Downloading Bootcamp's Windows Support Software...takes forever?

Don't use Boot Camp Assistant to download the support software. Get it directly from Apple here.

saturnotaku said:

Don't use Boot Camp Assistant to download the support software. Get it directly from Apple here.

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Yes, I also went directly through Apple and just saved the drivers to a USB stick. The whole Windows installation went by pretty quick.

dowload can take a long time

depends on server, your connection, and it's more than 600Mb!
I had to wait around two hours

freeuser said:

depends on server, your connection, and it's more than 600Mb!
I had to wait around two hours

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If you use the link I provided above, 99% of the time you will not have an issue. Apple also has similar sites available to download Boot Camp 4 if your Mac is unable to support version 5.

Fatty

you're using a USB drive formatted to NTFS. Reformat it to FAT.

Ne0sage said:

you're using a USB drive formatted to NTFS. Reformat it to FAT.

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1) File system has nothing to do with it as OS X is incapable of writing to an NTFS partition without 3rd-party software.

2) It has already been well established that Apple's servers are horrendously slow to download Windows support software when run through Boot Camp Assistant, which is why there are mirrors on their support site linked above.

3) Why did you bump a thread whose last reply was more than a year ago?

1) Which is exactly why the process appears to hang for hours because it can't write to the NTFS drive. I performed a dual boot install with a FAT USB drive and didn't even notice the windows support file download, it took less than a minute. Then a week later I decided to update to Win 8.1 to performed the process again, but forgot that in the interim period I had reformatted the same USB to transfer a large file, for which I needed to format to NTFS. Oddly then the windows update seemed to be taking forever. I cancelled bootcamp, reformatted the drive to FAT, began the process again and hey presto, virtually no download time.

2) Apple's servers have nothing to do with it

3) Hard as it may be to comprehend, people still need help when attempting this procedure for the first time and this thread was top of the google search when I needed help performing this procedure myself for the first time.

I have downloaded the windows supported software directly from apple and copied to the usb. but usb does not recognize on the windows 7 I installed. Help me. plz.

Make sure the USB drive is formatted in the FAT32 or exFAT file system before copying over the file containing the support software.

Ne0sage said:

1) Which is exactly why the process appears to hang for hours because it can't write to the NTFS drive. I performed a dual boot install with a FAT USB drive and didn't even notice the windows support file download, it took less than a minute. Then a week later I decided to update to Win 8.1 to performed the process again, but forgot that in the interim period I had reformatted the same USB to transfer a large file, for which I needed to format to NTFS. Oddly then the windows update seemed to be taking forever. I cancelled bootcamp, reformatted the drive to FAT, began the process again and hey presto, virtually no download time.

2) Apple's servers have nothing to do with it

3) Hard as it may be to comprehend, people still need help when attempting this procedure for the first time and this thread was top of the google search when I needed help performing this procedure myself for the first time.

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The format of the USB drive does not affect the download speeds, though it may cause other issues.

Sometimes Bootcamp Assistant can take hours to download the files, sometimes the download is very quick. But downloading the files manually is always very fast.

I've checked the Bootcamp Assistant download rates many times, and on many occasions, using Activity Monitor, and they are consistently slow, even on stable high speed connections. And I've always used FAT formatted drives.

laurihoefs said:

The format of the USB drive does not affect the download speeds, though it may cause other issues.

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but if its trying to write the file as it downloads, there could be an issue related to it writing to the USB.

Tbh, I've not really had any issues downloading the drivers, and why not make sure its the correct format in the first place?

maflynn said:

but if its trying to write the file as it downloads, there could be an issue related to it writing to the USB.

Tbh, I've not really had any issues downloading the drivers, and why not make sure its the correct format in the first place?

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There's nothing wrong in making sure the format is right. And if there's an issue writing to the drive, sure, Bootcamp Assistant could hang.

But like I said, sometimes some people, me included, have had issues with download speeds with Bootcamp Assistant. The post I quoted was pretty much dismissing this, and stating no such issues exist. This is contrary to my own, and other forum members experience.

edit: I've always used freshly FAT formatted USB sticks. The download speeds vary greatly between attempts even when the same stick is used. I've done this in a couple of different locations. I've checked the download speeds with Activity Monitor. I've checked the connection speeds, and have had no issues downloading other files (or even directly downloading the Bootcamp driver package). I've tested the USB drives with Disk Utility and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, I've formatted them in OS X and Windows, etc, etc. Nothing points to anything else being the issue, but Bootcamp Assistant.

saturnotaku said:

If you use the link I provided above, 99% of the time you will not have an issue. Apple also has similar sites available to download Boot Camp 4 if your Mac is unable to support version 5.

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How do I know which version of Bootcamp my iMac will support? (Is it related to my version of OSX, or is it just a hardware issue?)

How would I add the support folder to my usb drive?

Everything you need to know about installing bootcamp, step by step is covered in detail on the Apple Support site pages. I'd recommend a careful read of this information completely before anyone begins the task. You should have a relatively trouble free experience if you do this up front.

saturnotaku said:

Don't use Boot Camp Assistant to download the support software. Get it directly from Apple here.

Click to expand...

If I download it from there. Will I be able to use my trackpad and my keyboard in Windows?