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Windows, Bootcamp and MacAir

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bootcampWA

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 21, 2012
4
0
How's it going.

I've been thinking about installing Windows on Mac via Bootcamp, but as I started researching on how to do it I've realized that my MacAir doesn't have a CD/DVD drive. Herp Derp.

Is there anyway to get Windows on my Mac?
 
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Bob Coxner

macrumors 6502a
Mar 24, 2011
854
58
bootcampWA said:
How's it going.

I've been thinking about installing Windows on Mac via Bootcamp, but as I started researching on how to do it I've realized that my MacAir doesn't have a CD/DVD drive. Herp Derp.

Is there anyway to get Windows on my Mac?
Click to expand...

You can do it with thumb drives.

I put a Win 7 ISO on one thumb drive and then put a blank thumb drive in the other USB port. Ran Bootcamp and everything installed fine.
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
Macaroony said:
Then they should get one instead of making it more complicated by getting a Win7 .iso and a thumb drive.
Click to expand...
There's no need to buy a SuperDrive if there's another computer available that has one, especially if there's infrequent need for one.
 
H

Hawkeye16

macrumors regular
Sep 16, 2009
208
39
Iowa
Yeah, and if they have another computer of any kind, making an .iso is much much easier and cheaper than buying a SuperDrive.
 
Pharmscott

Pharmscott

macrumors 6502a
Dec 13, 2011
624
2
Sacramento, CA
I've installed Win7 on my Mini via a thumb drive. It took a little reading to get it going properly but here are the tips I learned. 1) Be sure to use a minimum 8gb thumb drive. The Win7 ISO is around 4gb but you need the extra space for drivers that Bootcamp will download in the process. 2) Be sure to mount (not just copy) the ISO to the drive or Bootcamp won't see it and let you proceed. 3) If you do use another computer to rip your own ISO, check this link on converting it: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040121135301830

Feel free to PM me if you think I can answer any specific questions.
 
Mr MM

Mr MM

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2011
1,116
1
I do remember seeing a create win 7 usb bootable thumbdrive in the bootcamp assistant... so I would start with that. Dunno if its for lion only
 
A

asianjabba

macrumors newbie
Mar 26, 2012
11
0
with the macbook air 2010, booting from USB thumb drive is proving the most difficult. if anbody has any sucess in doing that besides going back to snow leopard or buying an optical disk drive, please post here. thanks
 
G

gentlefury

macrumors 68030
Jul 21, 2011
2,866
23
Los Angeles, CA
asianjabba said:
with the macbook air 2010, booting from USB thumb drive is proving the most difficult. if anbody has any sucess in doing that besides going back to snow leopard or buying an optical disk drive, please post here. thanks
Click to expand...

open boot camp assistant. Choose create usb bootable. Point to ISO file. Follow steps. Install. Success.
 
Stealthipad

Stealthipad

macrumors 68040
Apr 30, 2010
3,223
7
bootcampWA said:
How's it going.

I've been thinking about installing Windows on Mac via Bootcamp, but as I started researching on how to do it I've realized that my MacAir doesn't have a CD/DVD drive. Herp Derp.

Is there anyway to get Windows on my Mac?
Click to expand...

The drives are cheap. I had a Lenovo slim portable drive and it worked perfectly. You can pick up a portable USB drive for little. You are going to need to install software anyway.
 
B

bootcampWA

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 21, 2012
4
0
ummmm.....the awkward moment when you are installing windows and you're stuck on the 'where do you want to install windows page' and can't do anything about it because you get the error message - "windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a part ion formatted as NTFS"

I have the empty USB in on the right .... and I've tried to quit and restart but I can't boot up mac os, i either get black screen with no Boot disc error message or I can try installing windows again.

please help!!!

wait.....I formatted the bootcamp drive.... seems to be working

it's alive. so how and where do I find the driver for wifi internet connection ?

----------

better question yet.... how can I go back to my mac os to use every time i boot up i get unto windows os
 
Last edited by a moderator:
T

ToaDA

macrumors newbie
Feb 7, 2012
5
0
New Zealand
bootcampWA said:
better question yet.... how can I go back to my mac os to use every time i boot up i get unto windows os
Click to expand...

Hold down the option key on startup, then select your mac partition. If you want to be able to chose the OS every time you start up, you can get rEFIt instead of having to hold the option key down each time.
 
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bootcampWA

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 21, 2012
4
0
thank robbieduncan. my bad :D

so how can I get the camera, the network driver, and everything else to work accordingly?
 
D

digitalhen

macrumors regular
Jan 10, 2006
219
64
bootcampWA said:
it's alive. so how and where do I find the driver for wifi internet connection ?

----------

better question yet.... how can I go back to my mac os to use every time i boot up i get unto windows os
Click to expand...

The drivers are on the thumb drive that Bootcamp created, in a folder called WindowsSupport. Run the setup.exe and everything will work (brightness, wifi, etc).

To reboot in to Mac, no need to press option at start up, just run the Boot Camp software in Windows and select the Mac drive... and hit restart.
 
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