Boot camp won't recognise windows 8 disc (please help)

[Si777]

Hey guys,

forgive me I'm not totally comfortable with using the mac os.

but yeah I'm having trouble installing windows 8.1 (64 bit) via bootcamp 5.1

I run the boot camp assistant download the windows support files onto a USB stick and then when it say insert the disc or w/e it says I get "Insert your windows installer disc and wait a few seconds for the disc to be recognised"

So I do what it says and put the disc back in and it just ejects it after like 20-40secs

Again I'm not very mac savvy so I'm not sure if I am doing this right so any advice would be grateful

Thanks

Edit: please help I really need to get windows back on to my system, I even went out a bought a new hard copy of windows 8.1 today.

 

[Gjwilly]

You sure it's not an upgrade disc?
It needs to be a full install.

You could try downloading the ISO from here:
http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-8-1-download/

Then just direct the Bootcamp assistant to the downloaded ISO.

 

[Si777]

yeah it says full version on the disc and I will give it a try.

 

[Si777]

sigh... I downloaded the ISO. file and I get "your bootable usb drive could not be created"

I have searched this problem and I see people unmount it and make sure it's directed to the right iso file so I do this and still get this.

 

[Si777]

So this is where I am at right now, Normally before the bar wouldn't even get past half way before it would say"your bootable usb drive could not be created" ... So I guess I'm getting somewhere.

The problem is the bar hasn't moved for at least 5 minutes now, I'm not sure how long it takes or should take.. Does anyone have any in sight to this?

 

[Si777]

ok it managed to load the files onto the USB stick but when it restarted I got the black screen "no bootable device"

 

[Gjwilly]

Does the Mac you're using have a Superdrive?
I've read that Macs that originally came with Superdrives (even if they've been removed, or replaced with a 2nd hard drive) must use the Superdrive during a bootcamp install.
If that isn't it then is your USB stick USB 2.0?
I've also heard that a USB 3.0 stick can not be used.

You might also want to check this thread.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1671442/

Wish I could help more.

 

[Si777]

Yes it's a Imac and it came with a superdrive it's still there and is in fully working order as far as I know,

but when I try and use bootcamp using the superdrive it comes up with "Insert your windows installer disc and wait a few seconds for the disc to be recognised"

even though it's a official Windows 8.1 full version disk it isn't recognised, I have put a random music CD to see if the superdrive recognises that and it does.

I will have a quick look at the links you posted and see if they help me.

EDIT: I have a external HDD if thats any help? I doubt it though probably just do the same thing as before.

 

[Gjwilly]

Ok since the ISO you downloaded appears to be recognizable by Bootcamp you really only need to get that ISO onto a DVD disc so that you can boot from it.

Here's instructions I found for getting that downloaded ISO onto a disc.
You will need the downloaded ISO and a blank DVD.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/16556062#16556062

To burn the iso to a disk, you first need to open the Disk Utility program, which is in the Utilities folder in Applications. If your DVD is inside the computer, you should see it in the left pane. Select it. At the top, you will see the biohazard symbol that says "Burn". Select that, and find the iso file on your computer, and burn it.

You don't want to open or mount the ISO -- just select the ISO file itself from wherever you downloaded it to.

Then run Bootcamp assistant again and use your newly created DVD for the install.
Good luck.

 

[Si777]

Ok we kinda have some success, but now I'm stuck again!

I get to the set up of windows 8 and select language and all that, then it says select drivers. I assume these are the drivers we downloaded in the boot camp assistant?

----------

 

[Gjwilly]

Never seen that before.
You didn't select the EFI option when you booted did you? You don't want that one.
You prolly want to ask about this in that other Windows 8 thread.
Or start a new one.
Sorry.

 

[Quackers]

Probably not. Is your USB stick a USB 3.0 type? Try using a USB 2.0 stick.

I'm also wondering whether your original Windows DVD had both 32 bit and 64 bit versions on it. It would object to the 32 bit one.

 

[Si777]

Pretty sure 2.0 and also it's for certain just a 64bit version as well

 

[Si777]

This is what I got just before the picture above, I have no clue.

 

[Si777]

Maybe my Imac isn't supported by 8.1? I'm just throwing this out there cause I cannot think of anything else.

My imac is 2010 mid or late i think i3 3.2ghz 4gb memory 1TB HDD

Edit: I should say before the weekend I had windows 7 64bit installed

 

[Si777]

Never seen that before.
You didn't select the EFI option when you booted did you? You don't want that one.
You prolly want to ask about this in that other Windows 8 thread.
Or start a new one.
Sorry.

Ok update!

I just tried to start from the begining and put the ISO image onto my external HDD, When I hold down the option key when booting the mac it presents me with my external HDD and says EFI boot (I know you said we don't want that but I clicked it anyway)

and got to the part where you select the disk and the picture below will tell you what happened (probably what you expected)... So is there a way around this? what am I doing wrong? sorry I suck at this. I really appreciate your help though.

 

[Si777]

ok I managed to install it on there,

what I did was (just so I know for future, cause I will need it you'll see)

I removed Boot Camp on my HDD and then went into disk ultility and then formatted to 1 partition, then I added another partition making it the size I wanted within disk utility and made it as "free space"...

Then I restarted and then booted the EFI disk and began the install, I cannot remember if I formatted it the windows, but that's not a problem.

Anyhow, they downloaded you linked me was for 8.1 pro

Mine is a OEM and just say's windows 8.1

So I guess this is just a basic version no?