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Using Bootcamp on Macbook Air
nightmarenny
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi! In order to access my steam account on my new macbook air Im trying to figure out bootcamp and its not going well. It says I need an ISO Image for windows 7. I attempted to purchase an activation key from Ebay and Im hoping I didn't buy a bad code and just am not doing something right. When I go to download a copy of windows from microsoft I get this error message
"The product key you entered appears to be for software pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options."
Im not sure where that leaves me. The bay seller has a guide for installing but its not working. Can anyone help?
EDIT; Apparently I need window 8 for this to work. Still if anybody has advice on how to do this Id appreciate it.
"The product key you entered appears to be for software pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options."
Im not sure where that leaves me. The bay seller has a guide for installing but its not working. Can anyone help?
EDIT; Apparently I need window 8 for this to work. Still if anybody has advice on how to do this Id appreciate it.
nightmarenny on
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As far as installing goes, I just did Windows 10 on my Macbook Pro and it was a breeze in terms of install. It took maybe 20 minutes to complete, including making the thumb drive. I didn't have a key since I'm really just evaluating it to determine whether or not I want to keep it, but I've had no problems thus far.
All I did was download the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft, point the boot camp software at it, insert a thumb drive, and let the whole thing go until I had to do the normal Windows setup stuff. Dead simple. IIRC, I think 10 is the requirement for the newest version of bootcamp, so you may want to make sure before you purchase anything. Regardless, you can download the ISO for 10 without a key, and you can most certainly install without a key and activate later.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
That means pretty much what it says -- the key you have is a key that Dell or IBM or Compaq or whoever-it-is bought from Microsoft to be used with the Windows install that the hardware maker sold you; these are called "OEM keys". They aren't legally intended for use on other people's hardware -- normally you can get away with it, but I suspect Apple's hardware is just too different.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/seven-perfectly-legal-ways-to-get-windows-7-cheap-or-even-free/ has more on this sort of thing:
If you're going to buy software 2nd hand or through non-approved re-sellers then you want the retail box along with any CoA.
I'd file a dispute with eBay for the key purchase to see if you can get your money back (I think it doubtful, since there's a good chance the seller followed the rules w/r/to the listing, but it can't hurt).
To get Windows on your machine (would recommend 10 over 8/8.1, but it's your call) buy it online from Microsoft or buy it retail from an authorized reseller or take your chances and buy it 2nd-hand or through non-authorized reseller.
Since Win7 the OEM/System-Builder SKU's are only licensed to be purchased and installed on a system meant for resale (not for personal systems, so if you buy and install it on a system for personal use you are not licensed to use the software under the OEM/System Builder EULA). Windows 8 permitted the System Builder/OEM license to cover personal usage, but then reversed it for Win8.1. If you buy a new OEM/System Builder copy of Win7/8.1/10 it will likely activate and work fine, but it won't be licensed for use unless it is resold, per the EULA. The System Builder license licenses the purchaser to install the software for resale, not to use it.
also anecdotally you'll have a much easier life by trying to virtual machine the windows install instead of a full bootcamp
bootcamp is basically unsupported tech now (that's why you need an old and busted copy of Windows to do it!)
have you.. thought of just installing steam on OS X? It's available.
I recently installed Windows 10 in a VirtualBox VM and that was really easy. Only issue is that graphics are a lot slower than they were with the Bootcamp install, very noticable when scrolling. But that doesn't bother me all that much.
VMWare Fusion probably has better support, but that costs moneys and I don't use Windows that much on the MacBook.
Huh? The newest version of Bootcamp is Windows 10 only, and it works like a champ.
I've had zero issues thus far, and battery life seems comparable.
I'm not the best with computers so maybe I'm misunderstanding you. You're asking why I don't just get steam on mac? I have but the game selection of extremely limited. Specifically I want to play dragon age again and perhaps run through all the DA content as I'm on sort of a dnd binge. Best I can tell not only is DA O not available for mac on steam it's also basically impossible to find a mac copy due to a weird distribution rights issue.
I'm not sure what a virtual machine is but I'm gonna try to look into it.
id be surprised if an air could run dragonage anyway
I looked up a bunch of videos before I embarked on this quest and the first two seem to play just fine.
I changed the resolution but nothing seems to have improved. Im finding many accounts of people using an air on DAO just fine. Could their be a difference between our systems that Im missing? These people seem to be using Airs from a few years ago. Id thin that would give me an advantage. Is it the virtual machine? If so is there any way I can make it run smoother?
EDIT: Im finding that VM are pretty terrible for gaming but dual booting is a decent option so I guess Im giving that a try.
For VMs you can get full hardware utilization to the client OS, but you'd have to install a bare-metal hypervisor, have OSX and Windows be installed as client OS's ... it would be a pain in the ass, and is generally not seen except in the enterprise for server farms or virtual desktops.