Windows 7 is still a popular desktop OS favored by millions of users across the globe. There are various reasons why users want to install Windows 7 on Mac, and since Windows and Mac are two different products from two completing companies, it is quite challenging to do such cross-platform installation due to technology barrier.
With a bootable Windows USB, you will not only have the ability to install, but also repair Windows 7 on Mac. A bootable USB will give you the speed, convenience and portability you need to make such installations, and they are also easy to take care of compared to installation discs. Whether or not you are a techie, you can use the steps outlined below to install Windows 7 on Mac without problems at all.
Apple Bootcamp Drivers Windows 10 Download
The only way I know how to solve your problem is to get an older version of osx. I used mavericks. Use bootcamp on an older version to get your windows 7 under boot camp and then upgrade to mojave. That means using recovery to install whatever the base version of osx your mac uses and then using boot camp under that OS to install win 7. Feb 15, 2014.
Bootcamp windows 7 el capitan Mac Help Forum. If Apple is restricting your Mac's Boot Camp app to only install Windows 7, gain the ability to install Windows 10 with this quick edit. In the example, I renamed it BootCamp2.app (Figure A) Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model. Boot Camp is a free utility software designed by Apple, Inc. That allows users to install Windows OS (Windows XP, Vista and 7) or GNU/Linux OS on Intel-based Mac computers. This software features two programs- Boot Camp Assistant and Boot Camp. Boot Camp Assistant allows users to partition their hard drive as well as resize an existing HFS+ partition if needed.
Honestly, Boot Camp could be our first choice for installing Windows on Mac as dual boot, but it has too issues and errors according to our testing result and user feedback. So we will pick up another method to do this to avoid wasting time on Bootcamp as it does not working in most of the times.
Part 1: Download Windows 7 ISO on Mac
Before we get started installing Windows 7 on Mac, the first step is to get or download a Windows 7 disc image. You can rip it from Windows 10 installation DVD or download the trial from Microsoft web site. Don't worry too much. This is much easier on a Mac computer.
Now click this link that leads to the Windows 7 ISO download page. And input a valid Windows 7 product key to activate the download. After that, select the lanague and Windows 7 version before the downloading process begins. However, if you didn't have a license key, you can download the ISO from other file hosting websites.
Part 2: Create Windows 7 USB Installer on Mac without Bootcamp
Once Windows 7 ISO is downloaded, the next move is to burn the ISO to USB. Since the majority of users may not have a lot of technical knowledge on how the burning works, it is highly recommended that you use third-party app like UUByte ISO Editor so that you can accomplish the installation with minimal effort. UUByte ISO Editor is one of the best applications in the world for burning ISO files to USB as well as creating bootable media for installation purposes.
It is easy to use, and it allows you to change your storage and installation preferences in a very simply manner. Additionally, it is compatible with a variety of file systems, including UEFI and legacy BIOS boot schemes. One of the things you will admire about UUByte ISO Editor is the high success rate it comes with, and with a very simple UI. Whether you are a pro or a novice, you will find using the tool quite easy and intuitive. Use the steps below to download UUByte ISO Editor to your computer and to create a bootable Windows 7 USB.
Step 1: Download and install UUByte ISO Editor in the Mac where you want to install Windows 7. You will be required to give a password before you can start the program, and once you do this, you will be taken to the screen shown below.
Step 2: Upon launching the software, choose the 'Burn' option so that you can start the process of creating a bootable USB.
Step 3: Select the Windows ISO file you had downloaded on the previous step, choose the USB option and click, 'Bun' to commence the process. In a short while, the bootable drive will be created and from this, you will have an easy way to create to proceed with the installation of Windows 7 on Mac.
With UUByte ISO Editor for Mac, you don't have to worry about using the advanced settings or even tampering with the command line. The software will do the formatting so that you don't have to worry about complex and lengthy actions. Indeed, it is a great alternative to Boot Camp app.
Part 3: Make a New Partition for Windows 7 on Mac SSD
Now you have a bootable Windows 7 USB to be used for OS installation. However, the situation is much different on a Mac because the internal drive on Mac is formated to APFS or HFS+, which is unable to hold Windows 7 partition. You have to manually create a new partition being formatted to FAT or FAT32.
To add a new partition for Windows 7 OS, please first take a full backup of your Mac internal drive. If something went wrong, you can still restore the machine from backup. This is an important step for protecting your data.
After that, run Disk Utility app and locate the internal drive from right side. Then, click the Partition tab on top menu and choose MS-DOS(FAT) in Format column. Next, set a size for Windows volume. It should be more than 50G to run Windows 7 smoothly on Mac.
Part 4: Install Windows 7 from USB on Mac without Boot Camp
At this point, you have already downloaded the Windows ISO and created a bootable Windows 7 USB with the help of the UUByte ISO Editor tool. Now, the next step is to simply boot your Mac from the USB so that you can proceed and install Windows 7on Mac. To do this, use the following step.
