I can't install Windows XP in Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro?

I'm trying to install Windows XP on my new Apple MacBook Pro using Apple's Boot Camp utility, and I'm finding a very weird issue: when I start up the WinXP installation within Bootcamp, it goes through various steps then finally gets to a screen where it needs me to press Enter to proceed. Problem is, my keyboard's completely dead at that point and I can't ever proceed! How do I fix this?

Dave's Answer:

Digging through various message boards and Apple discussion forums, it appears that this is a common problem with people installing Boot Camp on their MacBooks and while the most common proposed solution is to simply unplug any and all external USB devices, especially the "mighty mouse" Apple mouse, I found that when I encountered this same problem that didn't help because I didn't have anything plugged in!

What I noticed when I was going through the Windows XP install process was that once Windows took control of the computer, the keyboard was completely dead: even the "caps lock" key didn't light up when pressed. At a certain point during the installation process, you see "loading (keyboard drivers)" but it still was nonfunctional. Hmm... so the problem, I figured, was that the USB keyboard built-in to the MacBook Pro was an unrecognized device by Windows. I plugged in a standard PC USB keyboard, though, and found exactly the same problem.

I solved it by borrowing a couple of different Windows XP installation disks and finding that it's only the latest version of WinXP that includes the drivers necessary. The "post-SP2" version, as it happens. When I tried to install WinXP "SP1", it failed. When I tried to install WinXP "SP2", it worked perfectly! Oh, and in case it's not obvious, you need a "full" Windows installation package, not an upgrade.

Fortunately, you can tell by looking at the WinXP disk itself. An SP1 version says "Version 2002" and is listed as part X08-26167. The SP2 version says "Includes Service Pack 2" and has the part X10-52217. (yes, it's incredibly difficult to read the part numbers on the holographic Microsoft CDs!)

Check that on your own install disk and make sure that you have a service pack 2 version of Windows XP. For me, when I switched from the SP1 to SP2 version of Windows, the entire installation of Boot Camp went off without a hitch.

And then I got that partition to work as a Parallels workspace too, but that's another posting. :-)

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Categorized: Mac OS X Help (Article 7263, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple boot camp, parallels, windows xp, winxp
Previous: What is Web 2.0 and what Web 2.0 stuff should I add to my site?
Next: How do I use a WinXP Boot Camp partition with Parallels?

Reader Comments To Date: 30

Tommy Tucker said, on April 5, 2007 11:39 AM:

Yes, it states quite clearly that you must use a SP2 version of XP for it to work with Boot Camp. When all else fails...

Dave Taylor said, on April 5, 2007 1:04 PM:

Right, but the challenge is to figure out if you have an SP2 version of WinXP or not. I'm confident that I'm not the first person to have this problem, and further I have read many questions from people who have "stalled out" installing WinXP in a Boot Camp partition exactly as this question states too. Manuals are useful, but we don't all read 'em. :-)

George Stricklin said, on April 9, 2007 10:12 PM:

I very definitely have an SP2 install disk, and still have the dead keyboard issue on my Macbook Pro 17". Any thoughts?

David said, on April 16, 2007 5:59 PM:

Please help! I have just encountered this same problem (stuck on the 'press enter' screen) and i can't get the XP cd to eject or my mac book pro to reboot in the OSX, it just keeps restarting the XP install process and getting stuck on that screen over and over...

David said, on April 16, 2007 6:34 PM:

sorry, really should read the troubleshoot page before firing off a panicked forum post! have got the CD out, and it says "Version 2002" but the part number is X08-33941, not X08-26167

Dave Taylor said, on April 16, 2007 7:01 PM:

David, remember that you can reboot and hold down the OPTION key to have the computer show you all the choices of operating system on boot. That should let you choose Mac OS X again!

CaSiteCenter said, on May 12, 2007 11:00 PM:

is it possible to run max os with virtual machine on pc?

