHi again, I downloaded 2.1 and ran it on my Mac with WinXP SP3. Nothing happened. No error messages nothing.
DeleteAny idea about this? >_<;
I think you need to install it in SP2 then upgrade. You might be able to find a torrent for boot camp 3.0 - that should work too.
DeleteI am having the same problem as AO... I can boot into the Windows XP install disk, setup does it's thing copying installation files, and then when I get to the screen where it says "Press enter to install windows, r to repair an old installation, etc.." my keyboard does not work. I have a brand new MBP (two weeks ago) and I'm wondering if with the new architecture (sandy bridge, thunderbolt) the Windows XP install disk doesn't have the drivers for the basic hardware. (Also tried usb keyboard) Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteThis seems a little late to comment but lets hope I get a response! When I go to make a partition it says "Partition failed with the error: Couldn’t modify partition map because file system verification failed." Did this happen to anybody else?
ReplyDeleteI can't recall if I ever had this problem before or not. Possible solutions would be to try repairing disc permissions first or you can boot to the OSX disc utilities and repartition through there.
DeleteLet us know if it works.
Hi emf,
ReplyDeleteI managed to get Bootcamp to run Windows XP yesterday. I didn't know Windows XP was problematic untill I tried to install the various Mac drivers I downloaded via Bootcamp and it told me it required Windows 7 to be installed.
I hope that your post here can turn into a bit of an outcome for me, but I'm just terrible at trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do exactly and I don't want to make any mistakes.
Can you explain, in noob language, what it is I'm supposed to do with these Boot Camp drivers -> http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1333 Do I need to run it in Mac OX partition or in the Windows XP partition?
I've got xp to load but it never gave me the option to select a partition and also when it says to setup windows xp press enter my keyboard doesn't work???? help me!
ReplyDeleteSir Emf,
ReplyDeletei followed the instructions and installed winXP without problems, until i put the snow leopard disc that came with my old macbook pro to install the drivers. it didn't install everything. for some reason i can't get the WIFI to work, including the audio. did it over and over, but still no success. please help. anyone?
please help. i'm desperate. only 17 days to go, i need to activate windows. i cannot install the drivers to make winxp work normally as posted by Sir EMF, especially the internet, audio, and others. HELP PLEASE!! i have tried the snow leopard disc that came with the previous macbook but it won't detect most of the drivers.
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly noone recommended you to use Dropbox for common files. Actually, any cloud storage will do perfectly (as long as you have Internet connection in both OS')
ReplyDeleteUnable to find 3.0 standalone drivers.
ReplyDeleteI have tried to download the drivers from the link you have provided, but upon installation in windows I get an error message. I am currently running Lion. Is there another way to load the drivers?
ReplyDelete