Can you install XP from .toast file?

I have used bootcamp and parallels running off one xp installation but it had problems, if parallels ever crashed is screwed up the bootcamp install entirely (not true when parallels uses its own VM rather than the bootcamp partition). As a result I don't recommend it, though this was on the older bootcamp beta.

I see no reason why bootcamp would be slower, it uses the hardware in a mostly native way whereas fusion and parallels are emulated. Its much faster for me on bootcamp. Plus its free (since you already have a legit XP disk).

Fusion and Parallels support some games but don't expect it to deal with all of them, bear in mind they are emulated environments.
 
I always thought boot camp had less features than Fusion.. maybe it was because you had to restart your computer and boot up as windows.
I think my games should run fine. Both sim city 3k and 4 run smooth on my PC. The PC has 256mb's of ram, 1.5ghz processor, 32mb graphic card.

Just curious though, how would I find out of I could play a game on the MBP through XP with out buying it? It would suck buying a $30-$50 game and it not playing. Is there a list by any chance?
Now I am not sure if I should get the MBP with the 256mb card or the 512mb card..

I reread your post. If I wanted to run Fusion and boot camp, and would have trouble with using only one install, would it be illegal to install XP twice on the machine and have one for Boot camp and one for Fusion to read from?
 
You do have to retstart to use Bootcamp, but believe me its better for gaming. Fusion i see now advertises DirectX9 hardware acceleration but common sense dictates you are gonna get better performance running just XP via bootcamp rather than running OS X then emulating XP over the top. Admitedly you only want to run old games but still don't assume they will work under emulation. This guy says Sim City 4 'kinda works'' but that he had to disable hardware acceleration. Given limited 3d game compatibility, personally I'd stick with the more reliable (and cheaper) bootcamp method, at which point your mac becomes a PC of identical spec to the mac.

Compatibiility wise - Parallels has a list here, click the 'what works' tab. The list for fusion is apparently here but won't load for me right now.

Finally, I'm not knocking emulation. I love parallels and Fusion looks great, but for me they are for office programs etc, rather than gaming.
 
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Ill take your advice..booting up in XP would only take a second. I knew emulating XP on top of OS X was slower but never really thought about it.
My mac does everything I need it to do, except play my PC games. So I dont need Fusion or parallels to do office stuff, since I am 90% sure I could figure it out with a mac.


PC of identical spec.. hmm Thats an interesting thought. Isnt a computer mainly limited to the operating system? I mean look at installing vista and xp on an identical machine, I hear vista is painfully slow, so wouldnt the XP out perform vista and Leopard out perform both of them? (depending on the task of course)
 
Not necessarily, speed depends on many factors.

I find Vista faster than XP if it has enough ram on my PC box generally though. In terms of speed, a lot is the application you run as well. On XP/Vista you can pretty much directly compare but its hard to do that with windows vs OS X as the programs are different. Maybe you could say older OSs are faster on new hardware, but often because they do less rather than they are better built.

Anyway, like I said I'd try say Bootcamp plus small size external HD with images on it. I know you can restore the OS X from an image, and I suspect there is a way to do that for the bootcamp partition too. It is also fully legit that way I believe.
 
Ill defiantly get an external HD. Tried to convince mom to get one a while ago and she said thats like buying a portable safe. Then her HD crashed and I heard it for weeks after that.
By the way, where should I get an ext. HD? Best buy? Walmart? Target? I know best buy has a bad tendency to over charge. I have never had anything electronic from wal mart that lasted over a month. And I have no experience with Target as far as technology goes.
 
I'll have to let someone in the US give advice on where to buy, I am across the pond in the uk :)
 
You are have all your information messed UP! Boot Camp is a formatting program to let you partition your disk to native install another operating system (Windows or Linux). Also the OS X install disk (for Leopard) then can be used to put the drivers for everything that is in psychically on your Mac. Yes it has Windows drivers for the the devices in your Mac (i.e. iSight, keyboard, etc.).

Plus if you already DO NOT have Windows XP (you IGNORED the slipstream for XP ) already running on a running PC then you have to BUY it!

I am done trying to point you to an EASY solution!
 
why the heck would he try to slipstream xp if he has a windows xp installation cd - or at least a toast image of it that he can burn, i.e. he's got the installation cd?! satcomer, calm down: it isn't us, it's you. :)
 
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