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Installing Windows 7 Natively on 2010 Macbook pro
- Thread starter Smalss
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Are you talking about having windows only? If so, just put in the windows install disk. Otherwise, your only option to run it natively and still have OS X is using bootcamp.
There is really nothing special about a BootCamp partition, you can use it just like any other partition, and it doesn't waste space. You can install Windows directly to this partition, or use the BootCamp utility to make it easier and prevent installing to the OS X partion (a common mistake).
If you don't want OS X installed at all on your disk (i.e. a regular Windows machine), simply run the Windows installation disk and format the entire disk as NTFS and install. You will still need to insert your OS X disk after Windows is installed to load some motherboard specific hardware drivers, the same as any other computer or motherboard install which come with their specific disk.
If you don't want OS X installed at all on your disk (i.e. a regular Windows machine), simply run the Windows installation disk and format the entire disk as NTFS and install. You will still need to insert your OS X disk after Windows is installed to load some motherboard specific hardware drivers, the same as any other computer or motherboard install which come with their specific disk.
You could do that, although you would lose any data you have saved on windows. I'd still recommend keeping a small (~20GB) OS X partition to just make it easier and set windows as your boot drive.
Sounds like you're making things harder than they need to be.
Just create a Boot Camp partition that is like 300GB - install Windows, then only boot to that. OS X will still be there, but you don't have to use it if you don't want. Then if you chose to go back it's just a matter of booting into it and blowing away the Boot Camp partition after backing up any files you want to keep.
If someday you want to go back to OS X and blow away your Windows installation, simply boot from the OS X disk, at the installation screen, select Disk Utility from the toolbar at the top of the screen, partition and format the disk for OS X, then exit Disk Utility and proceed with the OS X installation.
However ... I am in full agreement with the other posters in that I would maintain a dual boot system with a small OS X installation and set the default boot to Windows if that is your desire. That way, you could still boot into OS X for software and firmware updates as needed. You would only need about 15 GB for the OS X minimal partition and could use the rest of the disk for Windows.
-howard
Note too that, unlike Windows, OS X is perfectly happy booting from USB and FireWire hard drives.
If you really want to keep your options open use CCC or SuperDuper to create a bootable clone of your current OS X partition on an external HDD and boot from that if you ever need OS X for some fleeting reason (firmware update, etc...).
B
If you really want to keep your options open use CCC or SuperDuper to create a bootable clone of your current OS X partition on an external HDD and boot from that if you ever need OS X for some fleeting reason (firmware update, etc...).
B
If someday you want to go back to OS X and blow away your Windows installation, simply boot from the OS X disk, at the installation screen, select Disk Utility from the toolbar at the top of the screen, partition and format the disk for OS X, then exit Disk Utility and proceed with the OS X installation.
However ... I am in full agreement with the other posters in that I would maintain a dual boot system with a small OS X installation and set the default boot to Windows if that is your desire. That way, you could still boot into OS X for software and firmware updates as needed. You would only need about 15 GB for the OS X minimal partition and could use the rest of the disk for Windows.
-howard
wait can't you just use bootcamp again to remove the partition.... or is the disk utility much more "safer" ??