Copies of Windows for Boot Camp or Parallels on my Mac?

September 21st, 2009 | by admin |

My brandy new MacBook Pro (First Mac Ever, btw) will be arriving early next week.

I would like to install windows just in case there is something I need to do all windows-like.

Can I use a copy of windows that came with my girlfriends new computer. She has a copy of Vista and a slightly older copy of xp.

Will these copies install with bootcamp or paralels or will I need to shell out the big buckaroos to get the OS I was hoping not to have to use any more?

You can give it a try, however, most OEM versions are pegged to the BIOS of the system they came on and usually won’t install on another computer. It really depends on the type of disk your girlfriend received with her system. If it’s a restore disk (which is just an image of her installation), then it definitely won’t work.

Try it, it won’t hurt anything (other than being a violation of Microsoft’s lame license agreement). If it doesn’t work, then you’ll have to get a retail copy of Windows.

  1. 6 Responses to “Copies of Windows for Boot Camp or Parallels on my Mac?”

  2. By Jonathan C on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    No. If she is using them then it is illegal to use them on bootcacmp.

    If she isnt, then it will work.
    References :

  3. By MacGuru on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    Ah. If your girlfriend has a Windows XP CD (or Vista CD), you can install Boot Camp (FREE! http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/) and it’ll tell you how to do it.

    Otherwise, you can shell out $79.99 for Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/), which, I believe, includes Windows.
    References :

  4. By redsoxer on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    You can give it a try, however, most OEM versions are pegged to the BIOS of the system they came on and usually won’t install on another computer. It really depends on the type of disk your girlfriend received with her system. If it’s a restore disk (which is just an image of her installation), then it definitely won’t work.

    Try it, it won’t hurt anything (other than being a violation of Microsoft’s lame license agreement). If it doesn’t work, then you’ll have to get a retail copy of Windows.
    References :

  5. By madaharry on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    You won’t need windows unless you want to do productive work like using a modern office suite, or connecting to a corporate network. ;-)
    I have a bunch of boot campers on my network, all use XP. No one has had any luck getting Vista to work on it properly. You may be able to use another copy, but most likely, that software that came with a pc, requires you to activate it. Activate it by phone, and simply tell them it’s a reinstall of the operating system due to a hard drive crash. They won’t question you any further, and give you a new activation code.
    References :

  6. By dawhitfield on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    I’m pretty certain Parallels does NOT include Windows. The way Parallels works in a Windows environment is that you have to install the virtual OS (another Windows, Linux, whatever). I’ve never set it up on a Mac though, just used it, so I can’t say that with absolute certainty. $79.99 for Windows would be quite the bargain!
    References :

  7. By Chinpin21 on Sep 21, 2009 | Reply

    Well if you have OS Tiger in your new macbook then basically you need to install the bootcamp on your computer. If you have the new Leopard OS then you don’t have to install bootcamp. You need a full running version of Windows XP or Vista to get it to work. if your gf has a retail version has multiple license of these OS not the OEM (because OEM you can only install it on one computer that you originally installed the OS to) then basically you can go ahead and do it.
    References :
    An Apple Tech before.

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