Windows 7 x64 on my iMac!

[iSamurai]

Hello guys,

I dunno if this is old news or someone has posted it, but as far as I know 64-bit Windows currently only works on the MacBook Pros and the Mac Pros. iMac is unsupported.

But somehow I got it to work - I popped in the Windows 7 DVD and got it installed. It installed, and Windows was loaded. Then I got the problem: When I tried to install the drivers from the Mac DVD, it refused and said the driver was unable to install on this system or something like that.

So a simple workaround was to go into the disc itself - browse - then open up a series of folders. Then you reach an install icon for x64. Double click on that - and it ran without a problem. Everything was installed. I made sure I went into all other subfolders and installed everything x64.

So now I have Windows 7, 64-bits running on my iMac! The only problem I've noticed is that the keyboard's shortcut keys won't work - like the volume and the eject button - but that's no big deal since there's workarounds, and besides, I don't use Windows that often. Only for some of my engineering-related programmes that only run on MS fuel.

Other problems are some arbitrary software that aren't compatible with Windows 7 x64 - that's MS's problem, not my iMac.

Below are 2 screenshots... one running natively in Windows, and another using Parallels Desktop. You can see full 4GB of RAM utilised when it is booted in Windows, and 1GB allocated in virtual mode. P.S. Aero doesn't work under Parallels Desktop because the graphics card is called "Parallels Video Adaptor", which is not recognised by Windows :P

So ya enjoy x64 Windows 7 on your non-Pro Macs!

[ayeying]

Sorry to burst your bubble but its been done since Boot Camp came out. All models can install 64-bit windows, as long as their hardware allows it.

The drivers, just required an disable of the UAC and install via /Boot Camp/Drivers/Apple/BootCamp64.msi

[spencers]

only 1gb of ram?

[Infrared]

So now I have Windows 7, 64-bits running on my iMac!

Nice :)

The only problem I've noticed is that the keyboard's shortcut keys won't work - like the volume and the eject button - but that's no big deal since there's workarounds, and besides, I don't use Windows that often. Only for some of my engineering-related programmes that only run on MS fuel.


I created this .reg file for the aluminum keyboard that comes with a Mac Pro:

191531

The mappings are:

f13 - Volume Up
f14 - Volume Down
f15 - Mute/Unmute
f19 - Print Screen

No Apple drivers needed :)

[dKran]

Strange, I had no problem with the shortcut keys?

The only problem I ran in to was sound not working, but a quick visit to the realtek website fixed that :P

[iSamurai]

The drivers, just required an disable of the UAC and install via /Boot Camp/Drivers/Apple/BootCamp64.msi
That's what I did... and I dunno if it was done before. So this is why I posted.

only 1gb of ram?
1GB of RAM is allocated on Parallels Desktop... when you boot in Windows you'll get 4GB.

I created this .reg file for the aluminum keyboard that comes with a Mac Pro:
191531

The mappings are:

f13 - Volume Up
f14 - Volume Down
f15 - Mute/Unmute
f19 - Print Screen

No Apple drivers needed :)
Cool thanks! But the only problem is that I got the iMac aluminium keyboard with number pad, so
f7 - audio skip back
f8 - play/pause
f9 - skip to next
f10 - mute
f11 - volume down
f12 - volume up
(and next to it with no f key assigned is the eject button)... so mapping is a bit different from the mac pro keyboard. how do you change that thing?

Strange, I had no problem with the shortcut keys?

The only problem I ran in to was sound not working, but a quick visit to the realtek website fixed that :P
I got the sound working in device manager, and then you update the driver for the audio driver and it worked :)

[Infrared]

That's what I did... and I dunno if it was done before. So this is why I posted.


1GB of RAM is allocated on Parallels Desktop... when you boot in Windows you'll get 4GB.


Cool thanks! But the only problem is that I got the iMac aluminium keyboard with number pad, so
f7 - audio skip back
f8 - play/pause
f9 - skip to next
f10 - mute
f11 - volume down
f12 - volume up
(and next to it with no f key assigned is the eject button)... so mapping is a bit different from the mac pro keyboard. how do you change that thing?


I got the sound working in device manager, and then you update the driver for the audio driver and it worked :)

I think it's the same keyboard. This is what I have:

http://images.apple.com/keyboard/images/gallery/wired_1_20070813.jpg

The mappings I listed above I chose for my own convenience.
Note: some programs use the function keys f1-f12. That is why
I've chosen keys outside of this range. For example, Firefox has
f11 for full screen mode.

I created the registry file by hand (awkward!). Here's some information
for remapping scan codes:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2kscan-map.mspx

There are some programs that can help too. More information here:

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/remap-keyboard.htm

Note: my keyboard is recognized as a standard USB device within
device manager. I've set it up that way:

191741

Note too, that I am not using Apple's keystroke filter driver. That has
been known to cause performance issues.

[spank2223]

Sorry to burst your bubble but its been done since Boot Camp came out. All models can install 64-bit windows, as long as their hardware allows it.

The drivers, just required an disable of the UAC and install via /Boot Camp/Drivers/Apple/BootCamp64.msi

Found the answer.