Place to buy new iMac Mini with Boot Camp + XP on it
 

My girlfriend is a PC user. She's decided she wants an iMac Mini because of the form factor (and that the specs are pretty decent for price + form factor). It's only mildly likely that she'll actually use OS X, she's a Lotus 123 user and detests Excel.

Rather than chase down a copy of XP / Service Pack two and install Boot Camp then XP, is there somewhere in New York City (or, failing that, 800 number or website) where I can buy one already set up in that fashion?

I'm guessing that you can look on eBay or craigslist...probably your best bet.

Btw, what is an iMac mini? ;)

Dont know if this is close to you... http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/11...mall/index.php

I doubt she needs Bootcamp, unless she's a 1337 G8m3r and plays BioShock. Otherwise, just get Parallels and buy an XP Home SP2 edition licence off of eBay. The latest Parallels makes installation of XP SP2 a snap!.

Someone tell this Windows-ignorant fool how one tells whether a given XP installation CD has SP2 on it or not? It occurs to me that my gf has an XP Pro installation CD that we bought with her previous computer.

Hmm, I guess I could have it boot OSX and run Parallels as a Login item. Will it go full-screen on launch, as an option?

Or you could try to get her to use OS X for everything except Lotus, and use Parallels in Coherence mode for Lotus. How set in her ways is she about the programs other than Lotus that she uses?

Think of the camel getting its nose in the door. One thing at a time. For now she's convinced that the MacOS way of doing things will be foreign and she doesn't want to learn new things. If XP goes south on her, though, that could change.

A Windows XP installer disk with SP2 will say that on the label of the disk.

Well, it's no (but what is?) iMac Mini, but this Macbook (item#280148991555) on ebay has XP installed.

Note: It's not my auction, so I can't vouch for the seller.

Well, that answers that.

It's the pre-SP2 installation CD for XP. Is there a non-horrific process by which a person with a legitimate license + installation CD of XP Pro (of the pre SP2 variety) can generate an installation CD of XP Pro SP2?

Parallels is starting to sound better to me, but I don't know if she'll go with that notion.

cstnospam, it's not for me, and it's all about the form factor. She could give a snort less that it's a Mac (in fact, she's buying it despite it being a Mac and only because it will nevertheless run Windows like any other PC), what has her sold on the Mini is that it's the size of a paperback book but isn't überexpensive or short on the basic specs.

Sure, you create a new installer CD with SP2 by following a slipstream process. Here's one way to do that - http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...slipstream.asp

Hot damn! I always feel like I'm passing college finals in conversational Russian when I do something like this. I'm using VirtualPC on my PB G4. So far so good...

OK, I'm a wee bit stuck. Being a Mac-centric person who only owns a smattering of PC software, I do not happen to have Nero Burning ROM or Roxio EZ CD Creator. What I have, of course, is Toast. I have never in my life had any reason to need a Windows-based CD-burning software application.

Is there a method by which a Windows-bootable CD can be burned from Toast? My copy of Toast, btw, is quite a bit out-of-date (5.2.1). In order of desirable outcome, I'd like to burn this sucker with Toast 5.2.1; if that's not possible, I'd like to upgrade to a shinier and newer copy of Toast that will do the job; or, failing that, I guess I need to tell my GF that she needs to shell out for one of these Pee Cee CD-burning software apps.

Someone pointed out that buried on the Nero site is an option for downloading a free 7-day demo. Trying that route now. With luck, Nero lets me create an .iso diskimage, which is probably more reliable under VPC than burning an actual hardware CD.

Get Parallels and use it in combo with boot camp. You will make maximum efficiency out of running Windows on Mac using these two apps at once.

I'm probably going to do that. It's my understanding that if you've got a Boot Camp partiton set up, it's pretty easy to also deploy that same Windows install under Parallels.

Absolutely right!
Parallels Boot Camp supports, that Parallels can use Windows, installed ti Boot Camp partition, it's pretty convenient

If you manage to create an iso, use Disk Utility to burn the iso, if the iso content is bootable then DU creates a bootable Windows disc.

Hi. Took awhile but I've got a bootable .iso (bootable in VirtualPC) and I will use Toast to make an actual tangible XP Pro SP2 CD out of it.

Is there an online copy of the "how to install Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp" instructions, so I can be fully read up on it by the time we actually buy the box?

If you have ever installed windows at any time then it's exactly like that.

If you're going to use Parallels, take a look at its Transporter feature. I've got VPC on my G5, and when I get a Macbook I intend to use it to migrate the PC from my G5 to the Macbook. It seems like it will be much easier than installing Windows.

The Boot Camp Assistant from Apple will walk you through the install, it is a breeze. Make sure you've got a few blank CDs handy, you'll need to make a "Mac Windows Drivers CD" prior to partitioning and installing Windows.

Well, I finally got a bootable CD that did not sourly shut down with complaints about a hosed file, by snagging the file "QL12160.sys" from the original (pre-SP2) CD. The modification date on the CD was identical to the date on the apparently corrupted copy that got output from the slipstreaming process.

Unfortunately, it hangs rather late in the installation process and on reboot XP, although it does come up, complains of not being able to load run32.dll or some such thing... doesn't sound good...

I am starting to remember why I just don't do PCs. Why I've never owned a Windows PC, etc. Yeesh.

Is there anywhere on this planet where I can wave my copy of XP Pro (pre-SP 2) and show the proof of purchase thingie from the box it came in and the installation code and obtain a copy of Windows XP Pro SP 2 on installation CD without effectively rebuying what happens to be a fairly expensive operating system?