Hey guys, I am interested in installing Windows XP via Bootcamp on my Macbook. However, I do not want to limit myself in partition size and security by formatting it FAT. This is why I would like to format Windows XP to NTFS. We are all too familiar with the dilemma of NTFS on OS X 10.4. Thanks to useful utilities such as NTFS-3G and MacFuse, though, we are able to write in addition to read NTFS-formatted volumes on properly. I believe that the latest version of Parallels (v.3) installs these utilities in the background providing more capability with the NTFS file system. So here are my questions: 1) Above I assumed this but want to make sure: Would installing the latest version of Parallels improve overall NTFS compatibility? Whether it is with a NTFS-formatted external USB 2.0 hard drive or recognizing the NTFS-formatted Windows XP. 2) Installing Windows XP through Bootcamp and formatting it to NTFS, will I be able to use Windows XP to its full capacity (save, edit, delete files, etc) once I start it through Bootcamp? I guess it could be assumed that I would install Parallels before installing Windows XP, trusting that these new NTFS drivers will provide the functionality I desire. As for "full capacity," I'm also referring to peripherals too, such as a USB 2.0 NTFS-formatted external hard drive. I would like to know if Windows XP would be able to pick this device up and read and write to it properly. 3) Given the same scenario as in question 1 (where Windows XP is installed via Bootcamp and NTFS-formatted), would I be able to use Parallels (latest version) to start up Windows XP and drag-and-drop files back and forth between Windows XP and Mac OS X? 4) Asking question 3 brings to mind another similar, more general question: Running NTFS-formatted Windows XP, are there any compatibility issues that Parallels would run into? Such as a particular Parallel feature not working properly. 5) Lastly, being that it is still a MacBook, would installing Windows XP NTFS-formatted contribute (in any way) negatively with Bootcamp attempting to run Windows natively?
I use boot camp and really know nothing about Parallels. That said, I will try to answer the questions 1) I don't know, sorry 2) Yes, NTFS works fine with Boot Camp and XP. No problems there. It can read/write NTFS - hard drives - flash drives - usb drives - network drives 3) I don't know, sorry 4) I don't know, sorry 5) I am on a MacBook 1.83 and have had NO problems dual booting with boot camp between OS X and Windows on an NTFS partition Hope that helped, at least a little
Hey ankaangus, Thanks...any help/answers are more than welcome. Good to know, though, that formatting in NTFS is not a problem. Thanks again for your help!
