Help setting up Borrowed Boot Camp Mac [closed]

Question

Someone lent me a Macbook recently. They are pretty much ok with me reinstalling th OS, but they want to save some files from the XP partition if possible.

It's Intel Based and running Boot Camp to boot Win XP or Mac !0.4.? (I don't remember offhand the exact 10.4.) I am very knowledgeable in PCs (excuse my humility here...) but I'm not sure how boot camp works regarding the following:

1. The person who lent me the machine also gave me 10.5 Install discs. I want to upgrade to 10.5 so that I can run XCode.

2. There seems to be an issue with it and it will not boot. I haven't looked at the Windows Boot partition yet, so I don't know what the issue is. The person who gave it to me said that "It's missing a file or something." I would boot into Linux to save the files from XP, but I don't have a recent Ubuntu Disc. I have version 7.10 for PC or something like that. Can I read the XP disc from Mac? Do I need Ubuntu? If so, will an Intel based Mac be OK with Ubuntu 7.04. (And will Ubuntu play nicely with Mac?)

Optimally, I would like to reconfigure the machine to Dual Boot XP and OS X 10.5. Does Boot Camp come with OS X 10.5 or do I need a seperate disc?

I understand that I am asking a bunch of questions here. If you can answer even bits and pieces, I would appreciate it.

Thanks a ton! (+1 for any answer that helps!)

EDIT:

Windows shows a black screen with an error message on it. The following System file cannot be found. ... [a system file]

Also, the OSX 10.5.4 Disc refuses to install. The machine has 1GB DDR2 Memory. Is that the issue? This may shed some light on the issue: I thought it was running boot camp. It says "rEFIt" on the top of the screen though...

Also, I recovered the the XP files using the Finder in Mac. No sweat.

EDIT 2:

When I boot off of the install disc the language menu shows then the installer begins to initialize. Then, I get the yellow exclamation mark, saying that OS X cannot install on this machine. I researched a bit. I think it's rEFIt that is causing the issue. I am trying to reformat now. How does that work from the install disc?

Edit 3:

It's a MacBook2,1 according to System Profiler on the install CD. Again, Thanks. +1 to all answers that are useful.

Edit 4:

Apparently, it's machine locked. Came from another machine. A MacBook Pro...

Answer 1

Here's my shot at answering your myriad of questions.

1. You should definitely be able to upgrade from OS X 10.4 to 10.5 even with an existing Boot Camp installation. Here's a discussion about this. During the 10.5 installation, I've read issues with people going the Upgrade or Archive and Install route, but I suggest those methods first over the Erase and Install method. While Leopard may install successfully, it will not fix your Windows issues.

2. For your Windows issues, I guess you'll get more details when you look at the partition. The only advice I can give is that your Boot Camp installation will allow you to use common PC solution methods to solve your booting issues. As in, there shouldn't need to be a Mac-specific fix. As long as you can reach the boot menu and boot into OS X, the problem is likely contained within the Windows installation. You should be able to read your XP disc and even boot with it to fix Windows issues.

3. You should be able to at least use an Ubuntu live CD to boot into the system if you want to recover files from the Windows partition. I haven't tried 7.04 or 7.10 myself, but there are reports around the net about using those versions on MacBooks. The Ubuntu Macbook guide may help here.

Hope this helps and good luck!

EDIT

Unless I'm missing something, I don't see why the MacBook shouldn't run OX 10.5. From within OS X 10.4, go to System Profiler ( menu -> About This Mac, then More info…) to see exactly what MacBook you have (e.g. my MacBook is MacBook5,1).

In any case, to reformat the disk, you can do that by booting into the 10.5 disk. Once you get to the installer screen, open Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Should be straightforward from there to completely erase the disk. Create one OS X Journaled partition (HFS+) for now. Once you get Leopard installed, you can follow the Boot Camp instructions to install Windows XP again. The Boot Camp Assistant is in the Applications -> Utilities folder.

Lastly, to address a point you brought up earlier, you'll need to install the Developer Tools to use Xcode. That's on the Leopard disk as a separate installation.

EDIT 2

Just found a post that talks about how install disks are machine-locked. Is the 10.5 disk you have the retail version? Or is it machine-specific?

EDIT 3

Well then, I'm not sure what the state of Boot Camp is on 10.4. If you can get 10.5 or 10.6, I'm certain that my above instructions and first edit should get you up and running.