Dave Taylor said, on May 13, 2007 7:33 AM:

Nope, not that I'm aware of, and since Apple ties its OS to specific Apple-hardware, I can't imagine there's a way to cobble it together either. You can use pieces of Mac OS X through "Darwin", but that's not the same thing in the end....

wlinkin said, on August 9, 2007 9:24 AM:

George, I am in the same boat. I definitely have the SP2 disk and my Macbook Pro 15" keyboard or any USB keyboard I try to connect are dead when trying to install XP. Anyone?

Umer said, on August 31, 2007 6:24 PM:

Hi, I definitely need an answer to this question because I most certainly also have XP SP2 and my keyboard goes dead too

what should i do? please help, this is essential!

mike said, on November 12, 2007 7:36 PM:

David, remember that you can reboot and hold down the OPTION key to have the computer show you all the choices of operating system on boot. That should let you choose Mac OS X again!

I did that and im only getting the windows option. . im afraid i may have installed windows completely over my mac. . is this possible?? . .i think my computer is screwed

sandeep said, on December 13, 2007 9:39 AM:

hi guys!by mistake i have installed win xp sp1 on my macbook.now i m not able to install bootcamp on win xp sp1.it's saying that u must have sp2 or vista to install this software.then i tried to put sp2 but i m not able to.window is showing some kind of error.pls guys help me out!!!!

Mark said, on January 21, 2008 5:24 AM:

In keeping with the advice to the OP in this page i streamlined my XP disk to form an XPsp2 disk, which functions as a boot disk on my PC, however my MacBookPro refuses to recognise it. In examining this issue i have successfully installed XP (no sp) on the MBP , and now understand why this isn't viable as an OS (can't accept the Mac drivers) and on advice i saw in another forum i tried renaming the installer disk to XP_Pro_SP2, (as opposed to the MVPCCP_etc moniker) but it still won't mount.

Any ideas as to why the streamlined disk is acceptable to a PC, but the MBP can't even see it?

Robin said, on January 21, 2008 11:09 AM:

Sorry if this is a really stupid question, but where can the part number be found on a WinXP disk? I was pretty sure I had a SP2 disk handy, but whenever I try to run the Windows intallationg process the CD ejects itself before the installation even starts, and my keyboard refuses to respond!

Where can I obtain/purchase a WinXP full SP2 install, anyways?

Dimyra said, on January 29, 2008 5:02 AM:

Hi I am having the same problem when i try installing WinXP Pro SP2 using boot camp on my Mac Book. The keyboard refuses to respond while installing Windows XP SP2. How ever it worked fine on my Mac Book Pro and my iMac using the same Windows CD. Please HELP this is urgent!!!

Dimyra said, on January 30, 2008 2:57 AM:

Hi I am having the same problem when i try installing WinXP Pro SP2 using boot camp on my Mac Book. The keyboard refuses to respond while installing Windows XP SP2. How ever it worked fine on my Mac Book Pro and my iMac using the same Windows CD. Please HELP this is urgent!!!

I Also tried using a PC USB Keyboard and mouse still having the same problem only on the Mac Book. Please does someone have any ideas to fix this

getting urgent!!!!

Dimyra

Kate said, on November 10, 2008 5:37 PM:

I am having a similar problem although I am not using a macbook, I'm on a new iMac. I ran bootcamp and tried to install windows and froze at the "enter" screen. I asked a mac guy for help and he said try archive and install of leopard then windows, if not do an erase and install of leopard then install windows. Nothing has worked. I have upgraded everything, I have Windows XP home SP2 and Leopard 10.5.4. I need windows to run AutoCAD for work. Suggestions?

joshua said, on November 15, 2008 4:11 PM:

i am having a problem with installing windows on my friends laptop. when i start it up from the disc to install windows it gos to the black screen where its saposed to tell you to press any key to boot form the disc nothing happens. if i try it on my lap it works just fin so ints not the disc. also the computers are the same model.

Doug said, on November 30, 2008 3:01 PM:

I have had these issues on my new Macbook Pro 17" and had to spend hours on the phone with Apple (well actually my assistant did)installing XP Home. Now that it has been working a few weeks I have developed other issues.

