Can I Trick Windows Into Thinking I Have a Graphics Card?

Question

On my MacBook with 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo processor and 1GB RAM, it is very hard to find any games that will run on Windows (using Parallels Desktop). This is because my computer doesn’t have a graphics card. It uses the processor for that, and that works fine in Mac OS X, but all PC’s have graphics cards.

BioShock won’t run, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars won’t run, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition won’t run. Mind you, I have only tried with demos downloaded from Steam (except BioShock Demo, that’s from a torrent). Half-Life 2 won’t run either.

I have a blog post with pictures here:
http://www.bojlen.org/?p=4
Because I can't upload pictures on Yahoo! Answers.

So, can anyone tell me if it is in any way possible for me to play games like these? Perhaps somehow tricking Windows into thinking that I have a graphics card?

Starfighter3:

I know, and I DO have the graphics requirements, but just not in the normal way. But you're right, I probably should have titled this "Can I Trick a Game Into Thinking I Have a Graphics Card?".

Clancy the Wonder Pony:
I don't have a graphics card - that's a MacBook Pro.

Answer 1

The problem is that you're not really running Windows. You're running a virtual Windows inside the "sandbox" that Parallels provides for you. The newest versions of Parallels supports the 3d hardware inside your MacBook (yes, you *do* have a graphics card!) but even then the overhead that is required to run the virtual Windows install would probably kill your performance. My recommendation is to go grab Apple's Boot Camp software and create a dual-boot environment on your computer. The dual-boot means that you're able to run XP natively on your MacBook instead of in a virtual environment and (hopefully) get much better performance.

http://www.apple.com/bootcamp

-edit-

http://www.insidemacgames.com/reviews/view.php?ID=692&Page=5

Answer 2

NO, you do NOT have the graphics requirements. One more time, you do NOT have the graphics requirements. Just for emphasis, you do NOT have the graphics requirements. The amount of graphics power needed to run simple graphics in Mac OS X and the amount of graphics power required to run those type of games is vastly different, meaning you need much much much much more power to run those games. Not all PCs have graphics cards, some of them have integrated graphics like your MacBook does, and they run games just as poorly as yours does. This is not a Parallels issue, or a Windows issue, you DON'T have the horsepower to run the games.

Answer 3

short answer - no. It isn't Windows that is complaining. It is the games that require a graphics engine with a minimum amount of processing power that are complaining. Without that minimum, they can't run.