Boot camp Assistant nightmare!

[howgudami]

Hi everyone, Im new to this forum but not new to mac's (had one since 2008). I have made this account to get help with installing Windows 7 in boot camp.

I consider myself to be a tech savvy guy but I am really really stumped by this!.

So firstly ill tell you my specs (I want to give as much info as possible so this can be solved quicker);
Mid 2012 13" MBP, 2.9GHz dual core i7, 8GB Ram, OS X 10.8.3, 250GB Samsung 840 SSD (start up disk - 187GB free), 750GB HDD (media disk - 420GB free), the optical drive has been removed.

I have tried this with 3 different Windows 7 64-Bit ISO's - Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate. I have also tried 2 different SanDisk USB's (one 16GB one 4GB).

When I launch Boot Camp Assistant 5.0.2

I tell it to create the disk, download the support software and install windows. I then select the ISO and USB disk.

It formats the drive OK, but immediately after getting to 'copying windows files' this error appears:

"Your bootable USB drive could not be created"
"An error occurred while copying the windows installation files."

The only choice I have at this point is to quit the Boot Camp Assistant.

I have done a decent bit of searching around today and tried rebooting my computer, making sure the ISO is unmounted, different ISO's, different locations for the ISO's. I just cant seem to get it to work.

Any help?

 

[saturnotaku]

the optical drive has been removed.

That's your problem right there. Put the SuperDrive back in and install Windows from a DVD.

 

[kolax]

You don't happen to have a Windows machine you can access? If so, use the Microsoft bootable USB tool instead.

 

[howgudami]

You don't happen to have a Windows machine you can access? If so, use the Microsoft bootable USB tool instead.

I may be able to do this as a last resort. Thanks for the advice.

 

[saturnotaku]

I may be able to do this as a last resort. Thanks for the advice.

Try if you want, but your effort will be in vain.

 

[howgudami]

Try if you want, but your effort will be in vain.

I had a brainwave, I could put the ISO I was trying to install in a virtual machine.

So I made the VM without issue, made the bootable drive from within the VM with the official tool and used that to do the proper install.

Set up in a bootcamp partition without a hitch . Didn't have to put the superdrive back either!

 

[kolax]

I had a brainwave, I could put the ISO I was trying to install in a virtual machine.

So I made the VM without issue, made the bootable drive from within the VM with the official tool and used that to do the proper install.

Set up in a bootcamp partition without a hitch . Didn't have to put the superdrive back either!

There's an idea I never thought of! VirtualBox would've been ideal for that.

 

[howgudami]

There's an idea I never thought of! VirtualBox would've been ideal for that.

I have not seen It mentioned elsewhere so I thought it would be best to post it now so its documented for anyone searching in the future.

Here is what I did (from scratch);

Obtain the ISO from one of these links:
Official download links for Windows 7 SP1 ISO (32-bit and 64-bit)

Use the ISO to make a virtual machine, I used VM Ware but virtual box is free
VMware United Kingdom - Virtualisation Software for Desktops
https://www.virtualbox.org/

Once the OS has set up in the VM, give it access to a copy of the same ISO it was generated from. I did this by placing the downloaded ISO into a folder shared between OS X and the VM.

Download Windows official tool in the VM:
http://images2.store.microsoft.com/p...B-DVD-tool.exe

Run the tool, select the ISO and the USB memory stick that you want to make bootable... Wait for it to finish its process.

You should keep the VM for now just incase you need to try again but you can shut it down as you probably wont be needing it anymore.

Open up boot camp assistant and partition your primary drive so that it has a bootcamp partition.

You can also download the windows support files using boot camp assistant, this also failed for me so I found this handy set of links here:
http://www.cafe-encounter.net/p682/download-bootcamp-drivers

you will want to put the windows support files on a separate memory stick - DO NOT mess with the bootable USB you made in the windows VM.

Once you have both memory sticks, one burned with the ISO from the windows tool and one with the support files on. and the bootcamp partition is made, you can shut the computer down.

(Normal, 'official' apple procedure from here on in)

Turn it on with only the bootable USB connected, hold down the ALT key.

Once the drive selection comes up select windows and follow the installation process, you will need to format the bootcamp drive made by boot camp assistant.

Set windows up, each time it restarts during installation you will have to do the ALT thing to get it to go into windows.

Once you are looking at a windows desktop, plug in the USB with the windows support files, and run the .exe that came with them, this will give you access to the internet and get everything working nicely!.

No need to have the original optical drive inside AND no need to have access to another windows PC.

 

[skiz]

You don't happen to have a Windows machine you can access? If so, use the Microsoft bootable USB tool instead.

I know this is a bit old but what will that accomplish?

I'm stuck and looking for ideas. :/

 

[kolax]

I know this is a bit old but what will that accomplish?

I'm stuck and looking for ideas. :/

Because instead of using Apple method to create a bootable Windows USB stick, you're using Microsoft's way, which works a lot more reliably it seems.

It's a long way to get there, but as already said in this thread, use VirtualBox (because it's free) to create a virtual Windows, and then use the Microsoft bootable USB tool.