Ive used boot camp for some time to play a few games, but decided that i parallels might be a better fit for what i do. is there a way to run off the partition i already have? or do i have to completely reinstall xp?
yes, if you have the most recent version of parallels it gives you the option to boot from your boot camp partition
Works with R3188 and higher for sure. Never tried it with previous versions. Just set my MBP at work up with XP on Boot Camp and Parallels last week. I learned the hard way about the Windows reactivation thing since the serial I used was only good for one activation. Had to wipe the whole thing, start from scratch and use the official Volume License install disk and activation code from the guys down the hall to get it to work properly. ...and, as luck would have it, Apple released Bootcamp v1.2 the morning after I finished getting everything set up. The new Bootcamp driver installs are much less of a pain. Only one pops up wth the "not approved by Microsoft yet. do you wish to continue installing?" alert box instead of the few dozen or so that used to pop up during the Bootcamp drivers install.
if your # of activation uses is up, just call microsoft and register it over the phone, you type in a number and then it will say theres a problem and transfer you to a person, just tell them you reinstalled windows and the copy is only in use on one computer, and they will read you off a new activation code.
It was easier just to go down the hall and get a copy of our Volume License install CD and the Volume License serial. I should have done that in the first place instead of using the Dell OEM install CD that came with my Dell laptop like my boss told me to do.