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General discussion

bootcamp - where is it ?

by rollingthunder6 Oct 26, 2008 9:27PM PDT

My wife needed a new computer, so she bought a 24" iMac Widescreen with Leopard 10.5.3 . The salesman assured her several times that the o/s included Bootcamp. Well, when she got home and set it up, she couldn't find it. (Neither she nor I are experienced Mac users; I, however, would probably qualify as a very experienced Microsoft Windows user.) In the process of rooting around, my wife downloaded a bunch of updates that upgraded the o/s to 10.5.5 . According to what she read , those updates included Bootcamp.
But i still can't find it. Where is it supposed to be (I've looked in the Applications folder and don't recognize anything) ? What is it, exactly , that i'm looking for? Is it supposed to be called bootcamp.exe? or bootcamp.dbf? or something entirely different? I know how to install things in the Microsoft world -- how would i "install" bootcamp if i did find it? Can anyone point me to any online resources for bootcamp?
Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

5 Posts
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Boot Camp,
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Oct 26, 2008 9:49PM PDT

The salesman was correct. Your new iMac does indeed contain a copy of Boot Camp.
You will find the Boot Camp assistant in the Applications > Utilities folder.

Double click it and follow the instructions.

You may have misunderstood what Boot Camp actually is/does. The Boot Camp assistant will partition your Hard Drive to accept your copy of Windows, XP SP2 or Vista, and then allow you to install it. Boot Camp does NOT include a copy of Windows XP or Windows Vista. These must be purchased separately.
Once you have installed your copy of Windows, your Mac can be started as either a Windows only computer, with no trace of OS X running at all or as a Mac, with no trace of the Windows OS.

Rather than go straight to Windows, why not give the Mac OS a chance and see what it can do for you. If you get stuck, these Mac forums are just a click away.

Holler back if you need any more assistance.

P

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boot camp - where is it?
by rollingthunder6 Oct 28, 2008 5:18AM PDT

if this is a duplicate - please ignore - i hit "preview post" when i first wrote this ... and everything just disappeared ... so i'm doing it again ..
to mrmacfixit: thank you. i agree, Mac-s are pretty cool. but the dual-boot thing is my wife's idea ... and she is very reluctant to come to places like this to ask for help ... so i'm sure you get the picture .... anyway, if *we* have more problems, *i* will be back here ...
thanks again ...

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Stop by any time.
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Oct 28, 2008 9:16AM PDT

tell your wife that there is nothing to be reluctant about.

She will be completely anonymous on these forums.

Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers

P

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Spotlight- A priceless apple gem
by Levi- The perfectionist Oct 31, 2008 1:51PM PDT

Looking for something?

Try spotlight.

Spotlight is Apple's search feature and is located in the top right corner of the screen represented by a magnifying glass. Click that and Simply begin typing "bootcamp"- it'll appear in the list in no time.

Bootcamp

Bootcamp is not Windows. Bootcamp is a program that runs in MacOSX that divides (partitions) the drive up into two; A Mac side and a side ready for windows...
You will need a valid copy of Windows Sp2/sp3 or Vista on disk to install onto that windows side.
Bootcamp also burns a disk full of hardware drivers (for graphics card, sound card etc) that needs to be used once you have installed windows.

The process is fairly straight forward once you are in the bootcamp wizard and will actually ask you to print out the instructions, follow these and all will be sweet.

Might I suggest if you are new to Mac, Applecare.
Applecare is three years of service and support. Even if you know your way around a computer, its great to be able to ring up "Mac Geniuses" and get the right insightful advice about a platform which is slightly different.
The 3 years of warranty that is provided by Applecare is also priceless- I know this from experience.

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(NT) Echo?
by mrmacfixit Forum moderator Oct 31, 2008 11:13PM PDT
Back to Mac Applications forum

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