Removing MAC OS X from MBP

Hello

I just ordered the new 15.4" 2.2 LED Glossy display MBP.
I already own a 2.0 Ghz MacBook (Black), and I dont use OS X at all. I dont plan to migrate either.
I know its all great and everything, but I have been using Windows XP all along and I have purchased all the softwares for Windows (Adobe, Office 2003, Flash and many other utilities), so its hard for me to migrate to MAC OS.

What I want is, to remove the MAC OS X completely and run Windows XP on it, so that I save the space. HDD is 120GB.

Any suggestions? Is it even possible?

 

Unpossible. EFI. Must have Apple partition, and bootable OSX to run Windows. A Macbook is not a PC with an Apple sticker on the back.

 

I'm pretty sure the closest you're gonna come to what you want is by allotting a ton of space to a Windows partition through Bootcamp. I don't think you can run just Windows on Mac Hardware. You have to install from Bootcamp and then boot up in Windows every time I'm pretty sure.

 

Thanks for the quick replies.

I am already using Windows on MB. I installed it through Bootcamp, alloted 25 GB to MAC OS and rest (around 90GB+) to Windows XP.

You can choose to boot it to Windows everytime you switch on the computer. Thats not a problem.

 

zero all data on ur disk then visit hackintosh. It can be done

 

umm, why did u buy a mac book if ur just using windows?

 

Good hardware?

 

:snicker: macbook

 

pc hardware.

 

OSX isn't required for the Macbook Pro to boot or for EFI to function. Just simply remove the OSX partition when installing windows and setup the drive however you like. Once this is done the machine will pause for a few seconds on boot at the apple logo and then start loading windows automatically.

 

Why would you get rid of OSX even if you could with a hack? You'd need it later should something go wrong with your XP partition and you need to reinstall Boot Camp.

 

Well then he can run the OS X disc's and reinstall Mac OS and then reinstall XP i guess

 

I agree, why get rid of OSX, it is a better OS, and thats coming from a life long windows user. Vista is a horrible OS, which makes me more and more happy about switching 6 months ago. The upside to keeping OSX is that when XP fails to start (it will happen), you can still get access to an os and your hdd, thus giving you an opportunity to save your precious files.
a

ps when you do install XP why not install window's blinds too, and make XP look like OSX, that way when people come up and ask to have a look at your mac, they wont think your a tool for running XP.

 

^ whichever os is better is the opinion of the user, there is no definite better os.

although if you remove osx it could be quite difficult updating drivers, although i might just be speaking out of my ass.

actually with getting the drivers could you just get the drivers from the different companies websites, like you would on a regular notebook, because the hardware is quite standard now, with the exception of a few things?

 

you would also lose the benefit of firmware updates that miraculously add 30+ minutes of battery life and such. those are handled within osx.

not to mention halving your battery life and requiring an external mouse.

 

i still dont understand why anyone would get a macbook of any kind if they dont want mac??

 

Because it is pretty and tends to attract people of the feminine ***. Just like a puppy... but a pubby grows up too fast so a macbook is better

 

I would just recommend running a virtual machine. I use VMware Fusion to run my Windows apps. One core is dedicated to each OS. XP and OS X run fine with one core and 1GB RAM. Or, try CrossOver for Mac. It doesn't require a Windows license and claims to run Windows apps through Mac OS X.

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

Theres a free trial.

 

Well, this question comes up from time to time. If you succeed in doing the hack and removing OS X more power to you. Just understand that the people on the Mac forum are not annoyed if this is what want to do instead they are really trying to prevent you from walking into a deep hole.

The biggest misconception about the Intel Macs is that they are just your average PC boxes (pretty of course) with an Apple logo on the lid. Not true they are physical Macintosh computers inside and out.

The concern is if you succeed in removing OS X and installing Windows by itself you are not going to get any support from Apple if your "Apple Box" begins to have issues due to the OS. Apple supports "bootcamp utility only". They won't even support the Windows partition. You are on your own and I am not certain but it may void your warranty if you need support and Apple sees that OS X has been completely removed. If you feel confident that Apple will support you I would still recommend to just check with Apple before you do it. Good luck.

 

I don't think you will have much problem doing it, but I would not recommend it. I would instead just strip OS X down to the smallest possible footprint and then use the rest for Windows. That way, if you ever need to send it in for service or Apple releases updates to Boot Camp. Also, don't forget that the beta of Boot Camp expires in Oct IIRC, so who knows what would happen if you don't have OS X installed when that happens. I think you would just be better off if you leave OS X installed.

 

I don't think that the macbook itself is a 100% windows machine under boot camp. In fact, right clicking is next to impossible with the touchpad. Double tapping is not supported under boot camp.

