Triple Boot MacBook Pro Part One: Configuring Your Disks

This article is part one in a series, read the introduction here.1. Make sure your Mac is connected to AC Power, power up your Mac and login. 2. Insert the Mac OS Install Disc 1 into your Mac. 3. From the Apple menu choose Restart... and click Restart. 4. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots. 5. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the CD ROM icon labeled Mac OS

X Install Disk 1 and wait while Mac OS loads.

6. On the Mac OS X dialog, select your Language and click the button.

7. When the Welcome page appears, from the Utilities menu, select Disk Utility...

8. Within Disk Utility, select the Hard Disk (186.3 GB Hitachi HTS...) and click the

Partition button/tab.

9. In the Volume Scheme drop down select 3 Partitions.

10. Click the Untitled 1 partition and in the Name text box enter Macintosh HD,

ensure that Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is selected as the Format and enter 59.00 in the Size text box.

11. Click the Untitled 2 partition and in the Name text box enter VISTA, select MS-

DOS (FAT) as the Format and enter 100.00 in the Size text box.

Note: We will format the two Windows partitions as NTFS when we install Windows as we are not able to using Disk Utility. Also note that the labels will be overwritten, but entering them here helps to avoid mistakes later on. Also the final size of the 2K8 (3rd) partition will be slightly less after the partition and format is complete.

12. Click the Untitled 3 partition and in the Name text box enter 2K8, select MS-DOS (FAT) as the Format and note that the remaining space (27.31GB) is automatically entered.

13. Once you are happy with the partition sizes, click the Apply button and on the confirmation dialog, click Partition.

14. Wait while the changes are applied, and then quit Disk Utility by pressing

Command-Q. You will be returned to the Welcome page.

Triple Boot MacBook Pro Part Two: Installing Mac OS X

15. On the Welcome page, click Continue.

16. Click Agree to agree to the license agreement – or if you’re mental, read the

EULA then click Agree.

17. On the Select a Destination page, select the Macintosh HD partition and click Continue.

18. On the Install Summary page click Customise, and select any options you may

want from the Bundled Applications node and click Done.

Note you can save space by removing any languages you do not need.

19. On the Install Summary page, click Install and when prompted click Continue Installation.

20. Wait while Mac OS X is installed – this will take about an hour and thirty minutes, with the installer prompting you for disk 2 after about an hour. So go do some real work :).

21. Once Mac OS X is installed, click Continue and wait while the silly Welcome video plays out.

22. You will then be guided through a number of screens to configure and register

your Mac – these are the same steps you would have completed when you first turned on your Mac. Don’t forget you can skip registration by hitting Command-Q and then Skip on the Registration Information page. (Not all screens are shown below)

23. When you are done, the Mac OS Desktop will load and you will notice the three hard disk icons on the right hand side.

At this stage the Mac OS X installation is complete and you could choose to install your other apps, run Software Update or restore from a backup your data etc. For the purposes of brevity we won’t bother and will carry on setting up our other partitions.

Triple Boot MacBook Pro Part Three: Installing Winows 2008 and Drivers

The default behavior of the Boot Configuration and Boot Loader in Vista and Windows Server 2008 is that the Windows OS last installed becomes the default. Whilst this can be modified using tools such as BCDEdit we will install Windows Server 2008 next to avoid that unnecessary additional configuration.

24. Insert the Windows Server 2008 x64 DVD into your Mac. 25. From the Apple menu choose Restart... and click Restart. 26. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots. 27. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the CD ROM icon labelled Windows

and wait while the Windows Boot Manager loads (do not select EFI Boot).

Note: the Boot Picker may take a little while to load whilst the supposed EFI support in Windows confuses the Mac.

28. When the Windows Boot Manager loads press Enter and wait while the Windows Installer loads.

29. On the Install Windows page, select the Language and Regional Settings you

need and click Next followed by Install now. 30. Select the Edition of Windows Server 2008 you need and click Next. 31. Check the I accept the license terms check box and click Next. 32. Click the Custom (advanced) button.

33. On the Where do you want to Install Windows page select the Partition labelled VISTA and click the Drive options (advanced) link.

Note: we format the Vista partition now to save some time later.

34. Click the Format link and when prompted click OK.

35. On the Where do you want to Install Windows page select the Partition labelled 2K8 and click the Format link. When prompted click OK.

36. Ensure the 2K8 partition (whose label has been removed, Disk 0 Partition 4) is still selected and click Next.

37. Wait while Windows is installed. After approximately ten minutes Windows will restart. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots.

38. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled Windows and wait while the Windows loads.

39. The Installing Windows page will re-appear at the stage, Completing installation. After approximately five minutes Windows will restart. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots.

40. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled Windows and wait while the Windows loads.

41. Click OK and enter a Password for the Administrator Account. Click OK. 42. When the Desktop appears close the Initial Configuration Tasks Window. 43. When the Server Manager appears, close it. 44. From the Start Menu, choose Computer. 45. Select the DVD Drive and click the Eject button. 46. Insert the Mac OS Install Disk 1 (or your Boot Camp Drivers Disk) into your

Mac. 47. When the AutoPlay window appears, click Run setup.exe. 48. On the Welcome to the Boot Camp installer page, click Next. 49. Select the I accept the terms in the license agreement radio button and click Next. 50. On the Choose additional features and settings page, ensure the Apple Software

Update for Windows check box is checked and click Install. 51. Wait while Boot Camp and Drivers are installed. 52. On the Boot Camp installer completed page click Finish and then Yes to restart

the computer. 53. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots. 54. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled

Windows and wait while the Windows loads. 55. Logon to Windows. Notice that all the drivers are loaded and the screen resolution

is set to something a little more sensible. The Boot Camp help file will also load and the Boot Camp Control Panel icon is displayed in the system tray.

