Hands-On Report: Installing Apple Boot Camp Update 2.1 for Windows--Nvidia Driver Issue

Apple released Boot Camp Update 2.1 for Windows XP, Vista 32-Bit or Vista 64-Bit as three separate updates. It is also available via Apple Software Update for Windows.

According to Apple,

This update addresses issues and improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp. It is highly recommended for all Boot Camp users.

Important: Installation of Boot Camp 2.1 is required before installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)

Boot Camp 2.1 Update has to be downloaded and installed while booted into Windows.

I have a Boot Camp partition with Windows XP-SP2 on my MacBook Air and 2.8GHz Dual Quad Mac Pro for essential and proprietary Windows stuff that I occasionally have to run. I also play a few 3D games on my Mac Pro, mainly Call of Duty 4 (CoD4) that has taken a very long time to come out for the Mac.

I downloaded the update from the link above with my MacBook Air booted into Windows XP. After clicking on the installer, it took awhile to see any further action. At first, I thought I hadn't effectively double-clicked and did it again. When I was getting ready to double-click a third time, the Windows installer window suddenly popped up and the installation went normally.

So far, Windows XP still runs fine on my MacBook Air after the update. Unfortunately, it still didn't allow the built-in iSight camera to work with Polycom PVX v8.0.2 video conferencing software. This forces me to carry around a Logitech USB QuickCam Deluxe which does work with the Polycom software.

I downloaded and installed the update via Apple Software Update for Windows on my Mac Pro. Upon reboot, the Nvidia graphics control panel was missing. I had to download and re-install the drivers for the Mac Pro's Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT (v169.21) graphics card from Nvidia's Web site. Otherwise, Windows XP SP2 seems to run as well as it did prior to the Boot Camp update. I played a couple of hours of CoD4 with no problems. Then, I downloaded and installed the latest beta drivers (v174.74) and played several more hours of CoD4 with no problems.

Based on my experience, I recommend using the stand-alone updater from the appropriate link above. [Bill Fox]