How to: Create a Mac Mini Media Center (Part 2 – Boot Camp)

In the first part of our series, we started the transformation of Apple’s Mac Mini into a Windows Media Center HTPC by connecting the required cables, booting into Mac OSX and walking through the initial configuration. We finished up with a huge download of around 500 MB of updates for the operating system. We now have a fully functional, bang up to date Mac Mini installation. So far so good.

As a refresher, let’s look again at the high level process we’re following on this project:

1. Get the Mac Mini Up and Running (with OSX)
2. Configure Boot Camp to Allow Dual Booting With Windows 7
3. Install Windows 7
4. Installing and Configuring Codecs
5. Install and Configure the Windows Media Center Remote Control
6. Connect and Configure our TV Tuners
7. Set up Windows Media Center
8. Install the Media Center Connector
9. Install and Configure Media Center Master
10. Install and Configure Media Browser
11. Install and Configure TunerFree MCE

Now it’s time to have some fun. All new Macs ship with an application called Boot Camp, whose sole purpose in life is to allow Windows to be run natively on the Mac hardware in a dual boot configuration. That means when you switch on the computer, you can choose to run Mac OSX or Windows – it’s up to you.  Boot Camp guides you through repartitioning the Mac mini’s hard drive, and creating a new partition for Windows. Apple do a decent job of supplying all of the Windows drivers you need to get up and running, and Windows 7 in particular can spot any low level drivers that may be missing post installation and sort those out for you automatically.

In January 2010, v3.1 of Boot Camp was released, supporting Windows 7 for the first time. That’s the version of Windows we’re going to use, although Windows XP and Vista are also supported. Let’s get going!

Part 2: Configure Boot Camp to Allow Dual Booting With Windows 7

1. On your Mac Mini Go to Finder > Applications >  Utilities > Boot Camp Assistant

Double click the Boot Camp Assistant icon and a wizard will pop up walking us through the steps required to repartition the Mac Mini hard drive, allowing us to install Windows 7.

2. Boot Camp Assistant Opens

The wizard starts with a little bit of blurb about why it exists, and you’re given the option to print off a short guide to its use. Click Continue and we’ll take a look at that hard drive.

3. Create a Partition for Windows

Okay, time for a relatively important decision. You need to tell Boot Camp how much space you want to allocate to Mac OSX and Windows respectively. The answer to this question depends on how much you’re going to use each operating system in the future. If you never wish to see OSX again, then ensure you provide the majority of space to Windows, and vice versa. Don’t scrimp on the space you hand over to Windows, though and bear in mind that if you’re going to store Music, Video, Photos and Recorded TV locally on the Mac Mini, you’ll need to allocate sufficient space for it. Whilst we’ll be storing our content on Windows Home Server, I still want to ensure that Windows has the majority of space – just in case. So on this install, Windows gets 180 GB, and Mac OSX 117GB. If you need to change these numbers in the future, (and you can very easily by re-running Boot Camp Assistant) note that your Mac OSX partition will remain intact, but your Windows partition will get destroyed.

To make your selection, slide the dot left or right between the two partitions.

4. Install Windows 7

Once you’ve selected your partitions, you’ll be asked to insert your Windows 7 installation disc and the Mac Mini will reboot.

Before we continue, a brief word on Windows 7 editions. I always recommend that you install Windows 7 Professional or above on any PC that’s going to be connected to Windows Home Server. That means avoiding Windows 7 Home Premium, which may have been your first choice (because it has the word “Home” in it, right?) Why? Only Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate allow you to access them remotely through a remote desktop connection, something I’ve found to be amazingly useful in a multi-PC home. You never know when you’ll need to hit up the Media Center PC to flick a switch or grab a file, and Windows Home Server will let you do this when you’re away from home. So, spend the extra money on Windows 7 Professional – it’s worth it, and yes it has Windows Media Center included.

For the record, I’m using a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate for this install – but you’ll be fine with Professional.

Join us in Part 3 as we walk through the installation of Windows 7, along with the drivers required for our Mac Mini hardware.