 

You're going to pay a premium for a name and OS, yet you arn't going to use the OS? Kinda stupid if you ask me. Get a HP 8510p/w or a Thinkpad T61p.

 

if it was just dumping money, that wouldn't be so bad. some people like the hardware or the look or whatever.

fact is, you are also going to create several problems for yourself in support, usability, software updates, firmware, etc.

 

If you're going to only be running Windows and you *really* have to have back the 10GB or less of HDD space that a minimal OS X install takes, then yes, you can wipe OS X's partition with no problem. If you do that you won't have any problems booting into Windows. Boot Camp is simply a basic partitioning and driver packaging utility on the OS X side; what actually allows Windows to boot is a BIOS emulation layer that Apple added to the firmware in a firmware update when they officially released the "Boot Camp" tool suite. The actual act of booting to Windows does *not* require OS X once you have a Windows install (or Linux or whatever other OS you might want to run).

However, if you care about future firmware updates for the hardware, you will need OS X to get and use those.

To offer a bit of detail on the partitioning process, you can delete the OS X partition by booting from an XP or Vista disc and using the basic partition tools they offer. Now, after doing that you'll have a chunk of HDD space that OS X was using that will be unallocated. This basically means it's unuseable to you until you either merge it with your Windows partition or delete all partitions and start a fresh Windows install from there. Just be careful if you're not comfortable doing this sort of thing, as it can lead to many frustrating nights of trying to figure out what's not being done properly.

If you're experienced with OS installs and partitioning on a "PC" then you won't have any problems here, as an Apple computer works basically the same way. Also, contrary to what some people may say (and this may anger some people that I say this, but sorry it's the absolute truth), an Apple computer is no different in the hardware itself than a "normal" PC is, the only differences are that they use EFI (basically a different type of BIOS) with a BIOS emulation layer, come with OS X instead of Windows, and as of late they've also been a pretty good value for the money too.

Those are the only differences, the rest are just up to driver issues. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Please. ^^

Not trying to get into any arguments here, just trying to help the OP out and clarify a few facts.

 

Have fun finding drivers for it too, by the way.

 

Good luck with the keyboard and trackpad.

 

What a waste... *sigh*

 

If it can't be done by a simple "one click" then you are hacking. I would recommend to call Apple and have them show you how to remove OS X.

 

What you should do, for safety reasons, is just shrink the OS X partition to be very small. This leaves you a safety region just in case Windows has any issues.

 

I think OS X is worth a try. Paying $2000+ just to run Vista on a MBP is just stupid.

 

The entry-level MacBook Pro is $1,799 + tax with student discount and includes a free iPod nano and printer. Not quite "two thousand plus".

I'm having a hard time deciding if it's worth it, still. I want to play around with OS X, and the only other comparable laptop I can find with an LED-backlit display is the Dell XPS M1330 which actually costs more than an MBP, if you spec it out the same. The major point of negativity against OS X for me is that it's not going to work as seamlessly with my Windows Mobile smartphone as XP/Vista will (I hear MissingSync is getting there, but I doubt it will be equivalent to using the device with a Windows machine).

So, I dunno. Probably going to give up on the dream and go with a Latitude D630 or a Vostro 1400. Everyone who says they "just can't understand" why someone would want to run XP/Vista on Apple's hardware is being pretty ridiculous, though. We want the best of both worlds -- gorgeous laptops with total software compatibility.

 

No body ever said its ridiculous to run Windows/Apple on Apple hardware but it is ridiculous to remove OS X from Apple hardware just to run Windows. I wouldn't mind running both OS's but once I do make the switch I probably wont be needing Windows again unless if I plan playing on PC games.

 

small dogs work equally well... and well a whole lot better than any computer you can imagine. sorry totally OT but it had to be said

sadly i didn't know this when i was single but i once (!!) took out my friend's cuuuute dog to wee - this was in the city - and girls were basically flocking to it from all directions.

using a MBP might give you some bonus points over some crapola/fugly PC but it has nothing on a small dog. nothing.

 

On a side note to all Windows users - I have been a rather heavy Win XP dev/user for years and do not consider WinXP horrible: OS X takes some getting used to.

I know some people who have "tried" OS X and didn't like it but personally, I consider it far superior to XP not to mention Vista. Vista is another story - if you can honestly say you like Vista then stop reading right here. You are hopeless or maybe I just don't get it, either way, no use reading on.

OS X needs some time getting used to, you have to understand a little unix to unleash its full power, and you need to familiarize yourself with how things work. It helps tremendously to have an expert OS X user around to help, or alternatively to use any of the OS X books like "OS X - the missing manual".

OS X is not Windows, just better - it's better, but it's not Windows. So you have to re-learn some stuff, similar like you have to when switching from Win XP to Vista. The difference is that OS X will reward you with an overall much better experience - less hassle, faster workflow, fewer things breaking - whereas Vista has changed things around for no obvious benefit.

