Can't install Windows in Boot Camp, help please...

[kgb860]

So... before someone gets mad at me for possibly repeating a thread... I ran the search on the forum for my scenario and couldn't find anyone who has experienced what I've experienced. That being said... here's my problem.

I have a Macbook and I had Windows XP on my Boot Camp partition, but I wanted to upgrade to Windows Vista because my friend recently found their Vista install disc. I backed up all of my information from my Windows partition on my external hard drive, booted the Apple side, and ran Boot Camp Assistant. It made the separate partition, but then when it asked me to install Windows it said insert the Windows install disc, so I did... but instead of my Macbook restarting and installing Windows... it restarts... then you hear the CD drive/optical drive speed up A LOT, then it slows down, and ejects my CD, instead of running the setup. I became so desperate to get Windows back on my Mac, that I tried installing Boot Camp with my friend's XP SP 2 install CD. No luck. I thought my CD drive was damaged but it's not.

For starters, the computer recognizes when I insert the XP & Vista CDs... it appears as, "XP_HOME_SP_2" with a CD icon on my desktop on the Mac side...

In addition, I recently bought an external CD drive from Best Buy and I connected it and ran the Boot Camp install the same way and it actually mimicked my Macbook CD drive's behavior with both CD's... you could hear it speed up A LOT, then it slows down, and ejects my CD in the same fashion. I'm really glad I haven't lost my data, BUT this is putting me out of commission from a lot of my normal activities, so any suggestions or possible solutions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Try holding the option key on startup. Does the boot menu appear without ejecting the disk? Does it allow you to select the Windows partition and boot normally?

 

[kgb860]

No, it doesn't allow me to select the Windows Partition and boot it... and it still ejected my Windows Install CD.

 

[kgb860]

Just bumpin' the thread... not to seem impatient, but I wanted to make sure people would were reading and considering solutions to my dilemma...

 

[kgb860]

So I actually found a solution and figured it'd be helpful to share it with anyone who came across my dilemma...

Solution:
1. Leave the Boot Camp partition on Mac
2. Restart your computer with your Windows Installation CD (XP, Vista, 7... well I'm not sure if installing windows 7 would work any differently, but whatever)
3. Once your Macbook ejects the CD, hold the 'alt' key so it'll show your Mac HD...
4. Put CD in again
5. Wait about a minute or two... maybe a little longer, and the CD should load onto your screen reading 'Windows' or something along the title name.
6. Boot via CD
7. Instead of installing your Windows setup right away, make sure you format the hard drive to NTFS. The Boot Camp Partition is formatted as FAT32. To format, I used a Windows XP SP2 Home Edition Disc, and I pressed 'R' to repair... then the command prompt should ask what partition do you want to use... Mine read:

'1: C:\WINDOWS'

8. Type 'HELP' so it'll bring up all the options of functions you can make your computer take from there.

9. You should see 'FORMAT' on the list... I don't recall if you type 'HELP FORMAT', but it should provide instructions on how to get help on starting the NTFS partition. You should end up typing something similar [this is off my head, so don't copy what I'm doing... this is more or less just a guideline so you will know if you're following the right steps]:

'FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS'

That will format your computer as an NTFS and you can restart your computer, access the CD the same way I described above, and this time run the setup, which will work once it is partitioned this way.

I hope no one else has to spend 2 months in limbo like I did, because of this problem... hope it helps. peace.