1. My track pad sporatically goes crazy with the cursor when trying to scroll the internet in Firefox. I scroll to my location then go to select something and bang right to the bottom of the page... anyone able to help?

2. I can not select a resolution in the XP control panel that makes objects appear correctly... like circles appear oblong etc.

3. After several hours it flashes a blue screen with text so quickly it can't be read and then the computer restarts... it sucks.

I am an old Mac user back to '84... any help would be appreciated.

aaaspark@yahoo.com.
Doug

Ben Tomlin said, on December 5, 2008 5:53 PM:

I'm having the same issue. I can't press enter on the blue screen whilst installing XP SP2 on my mac pro. I tried different keyboards, but to no avail.

Eric Shook said, on March 18, 2009 8:39 PM:

I have been using Windows XP successfully with my Macbook with OS 10.5.6 for a few months. Just today, I tried to get in to Windows again, and was stopped just after the Parallels screen with a message: Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: system32\ntoskrnl.exe. Please reinstall a copy of the above file. I had to perform a force quit to get out of the boot camp and get back to the Mac desktop.
Now what?
Can you help?
Thank you.

mani said, on March 31, 2009 12:23 PM:

Explain how to install win xp in mac os 9.1 installed laptop of apple computer.

Charie said, on April 7, 2009 7:41 AM:

Hey...I have ecountered a big problem.

I tried to install the windows xp on my mac the result was when windows says that i need to restart my imac and it will continue but it show up a black screen saying press any buttong to load the disk...and when i do it start install windows again...and i tried the option key on startup but only windows shows up none imac os at all....plz help its kinda urgent and i would appreciate alot...thanks!

greetings Charlie

pramod said, on December 14, 2009 12:27 AM:

I would like to know whether, the windows xp needs to be activate, or just having the licensed key is enough for installation.

Person said, on January 10, 2010 5:44 PM:

Help I was doing boot camp on my MacBook with windows xp but when I got tithe part where you have to put the mac osxdisk in the xp disk wouldn't come out I tried the eject button like 20 time but nothinghapened help

Thanh said, on January 16, 2010 10:49 AM:

If you have the XP-SP2 disc and you still can't press the Enter button at the blue screen, you should try to unplug all your USB devices (mouse, flash cards) and install again. It worked for me.

Hope this help.

John said, on January 26, 2010 10:58 AM:

Here's an interesting note...we experienced the same problem where we couldn't use the keyboard once in the Windows installer. We tried about 7 times unsuccessfully. Get this...we plugged in a Dell USB mouse and the keyboard was recognized...we were finally able to install!

sofana said, on March 5, 2011 1:45 PM:

Hi I am macpro trying to install windows xp.but some how it atucks and cd is stuck in the computer and every time I am starting is not.wodking

Stephen said, on April 12, 2011 5:58 AM:

I have just purchased a new MacBook Pro and upon getting home, and attmpting to install Win XP SP3 32bit, it wouldn't start the setup. Mac support tell me the absolute latest Mac releases (March 2011) do not support XP in Bootcamp - only Vist and Win 7. None of the staff in 3 Apple stores including a large store with a Genius Bar, knew of this. I returned it for a full refund. Very sad.

Gabriel said, on August 15, 2011 12:59 PM:

Hello everyone!!! I have inherited a macbook problem on my new job, the guy that used to be the IT admin tried to install win xp by orders from the boss, but he never achieved it, now it is my task to do so... I´m not used to mac, the instalation process goes fine until it gets stuck on the first restart, and now I have some doubts, the new partition where xp is going to be installed has to be NTFS? or FAT32? cause when it restarts for the first time all I get after the white screen is a black screen with a blinking cursor on the top left corner, and it doesn´t move on, I tried restarting with the bootcamp partition but all I get there is a "space" like screen and it doesn´t do anything more again... any ideas? the other guy took the disks and I don´t have anything more than the macbook and my original xp sp2 disk, thanks a lot for your time.

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

I can't install Windows XP in Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro?

Reader Comments To Date: 30

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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