56. Eject the Mac OS Install CD.

57. Configure Boot Camp to Use the F1-F12 keys to control software features using the Boot Camp Control Panel.

58. Rename the C:\ drive to Windows 2008.

At this stage the Windows 2008 installation is complete and you could choose to install your other apps, run Windows Update or restore from a backup your data etc. For the purposes of brevity we won’t bother and will carry on setting up our final partition.

Triple Boot MacBook Pro Part Four: Installing Windows Vista and Drivers

59. Insert the Windows Vista including SP1 x64 DVD into your Mac. 60. From the Start Menu choose Restart... enter a period in the comment text box and

click OK. 61. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots. 62. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the CD ROM icon labelled Windows

and wait while the Windows Boot Manager loads (do not select EFI Boot).

63. When prompted press a key to boot from the DVD and wait while the Windows Installer loads.

64. On the Install Windows page, select the Language and Regional Settings you need and click Next followed by Install now.

65. Enter your license key and click Next. 66. Check the I accept the license terms check box and click Next. 67. Click the Custom (advanced) button. 68. On the Where do you want to Install Windows page select the 100Gb Partition

(Disk 0 Partition 3) and click Next.

69. Wait while Windows is installed. After approximately twelve minutes Windows will restart. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots.

70. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled Windows and wait while the Windows Boot Manager loads.

71. When the Windows Boot Manager loads, select Microsoft Windows Vista, press Enter and wait while the Windows Installer loads.

72. The Installing Windows page will re-appear at the stage, Completing installation. After approximately five minutes Windows will restart. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots.

73. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled Windows and wait while the Windows Boot Manager loads.

74. When the Windows Boot Manager loads, select Microsoft Windows Vista, press Enter and wait while Windows loads.

75. When the Choose a username and picture page appears, enter a user name and password and click Next.

76. On the Type a computer name and choose a desktop background page enter a computer name and click Next.

77. On the Help protect Windows automatically click the Use recommended settings button.

78. Set your Time Zone, Date and Time and click Next. 79. On the Thank You page, click Start and wait while Windows performs a

performance evaluation. 80. Logon to Windows. 81. When the Desktop appears close the Welcome Center Window. 82. From the Start Menu, choose Computer. 83. Select the DVD Drive and click the Eject button. 84. Insert the Mac OS Install Disk 1 (or your Boot Camp Drivers Disk) into your

Mac. 85. When the AutoPlay window appears, click Run setup.exe. 86. When the User Account Control dialog appears, click Continue. 87. If a Windows Installer Internet Download Bootstrap has stopped working dialog

appears click Close the program. 88. On the Welcome to the Boot Camp installer page, click Next. 89. Select the I accept the terms in the license agreement radio button and click Next. 90. On the Choose additional features and settings page, ensure the Apple Software

Update for Windows check box is checked and click Install. 91. Wait while Boot Camp and Drivers are installed. 92. On the Boot Camp installer completed page click Finish and then Yes to restart

the computer. 93. Hold down the ALT/OPTION key while the machine boots. 94. When the Boot Picker screen appears, select the Hard Disk icon labelled

Windows and wait while the Windows Boot Manager loads. 95. When the Windows Boot Manager loads, select Microsoft Windows Vista, press

Enter and wait while Windows loads. 96. Logon to Windows. Notice that all the drivers are loaded and the screen resolution

is set to something a little more sensible. The Boot Camp help file will also load and the Boot Camp Control Panel icon is displayed in the system tray.

97. Eject the Mac OS Install CD. 98. Configure Boot Camp to Use the F1-F12 keys to control software features using

the Boot Camp Control Panel. 99. Configure Boot Camp to use the Windows disk as its Start Up disk. 100. Rename the C:\ drive to Windows Vista.

At this stage the Windows Vista installation is complete and you could choose to install your other apps, run Windows Update or restore from a backup your data etc. For the purposes of brevity we won’t bother at this stage.

Trible Boot MacBook Pro: Additional Tips and Tricks

We are done! Our machine is now configured as a “triple boot” and starts up into Windows Vista by default. Basically we have a regular dual boot Windows system alongside our Mac OS. To load Mac OS we can simply hold the ALT/OPTION key during boot and select Macintosh HD, just like we would do with a regular Boot Camp system.

We can modify the Windows start up pause (which displays the Windows Boot Manager) by running MSCONFIG.EXE from Vista or Windows Server 2008, clicking the Boot tab and modifying the Timeout value. If you check the No GUI boot option you will get a slightly nicer screen while Windows Vista boots.

We can also save some more space on our Windows 2008 partition by turning off hibernate (run the following command within an elevated command prompt: powercfg.exe /hibernate off)

Beware that the Boot Configuration is stored on the Windows Vista partition. So when looking at backup/restore and or imaging solutions you may need to manually re-create this data using MSCONFIG or a third party BCD editor.

You will likely need to manually turn on the Windows Aero Appearance Settings under Windows Vista.

Make sure you download and install all software updates for your three partitions and keep them up to date over time.

Don’t forget that the Boot Camp Assistant in Mac OS is rendered useless by this approach – running it can’t harm things however.

Enjoy your triple-boot Mac!