How to Create a Boot Camp Partition

Boot Camp is part of Apple's OS X.5 (Leopard) operating system. It permits Mac users to have a fully functioning copy of Microsoft Windows software on their computer, which is essential for Mac users who wish to run non-Macintosh programs without investing in the purchase of a Windows computer. However, Boot Camp does require a dedicated partition on the Macintosh hard drive, which is set up during the installation and configuration of Boot Camp.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Macintosh computer running Leopard (OS X.5) with more than 10GB of free hard-drive space
• Full copy of Windows XP or Vista (not an upgrade)

1. 
   Your Mac must be running OS X.5 (Leopard)

   Run all Apple software updates by selecting Software Update, found under the apple in the upper left corner of the screen. Reboot when prompted.

2. 
   The Boot Camp Assistant window

   Launch the Boot Camp Assistant program, which is found at Macintosh HD>Applications>Utilities. If the program hasn't been installed, insert your Leopard OS X.5 DVD into your computer and reinstall Leopard.

3. 
   Here is where you choose how much space to dedicate to your Boot Camp partition

   Select Continue, which gives you the option to dedicate 5GB to the Boot Camp partition (which is the Windows partition), or to divide the free space equally between Windows and Mac. Though most users would go with the default (5GB dedicated to Windows), it depends on what type of Windows software you would be running, and how much space your software and data would require.

4. 
   A legitimate copy of Microsoft Windows is required

   Click on the partition button, and that will create the Boot Camp partition. Follow the rest of the prompts through the wizard, and once this partition has been established, you will be prompted to install Windows.

5. 
   Some programs don't run on Macintosh computers

   Once the Boot Camp partition has been established and Windows has been installed, restart the computer. Boot the computer holding the space bar down, which will give you a prompt to decide which operating system you want to use to boot up your Mac. Choose Windows, and then run all Microsoft updates and security patches. Then reboot in Mac mode, and run Apple's Software Update, as spelled out in Step 1.

Tips & Warnings

• Bump up your physical RAM to the max on your Mac, or else Windows will be slow. Confirm that there is plenty of free room on your hard drive before installing Windows. Consider exactly how much hard-drive space you want to subtract from your Mac partition to dedicate to Windows before starting the process.
• Running Windows on a Mac is just as vulnerable to viruses as running Windows on a PC. Windows running in Boot Camp will never be as fast as running Windows on a comparable PC.

Resources

• Apple: Boot Camp Support
• Microsoft: Windows Updates (Requires Internet Explorer)