But - if you stick with Win XP, I understand.

I was 20 years old when I learned snowboarding and it took a lot of determination because I already was an expert skier. So whenever we'd go to the mountain, I had the choice - do I just ski, which is fun and which I know how to do very well, or do I go spend an entire day falling on my knees and getting wet?
One winter I decided I would stick to the latter, and it wasn't all bad, after 2 days of falling on my knees and getting wet I got the hang of it and it was fun, even though it took me still another few weeks to get really good. The moral of the story is that, for me, snowboarding is a lot more fun than skiing but it took effort to get over that initial hump.

Same with OS X

 

humm... I will try this out.

Yup, thats the reason. And ohh... so sexy looks.

Can you please tell me what is hackintosh? Is it a website?

 

I want to migrate, but the thing is I am not yet ready to purchase the softwares (like adobe, office, flash and many other utlities) which I already have for Windows.

Vista is crap. I installed it 1-2 months ago. And installed around 10 softwares/utilities and 6 out of those 10 did not work.

 

IU am sorry guys, I didnt realize that this thread was 4 pages long.

Great post. Thanks a lot.

I will keep my options open, will give OS X 10 GB and rest to the windows.

BTW< I already own a MacBook. Tracpad, Fn keys, scrolling, right click everything works perfectly with Bootcamp.

 

I'd also like to add to my previous post:

1) Even if you do use your Macbook/Macbook Pro for Windows, Ctrl is a very used key in Windows and it's pitifully small on Macs. Therefore it'd make life a little harder on Windows. Also the Cmd key on OSX is a very used key, thus it's bigger and on Windows it's a very annoying key. (All those times you accidentally pressed it and the start menu popped up, hindering you from whatever you were doing)

2) I reckon we should let everyone who wants to use Windows on their Mac and get rid of OSX do so. Then we can make a sticky saying why not to and if they choose to do it, should they know that they won't be getting any support should anything go wrong. This would stop this topic coming up so often.

 

I didn't know that this topic is already done to death on these forums.

I am kinda new here, I didn't do the search. Will be more careful in future.

 

Yeah, for some reason it seems to be coming up pretty often these days. Not sure why, as it's not really something most users will want to do.

Anyway, it is a good idea to do searches when you can, but in the case of this thread I don't think you would have found specific answers to all of your questions just by searching.

Also, just in case no one has said it yet, welcome to NBR!

 

Thanks, but NBR?

EDIT: Just figured, NoteBookReview. silly me.

 

Yep welcome. If my last post sounded a bit...mean, it wasn't directed really at you, more at the fact that we need more sticky topics because there seem to be a few topics that come up a lot with new users.

1) Boot Camp vs VMware vs Parallels. This has already been fixed by a topic.

2) This topic.

3) Someone doing something silly like renaming their User folder or touching their iPhoto library. (Not so much this one on this forum, but on another it was pretty much 1 a day.)

 

Okay, well the way to merge out of Bill Gates' jail of "I have to use Windows, I have no choice, I have all it's software", the next software purchase you make must be for OS X. The thing to do first is to drop the shield and ignore the haters that say, "There's no software for Mac OS X".
Those are powerful words and people hear it so much that they make zero attempt to check for OS X equivalents of Windows software.

I still have friends that use Windows that say, "I would switch to Mac but MS Office is not on Mac". After all of these years of Mac Office being in existence the ignorance continues. MS Word was the first Office program and it was on Mac long before it was on Windows.

Keep in mind, the Mac OS would be dead by now if no software was available for it. Just know nearly every movie you see in the theater and nearly every record album you buy was produced on the Mac OS.

 

You guys should try to get out of Steve Jobs jail first

 

yes, but you have to buy software for OS X. my university provides a ton of FREE windows software through MSAA and subsidies, but they don't provide nearly as much, if any, for OS X.

 

are you going to use your computer to make theater-bound movies or produce record albums?

 

Not really true. Lots of 'indy' films that are shot with video are edited on Macs but when it comes to the real deal you'll find AVID NLE and other editing sysems in use.

 

Charles, first off I said NEARLY every movie in the theater is post produced on Macs. Secondly, my point was Macs are used a lot as Windows users tend to look at OS X as toy that doesn't do any REAL work and it's usually out of ignorance.
People that are buying Macs to run both Windows and Mac OS X really should be buying more Mac software if they planning on truly migrating to OS X. People tend to buy what they know already exists, example, MS Office for Windows, without checking for a Mac equivalent first so they end up like many others, stuck with a ton of Windows software making it difficult to switch to OS X.

 

Hmm, didn't last long. I thought Alenas was going to cool down starting wars. I guess she decided to keep flaming.

 

Except all of the movies made with HP computers.