Boot Mac from USB: Connect the USB flash drive to an USB port and reboot Mac while holding onto the Option key. If you did everything correctly, the USB name appears on the startup screen, where you can select the device to boot from. Click the USB drive name and you should be able to see Windows 7 logo.
Install Windows 7 on Mac: From this stage, the installation process will be the normal one, and all you have to do is follow the prompts and make any adjustments on the settings as you wish. If, however, the computer doesn't booth from the USB flash drive, try to disable the SIP by attempting to boot from the recovery partition. The startup selector should come up, and this should now allow you to boot from the USB flash drive. And the most important part is to choose the newly created partition to install Windows 7 on it. Wait for about 10 minutes and the installation will be finished.
Part 5: Download Windows Support Software (Optional)
The Windows 7 installation image only ships with the minimal package of devcie drivers. Some of the new hardware may be not working when you run Windows 7 on a Mac. You have to update or install the missing drivers for certain devices. Fortunately, Apple has a solid plan for this.
Apple Boot Camp Windows 7
To download latest Windows drivers, you have to roll back to Mac and launch Boot Camp Assistant app. Click the Action tab and open Download Windows Support Software wizard. Now select a local folder to save the drivers. Wait about 5 minutes amd copy the entire WindowsSupport folder to Windows 7 install USB.
Reboot Mac into Windows 7 and plug in the USB drive. Go to WindowsSupport folder and run setup.exe from BootCamp subfolder. This will install all necessary drivers for all hardware on this computer.
This step is mandatory only when some of the hardware are not working. If everything goes fine, then just skip this part for sure.
Conclusion
There are other methods you could use to install Windows on Mac without Bootcamp but the above suggestion is the easiest one you can go with. And it takes much less time with low risky. That's the reason we share in at here. You can also use Bootcamp or Terminal app to get the same result but it is much harder to do this without advanced computer knowledge.
Bootcamp (Boot Camp Assistant) is essentially Apple's way of welcoming Microsoft into its walled garden in a roundabout way. In other words, it allows you to install Windows on a Mac computer by partitioning the disk and letting you dual-boot a laptop or desktop. You will need to specify the amount of disk space for Windows installation, as well as get all the drivers required to run Windows on your Mac OS X or macOS computer. Once installed, it will be exactly the same as working in Windows. A lot of users prefer this over switching between Mac and PC, so you can imagine why Boot Camp Assistant has been so popular for so many years.
Part 1: Problems with Bootcamp Assistant on Mac
That being said, there are a lot of problems in using Bootcamp Assistant on latest macOS such as Mojave or High Serria. One of the errors is the 'Boot Camp installation failed' error. Apple suggests that you move to macOS Mojave and try installing Windows 10 again, but the issue doesn't always go away. Another common error is when trying to copy the Windows installation files. In still other cases, you'll notice that several Mac features don't work when running Windows, such as Apple Software Update stopping, no audio from built-in speakers, mic or webcam not recognized by Windows and so on.
To avoid such errors and issues, which can often take quite a lot of your time to figure out and fix, you can use alternative solutions to install Windows on a Mac from USB. Though you will still need to use Boot Camp Assistant for part of the process, but you're not likely to come across major installation errors when doing this. You can also use Terminal in Mac to help you install Windows. The next two sections describe these methods in detail.
Part 2: Make a Bootable Windows 10/8/7 USB Installer on Mac
Boot Camp Assistant is the official recommendation for creating bootable Windows USB. In case it does not work, we will suggest two alternative software in this section. Both are working fine on latest macOS and we tested three USB drives without running into any issue.
Method 1: Create Windows Bootable USB Using ISO Editor (without Bootcamp)
UUByte ISO Editor can work as a great alternative to Bootcamp for installing Windows OS on Mac. You can easily fetch all the required drivers using Bootcamp, but the installation process for putting Windows on your Mac is different from how Bootcamp does it. UUbyte is one of the most robust Windows 10 bootable USB creator for Mac that you'll ever find. It can do a lot more than just create bootable media, such as creating ISO files, editing them, copying from disc to ISO and so on. For this process, you will need to use the Burn module, which is explained below:
Step 1: Get the Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft's website and install the Mac version of UUbytes ISO Editor.
Step 2: Launch Boot Camp Assistant, go to Action and click on Download Windows Support Software. When the dialog appears, click Save and specify a location for the files.
Step 3: Open the UUbytes program and click on the module that says Burn. Insert a USB flash drive and burn ISO to USB drive. Select the ISO image and click on Burn. This will create a bootable USB drive for the Windows installation.
UUByte is the best alternative to BootCamp for creating bootable Windows USB installer. It is simple to use and has less errors.
Method 2: Create Windows Bootable USB Using Terminal App (without Bootcamp)Download Bootcamp Update For Windows 10
This method uses Terminal application to create the bootable media for Windows 10. You will still need Boot Camp Assistant for the support software, but if you're comfortable with command line work, you try this approach. You will first need to download the Windows 10 ISO file. You will also need to use Boot Camp Assistant to get the support files, for which you can follow Step 3 from Method 1.
