Questions Regarding Bootcamp
Hello Apple Insider,
I have a few questions about Bootcamp regarding the safety of installing a Windows OS and the reliability of a Windows OS using Bootcamp.
I got my first MacBook Pro a few months ago, every computer before that has had a Windows OS installed.
I moved to an Apple computer because of the CPU power they offer in their computers right out of the box for the music work I do, but I painfully left behind some of the hobbies I could only do on a Windows OS.
So here are my questions:
- If I install Windows via Bootcamp on a partition, will I still be able to browse the Internet without worrying about the infection of viruses with either OS?
- Am I guaranteed that all of my Windows-only applications will run on the Windows partition?? I don’t want to install applications only to be ran with some kind of emulator.
- While using the Windows OS partition, will I still be able to take full advantage of the CPU power on my MacBook Pro?
- Has there ever been any reports of a Windows OS via Bootcamp corrupting the system of the Apple computer? Will my MacBook Pro still last as long with Windows installed as if it wasn’t installed?
- Also, with the new Mac OS software coming in the fall, will that affect the previously-installed Windows partition if I install the Yosemite OS?
Thanks in advance,
- Jason
Comments
1. Nope. Windows is Windows. You’re just as insecure using it anywhere.
2. Nope. There are one or two high end applications that refuse to run on Macs. Otherwise go nuts.
3. Yep. That’s the beauty of native installations, and it’s why I’ll always choose them over emulation.
4. It’s possible that malware could exist that includes an HFS write driver, installs it, and proceeds to erase all of your partitions, but I don’t imagine anyone ever doing so.
5. Shouldn’t. Just as you can install new versions of Windows around OS X (though, really, just clean install if you want to have any measure of performance), you can do the opposite.
1. Nope. Windows is Windows. You’re just as insecure using it anywhere.
2. Nope. There are one or two high end applications that refuse to run on Macs. Otherwise go nuts.
3. Yep. That’s the beauty of native installations, and it’s why I’ll always choose them over emulation.
4. It’s possible that malware could exist that includes an HFS write driver, installs it, and proceeds to erase all of your partitions, but I don’t imagine anyone ever doing so.
5. Shouldn’t. Just as you can install new versions of Windows around OS X (though, really, just clean install if you want to have any measure of performance), you can do the opposite.
Thanks for the reply.
It seems that the use of Bootcamp is safe overall for an Apple computer.
If a virus was to infect the Windows partition, it would only infect the Windows partition, correct? Unless viruses these days are becoming cross-platform, my OSX partition would be completely unaffected by the virus?
Also would you happen to know which version of Windows has the least amount of problems and errors running on a Mac via Bootcamp — Windows 8.1, Windows 7, etc?
- Jason
If you keep your internet usage to a minimum while using Windows, that helps. Use the Mac side for all your internet tasks and only when necessary under Windows. The Windows side doesn't have write access to the Mac drive. It can wipe the Mac partition but it can't write a virus or malware onto the partition. Malware and viruses rarely do things like drive wipes, mostly they want money via click-ads or ransomware.
Windows 7 will likely not be supported on future Macs but Windows 8 isn't as nice an OS to use as 7 so go with 7 until forced otherwise and go with the 64-bit version. 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium is fine.
If you keep your internet usage to a minimum while using Windows, that helps. Use the Mac side for all your internet tasks and only when necessary under Windows. The Windows side doesn't have write access to the Mac drive. It can wipe the Mac partition but it can't write a virus or malware onto the partition. Malware and viruses rarely do things like drive wipes, mostly they want money via click-ads or ransomware.
Alright, nice.
Also, when Bootcamp asks you how much GB to set aside on the Windows partition, is that the total amount before or after the Windows installation?
Is there anyway to increase or decrease that amount after the installation of Windows without having to wipe the whole partition?
My MacBook Pro currently has 392.88GB left on flash storage but I still want to have enough on both partitions to work with.
Is 100GB a logical amount on the Windows partition? I plan on doing a lot of gaming and game editing with Windows but a lot of music work on the Mac.
I guess I could always get a 1TB external hard drive to use for all my gaming-specific utilities or vice versa for my music utilities.
- Jason
That's the amount before the install.
There are 3rd party tools to do that:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2010978/resizing-a-boot-camp-partition.html
http://guides.macrumors.com/Extend/Resize_Boot_Camp_Partition
but it's best to pick the right size first because partition changes can cause data loss (that includes making the Bootcamp partition, you should backup before doing it unless it's a new machine in which case it doesn't matter too much).
100GB is a decent size for Windows. A standard Windows 7 install will use up about 15GB so you'll have 85GB for software. Some games take up a lot of space - Call of Duty Ghosts uses 40GB, requires 6GB RAM and a 64-bit OS. Max Payne 3 is 35GB. Bioshock Infinite uses up around 30GB. Watch Dogs is 25GB. Splinter Cell blacklist is around 25GB.
You won't likely be playing all those games at once but you'd only get 2 at a time installed with 100GB partition. Given that you have 392.88GB left after your OS X install, you have a lot of free space to work with. You'd easily get away with 150GB for the Windows partition, leaving 242GB for the Mac side. Some games are available under Steamplay so you can play under the Mac side too. It helps to make the partitions uneven sizes so that you know which partition is which during the Windows installation.
I guess that answers all of my concerns about the whole "Windows-on-Mac" process.
Is there anything else that should be brought to my attention that is worth concerning about?
- Jason