Mac users who need to run Windows programs often use the macOS feature, Boot Camp.
While Boot Camp is a useful feature, it has one major downside: you must restart your Mac to boot into Windows and restart your machine again to boot back into macOS.
If you’re reading this, you may be interested in learning how-to run Windows, Linux, or other popular operating systems on your Mac. Over 35% of Parallels Desktop users have made the switch from Boot Camp. You can avoid rebooting your Mac with Parallels Desktop.
I will add what challenges I had following that guide, but I was able to run my BOOTCAMP partition using VirtualBox, which is free, so I'm happy. First, you should have installed: Windows 10 x64 using the OS X Boot Camp assistant; VirtualBox 5.0.26 r108824; I also downloaded. The first option is to enable the HiDPI support under VirtualBox Settings Display, check “Use Unscaled HiDPI Output” and leave the Scale Factor 100%. This will result in Windows to startup with a screen resolution of 2880×1800 pixel on a 13-inch MacBook Pro. As a result, everything in Windows will appear much smaller than a regular. Mar 12, 2018 Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a go-to method for Mac aficionados because it is already a part of macOS. The use of the utility allows dedicating a chunk of hard drive space to Windows, thereby allowing a Mac to function as a PC. The following is the list of Boot Camp’s pros: Full access to CPU-intensive programs such as 3D games or video editing tools. Feb 26, 2021 In order to use your bootcamp partition with VirtualBox it will need to be unmounted first. This can be done manually from the Terminal using the following commands: diskutil list diskutil unmount /Volumes/BOOTCAMP BOOTCAMP volume sudo chmod 777 /dev/disk0s1.
Virtualbox Bootcamp
If you are a current Boot Camp user, you might be thinking:
Should I create a new virtual machine in Parallels Desktop and start a new Windows installation from scratch? What about all the programs I already have installed on Boot Camp? Do I have to buy another copy on Windows? It’s too much work and too expensive to just ditch Boot Camp entirely!
Read what users are saying about Boot Camp and Parallels Desktop:
(Original tweet can be found here)
To tell you the truth, I had been using Boot Camp for several years prior to my time here at Parallels. I was hesitant to move to virtualization software. But thankfully, Parallels has kept Boot Camp users in mind when creating Parallels Desktop, even as far back as 2006. Believe it or not, you can run your existing copy of Windows in the Boot Camp partition in a new Parallels Desktop virtual machine in a matter of a few simple clicks. We’ve made it sound easy but we would like to prove the benefits of using a virtual machine versus a partitioned hard drive:
Benefits of Using a Boot Camp-based VM:
- You save time.
Every second of your time matters and there are only so many hours in a day to check items off your to-do list. Rebooting your computer shouldn’t be one of them. Parallels Desktop takes less than 1-2 minutes to boot (and now in Parallels Desktop, Windows can be booted is less than 10 seconds!). Compare that to the 4-8 minutes you’d spend to restart your Mac and boot to Windows on a Boot Camp partition. You’re saving HOURS of your life every year with Parallels Desktop.
- Work in Windows and Mac simultaneously.
Life becomes simpler when you’re able to use Windows-based applications on a Mac and work with macOS and Windows OS simultaneously. You can; drag and drop, copy and paste, even utilized your Mac’s Trackpad to 3-finger Swipe between OSes. Run Windows applications side by side with Mac applications. For example: use Siri together with a Windows app, or use Cortana to launch a Mac app!
- Easy to access and update data.
The changes you make in Windows programs while working in your VM or when you start your Mac in Windows using native Boot Camp will be reflected in both places. This goes beyond Shared Folders in a virtual machine configuration but you can share hardware, networks, and additional devices between the OSes.
Are you convinced to run Windows on your Mac to avoid rebooting? We’d love to help you get started by teaching you how to set up a Boot Camp-based VM:
There are two ways to use a Boot Camp VM. One, you can run Boot Camp directly in Parallels Desktop as a VM; or two, you can import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop.
We will go over the methods more in detail:
How to set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp partition:
- Start Parallels Desktop.
- With Parallels Desktop active, go to your Mac upper menu and select File > New.
- In the Installation Assistant, choose Use Windows from Boot Camp and click “Continue”
(Installation Assistant in Parallels Desktop)
Yes, it’s that easy. Once Microsoft Windows starts in the VM for the first time, it will automatically install Parallels Tools and you’re good to go.
How to import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into Parallels Desktop:
The main difference between this method and the one just discussed is that the “import” function for Boot Camp is usually desired by the user when the user wants to eventually get rid of a Boot Camp partition from their hard drive.
Don’t be mistaken—it doesn’t remove your Boot Camp partition on your hard drive automatically. Instead, it just migrates your Windows into a standalone VM (a .pvm folder on your Mac). The changes you make in the VM after import will not be reflected on the Boot Camp side—they are now separate. Once all the programs and files are on the VM, some users prefer to wipe out Boot Camp to expand the free space on their native Mac hard drive.
Here’s how to import Boot Camp into your Parallels Desktop VM:
- Set Parallels Desktop virtual machine to use Boot Camp, as described above.
- Right-click on the Parallels Desktop icon on your Mac dock and open Control Center
(Control Center for Parallels Desktop within the macOS Dock)
- Right-click on the Boot Camp-based virtual machine and select Import Boot Camp.
- Locate where you want to store Windows and your data and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the import.
- Windows and all your data are imported from Boot Camp. You can still use the original Boot Camp Windows installation, separately from Parallels Desktop.
That’s it! You’re done and can forget about rebooting your Mac! Hopefully, this post has shed a little more light on ways in which Parallels Desktop and Boot Camp can be used together for a better user experience.
If you’re looking for more details on installing Windows on your Mac using Parallels Desktop, there are several options for users and a detailed how-to can be found here.
Not convinced yet? Watch a video of the creation of a virtual machine from your copy of Windows in Boot Camp:
Want to use your Boot Camp partition in Parallels Desktop yourself? Parallels Desktop offers a 14-day free trial.
The following article covers the process of converting a physical Windows computer into a VirtualBox virtual machine image in 3 easy to follow steps. Once done, physical Windows computer can be opened as a virtual machine by using Oracle VM VirtualBox.
Requirements
Download Disk2vhd from Windows Sysinternals, at following URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/disk2vhd or directly from this url: https://download.sysinternals.com/files/Disk2vhd.zip
STEP 1
First, we need to login onto a physical Windows machine that we are planning to clone.
Download the Disk2vhd.zip, once it is downloaded and unzipped, you’ll see the following files:
STEP 2
The next step is to use disk2vhd.exe to create VHD Image of a physical Windows machine.
Right click on disk2vhd.exe and run it as administrator. The following box will pop up:
- Select the drives you want to image
- Make sure you don’t check ‘use Vhdx’, nor ‘Use Volume Shadow Copy’
- Select the path where VHD file will be saved
- Press ‘Create’ button
Virtualbox Boot Camp Partition
Once done, you’ll see VHD file created on your hard drive:
Virtualbox Bootcamp App
STEP 3
The next step is to open Oracle VM Virtual Box manager and create a new Windows machine (in my case it was Windows 7).
The important part is that when it comes to creating a new Hard Disk, instead of creating a new virtual drive, we’ll use the VHD file we have created using Disk2vhd.
The following screenshot illustrates the process:
Once done, you’ll see the new VM in your VirtualBox Manager. You can press start and it’ll load. By pressing the start button, the virtual copy of your physical machine will load:
I hope this helped.