Windows XP & OSX

[aldableep]

Hey i'm a newb and i have a question that alot of tutorials just dont seem to be answering me. Can i have an existing xp installation on one partition, and install OSX on another, and have it just boot up and work fine (with OSX boot loader)? if not is it possible to use the xp boot loader? The reason i ask is because i dont want to have to resort to using a third party boot loader like acronis. (and osx bootloader looks pretty ). Thanks.

[Cruentus]

You can use the Windows' native boot loader with dual boot (or more).

 

Search for a file named chain0, place it on your root (the windows root, usually C:).

 

On XP, and older, edit boot.ini (wich is in the root) and add the following after [operating systems]: C:\chain0="Mac Os X"

On Vista, you need to use a third party boot manager. Create a new boot entry pointing to C:, place chain0 there and create a boot.ini file with the following:

 

[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=C:\chain0

[operating systems]

C:\chain0="Mac Os X"

 

I haven't tried OSX boot loader yet, but this way works fine for everyone.

 

And, search, my friend. This is a pretty common question.

[aldableep]

thanks for the help.. but i have another question.. in quotes i can name that OS whatever i want, right (just making sure)? and what do i do when i have an existing xp installation and install osx? won't the mbr be overwritten with the osx bootloader? then wont i be stuck with only the osx bootloader?

 

one other thing.. why do we need to use a chain file? why can't we just specify the osx partition in the boot.ini similarly to how the xp partition is specified?

 

sorry if any stupid questions were asked.. i know how stupid a newb like me looks asking several common sensical questions followed by an apology for asking stupid questions.. standard procedure lol