Is a Boot Camp partition a better option?

I've been using Parallels (v5) for a few months now with Win7 installed as a VM. Now I'm wondering if installing in a Boot Camp partition might make things easier, but I'm still fuzzy on some aspects of how virtualization works.

First the specs:
MacBook Pro Core 2
2GB RAM (maxed)
Snow Leopard
500GB HDD

My biggest issue is speed. Since I'm running Win7 and can only allocate 1GB RAM to the VM, it tends to bog down. Especially with more processor intensive programs. I primarily run Office 2010, MS Project, Visio, MindManager and Quicken (plus AVG) on the windows side, with Outlook being the most frequently used. It's open all day. As you can imagine, these tend to slow things down, and I usually have to reboot the VM at least once a day.

So what I'm wondering is, am I better off reinstalling Windows on a Boot Camp partition so that I can boot directly in on those Win7 intensive days and use all the processor power? As I understand it I would be able to set up a shared directory (partition?) for docs to be accessed by both O/S's, but I would also be able to set up a VM for those times when I only need one or two Win programs.

Thanks in advance.

Trevor

 

I installed Windows 7 on a BootCamp partition primarily for games and the few things I have had trouble getting to work in Parallels. Parallels runs nearly as fast from a BootCamp partition (I think I read the HD access is slightly slower than on a virtual hard drive) and when I want to play Halo 2 or sync my balky GPS I can boot directly into Windows and have native support. I see it as win/win.

 

Thanks.
Maybe I should have asked up front too - the Boot Camp install and the VM, are they the same?

Or rather, If I install with Boot Camp and then a VM, are they using the same thing? For example, if I were to set up appts in Outlook in the VM and then closed out and booted directly to Windows, would those appts be there when I opened Outlook?

Thanks again.

 

The VM uses the Boot Camp partition, but also makes a configuration file that is a few Megs in size. What I install in Windows 7 running BootCamp is available to Parallels afterwards and vice versa. I did not want the space required for 2 installs of Windows, and I did not want to have to maintain 2 copies.

I'm satisfied with the emulation speed for work things, and can use the 3D drivers available when booted as a PC for gaming. Of course I wish I never actually needed to run the PC for anything but there are things that are not available on the Mac platform and this beats having 2 laptops.

 

Can Parallels run windows 7 straight from the bootcamp partition?

Greetings,

I am also having a similar debate amongst myself. Since this topic had already been posted as a thread, I felt it was an appropriate place to post my question. If I should've made a new thread altogether, I apologize—as this is my first post.

Can Parallels run windows 7 from the bootcamp partition if it exists in the bootcamp partition already, or would a new windows 7 have to be installed by Parallels for a total of 2 windows 7 operating systems: one in Parallels, and one in the Bootcamp partition? If Parallels CAN run windows 7 in & from the Bootcamp partition, therefore only having to need just one windows 7 OS, is this the better option, or is the better option to install Parallels and then install windows 7 into Parallels and have no Bootcamp partition at all?

Any clarification is greatly appreciated,
Thank You

 

If you set up a bootable BootCamp partition Parallels will use that. You don't end up with another Windows install. It does make a VM configuration file that stores some information relevant to the emulation, but all the Windows files reside in the BootCamp partition.

 

Thanks Megavolt. You've answered my question.
I think that for my purposes a Boot Camp install is the win/win as it will allow access to Win7 while in the Mac side, but also allow me boot directly and use all the resources on the Win side when I need Outlook, Mindmanager, OneNote, and Project all at the same time.

Thanks again.

Trevor

 

Can a bootcamp be setup from an existing Parallels 5 installation of XP

Hi, along the same line of this thread does anyone know if it is possible to migrate an existing virtual XP partition and XP installation (set up in Parallels) to become a boot camp version? I have some heavyweight windows apps I'm using which would benefit from as much grunt as possible rather than the minor constraints involved in using a virtual system. Or do I have to reinstall everything again first in boot camp then re-setup Parallels to use the boot camp partition and XP installation?
That said I am very impressed with parallels!
Cheers....

 

This is doable, but not easy. It's much easier to set up the BootCamp partition and then to copy what you need from your virtual disk. There are ways to take the files from the virtual disk and make them into a bootable installer disk (required for installing BootCamp) but they were beyond me and I did not have the time it would have taken to learn how to use all the PC required software to do it. If you do a google search you can find ways others have managed to do it.