Guide: Windows 7 x64 Build 7000 on a Macbook Pro
Technology — By Yao Siang on January 11, 2009 at 8:20 PMMicrosoft released the Windows 7 Beta to the public on the 9th of January 2009. The ISO image of the DVD can be downloaded here.
A quick search in google showed that it is possible to install Windows 7 via Boot Camp on a Macbook Pro. I downloaded the 64-bit version of Windows 7 and burnt it into a DVD with Disk Utility. Basically, the installation process resembles Windows Vista a lot and the operating system itself is an improved version of Vista.
In this post, I will write how to get Windows 7 installed and fully working on a Macbook Pro.
UPDATED: You CAN use the normal Boot Camp installer located on the Leopard DVD. Trying to do that directly will probably give you error 2229 BUT you can just copy the “Boot Camp” folder on your hard drive and replace the BootCamp.msi and BootCamp64.msi packages with the ones from here (big thanks to limo79 for this!): http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=6908029&postcount=216
Credits to Atheos
1. Download and burn the ISO image into DVD.
2. Run Boot Camp Assistance (Applications -> Utilities).
(a) Follow the wizard to create a partition for installation of windows. At the end of the wizard, you will be asked to insert the Windows DVD and restart your Mac.
(b) If you have an existing copy of Windows installed via Boot Camp, you will either need to remove it and follow step 2(a), or choose “Start the Windows installer” and format the Windows partition later in the installation process.
3. Your Mac will restart and you will see “Press any key to boot from DVD…”. Press any key and the setup will load all the necessary files. You should see the Install Windows screen after the process.
4. Follow the Install Windows wizard. Choose “Custom (advanced)” and that will lead you to the partition screen.
5. In the partition table, there will be a list of partitions of your HDD. Select the “BOOT CAMP” partition, click on “Drive options (advanced)” and then “Format”.
6. Make sure that the Boot Camp partition is selected before clicking next.
7. The installation process will start.
8. You computer will restart several times during the installation. Remember not to hit any key when you are prompted to boot from the DVD.
9. After the installation is done, you will see the “Set up windows screen”. Again, follow the set up wizard till the end.
10. If everything is fine, you will be in the desktop screen now.
11. You will need to install the drivers now. Put in the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 and run the Boot Camp Utility setup.
12. Download the Boot Camp Update 2.1 for Windows Vista 64-bit here and install it. (You might want to set the compatibility under properties to Windows Vista and run as administrator.)
13. After all the installations, the custom F1 to F12 keys (eg. F10 to mute) and the eject key will work.
14. However, video and audio drivers need some update. For the video driver (nVidia 8600M), you can find it in the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 under Boot Camp -> Drivers -> NVidia -> NVidiaMobileSetup64.exe
15. As for the audio driver, you can download Vista_R209.zip here and run the setup.exe as admin and in Windows Vista compatibility mode. (credits to shannon here)
16. Run Windows Update and install all the updates.
17. You should have a fully working Windows 7 OS on your MacBook Pro! =)
Windows Media Player 12
Note: I take no responsibility for data lost or machine failure during the process. It is always wise to read through all the steps and download all the necessary files before starting the installations. Also, do not install Norton 360 Beta as it freezes up my Macbook Pro randomly!
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179 Comments
Sweet!!! Bryan you saved us alot of time by stating the sectors to 8! However, we are still over the 5-hour statement for installing Windows 7…
Bryan Blevins says:
January 23, 2009 at 6:38 PM
Found the solution to the problem.
For Windows 7, when following the steps at jowie.com. When you get to the part where you “set the sectors to load”, set it to 8.
Disk then burns, and boots fine
Quick question, how do you switch back to Mac?
Huy: Hold the option key during boot up.
THANK-U YAO UR THE BEST!!!!:)
and take the feeds also…
hey can i install the win7 on my macbook but on the parallels.
thank you
hey, i’ve made a fresh installation of Windows7 on a MacBook air 5.5, but the sound driver does not work. i’ve downloaded and installed the drivers you recomended here, but no success.
it is a standalone installation, without bootcamp.
i erased the entire hdd and installed just windows 7
Windows Vista is better than Windows 7
Thx, very useful tutorial
wow nice and nifty guide yao siang.
thanks a lot
I do not agree with jazz saying Vista is better than Windows 7. Get your facts right sir
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How do you Download and burn the ISO image into DVD?
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