Step 1: Launch an instance of Terminal. Type the following command and then Enter to list out your drives:
diskutil list external
Step 2: Scroll down the name of the USB drive listed in Terminal. You will be using this in the next command. For now, let's call it disk2. The next step is to format your USB drive for Windows 10. Use the following command, then hit Enter:
diskutil eraseDisk ExFat 'WINDOWS10' MBR disk2
Step 3: You will be able to see a mounted disk called Windows 10. Mount the downloaded Windows 10 ISO file by double-clicking it in Finder. The name will be CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9. You can also run the following command:
cp -rp /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_EN-US_DV9/* /Volumes/WINDOWS10/
Step 4: Unfortunately, there's no progress bar to indicate that the bootable media is being created. However, after a sufficient amount of time has passed, the USB drive will contain bootable media for a Windows 10 installation.
Part 3: Create a New Partition for Windows OS on Mac
Windows OS can be only installed on a FAT/ExFAT or NTFS partition. You have to create a new partition on Mac for storing Windows OS files as the default partition on Mac is HFS+ or APFS. This can be done with the help of built-in Disk Utility app. However, this is a highly risky task. Please backup your important data to iCloud or external drive with Time Machine.
To create a new partition for Windows OS, please open Disk Utility app on your Mac. Click the internal disk name on the left sidebar. Now, click the Partition tab on top menu. From the pop-up window, type a name for this new partition and select ExFAT for Windows 10 and MS-DOS (FAT) for Windows 7 from Format drop-down menu. At the end, set a size for the new partition. Finally, click Apply button to take this into effect.
Part 4: Boot Mac from Windows Installation USB
Mac will boot from internal hard drive or SSD in default. To install Windows OS on Mac without Boot Camp, you should let your Mac booting from USB drive to start the installation process. However, this is an easy task.
Make sure you disconnect all USB devices except a wired keyboard and the USB drive containing the Windows ISO files. Now restart your computer and hold down the Option (Alt) key at the same time. Wait for about 10 seconds, Apple logo shows up and you will be presented with several boot options. Pick up the drive you have set in Part 2. If you did not do that, the default name is EFI Boot.
Part 5: Start Installing Windows 10/8/7 on Mac without BootcampApple Bootcamp Download Windows 7
When Mac boots from the bootable Windows 10 USB, wait about 30 seconds and Windows installation wizard appears. At this time, the window is much small because graphics driver are not installed yet. Now, you have to follow the screen prompt to choose language, region and most importantly the partition to install Windows OS files.
Part 6: Download and Install Windows Support Software (Drivers)
The Windows ISO image file only has the basic drivers for running Windows OS. Some of the hardware on Mac won't work in Windows, suchas Apple Mouse, trackpad or speaker. You have to install addition drivers to use Windows seamlessly as it is on a PC. To do this, you should download and install Windows Support Software with the help of Boot Camp Assistant.
Boot Camp Windows 7 Download Mac Iso
As usual, launch Boot Camp Assistant app on your Mac and click Action tab on menu bar, where you can see an option named Download Windows Support Software. Now, choose your Windows Installer USB as the target location to store the driver files. It will take 5-10 minutes for the downloading task.
Now, boot your Mac into Windows partition. You will see a pop-up from Boot Camp installer. Just follow the prompt to install Windows Support Software. If it does not appear, then plug the USB drive and navigate to USB drive in File Explorer; then go to WindowsSupport -> BootCamp, and click setup.exe to start installing Windows drivers for this Mac.
Part 7: How to Switch Between Windows and macOS
Now, you have everything set up properly for both Windows and macOS. You may be wondering how can you switch OS between Windows and macOS? The trick is a bit different depending on which OS you are currentlt in.
If you are in macOS now and want to restart into Windows, then reboot your Mac and hold Option key untill you see the Startup Manager, where you can choose a booting device like we mentioned in Part 4, something like this:
Boot Camp Windows 7 Download Mac Os
You can also do this in Startup Disk from System Preferences. Choose th Windows partition and click Restart... button to boot Mac into Windows OS.
If you are in Windows OS and want to switch to Mac, click the Up Carat icon and select Restart in macOS. If this option does not show up, then reboot Windows as normal and press Option key to bring up Startup Manager and pick up Macintosh HD this time.
ConclusionDownload Windows 10 Bootcamp Driver Directly
It is absolutely not an easy journey for installing Windows on Mac without BootCamp. Fortunately, we have put everything together to help you complete this task smoothly. The key part is how to partition the Mac internal drive and create bootable Windows USB. If you are not comfortable using Terminal, UUByte ISO Editor is the recommended way to install Windows on a Mac without Boot Camp Assistant. It's reliable, quick and doesn't require any special technical knowledge.
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December 2020
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