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college gave me a copy of windows

L

ltlblusmrf

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 15, 2012
9
0
Hey so I am new here, never been much into the nitpicky stuff of computers

but i was wanting to try to run dual os's on my macbook pro. The school i go to

gave me a free copy of Windows 7 Pro. the program itself is burnt onto a blank

disc but i was also given a registration code. The problem is bootcamp doesn't

recognize it as the installer disc. I took a look at it and almost all of the files

are .exe format. I am been searching for solutions but the results have been

lacking. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
come on guys. You are all genius's. I am sure you have some idea as to what my problem is.
 
School probably burned the disk incorrectly, or it's a version that's not compatible with your MBP (32 or 64 bit?). Those are my two bets.
 
If it came with a key, you can download the iso from Microsoft and use bootcamp utility to create a new disk
 
ok ok. Ill try that thanks for the help, hopefully Ill be able to figure it out.
 
k. so i downloaded the iso for windows 7 pro, but I am a little confused on what i do next. I tried copying it to my flash drive, but bootcamp didn't recognize it either.
 
k i can try that. are there any other alternatives? I wont be able to try the dvd method for a day or two.
 
ltlblusmrf said:
not sure what you mean by that. Could you explain a little more?
Click to expand...

1. Open Boot Camp Assistant (/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant/)
2. Insert an 8GB USB Flash Drive. (can be had at any office supply or department store for under $10)
3. Select the options in the below screen shot.

Screen%2520Shot%25202012-09-16%2520at%252012.10.42%2520PM.PNG


4. Press "Next."

That will help you make the installer. This attached PDF will walk you through the entire installation process, including what you have to do in Windows. Print it!! By the way, I assuming that you are running ML. It should be the same if you are on Lion. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions. :)
 

Attachments

  • Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide.pdf
    289.5 KB · Views: 121
Oh and when you are in the Windows installer DO NOT format anything that isn't called BOOTCAMP. Be careful, if you format the wrong partition you will lose EVERYTHING!!!!! Back up your data!!!
 
mackid1993 said:
1. Open Boot Camp Assistant (/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant/)
2. Insert an 8GB USB Flash Drive. (can be had at any office supply or department store for under $10)
3. Select the options in the below screen shot.

Image

4. Press "Next."

That will help you make the installer. This attached PDF will walk you through the entire installation process, including what you have to do in Windows. Print it!! By the way, I assuming that you are running ML. It should be the same if you are on Lion. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions. :)
Click to expand...

I just checked on my iMac 2011 running ML. It did not list the option to put win 7 on a USB drive (but I did not have a USB flash drive plugged in.) I believe only certain macs (ones without DVD drives) give that option. For the others you must burn a DVD (or change some config files).

Edit: Tried plugging in a 8 gb flash drive, still no option to use it for a USB install. I think my model is dvd install only.
 
Last edited:
ya I don't think its gonna work. I tried it your way,but I think I need to burn the iso to a dvd. I found one website to download the 64bit version. Is there any way to download it straight from the microsoft site? or will I just have to trust what Ive got?
 
None of the iMacs will boot Windows (typically) from USB. You will need to make a DVD image. Just use Disk Utility to make it and it should work fine.

I would not use an ISO from any other source other than Microsoft.
 
monkeybagel said:
None of the iMacs will boot Windows (typically) from USB. You will need to make a DVD image. Just use Disk Utility to make it and it should work fine.

I would not use an ISO from any other source other than Microsoft.
Click to expand...
The OP is using a MBP.
 
monkeybagel said:
My bad. The only MacBook Pro that will boot Windows from USB is a 2012. 2011 MacBook Airs and Mac minis will as well.
Click to expand...

really? mine is mid 2011 and I have tried doin that but it never seems to work. It always ask for an installer disc when I go to partition the harddrive.
 
k so i was able to burn the iso to a dvd and it recognizes it but then I get this message " Could not partition hard drive because some files could not be removedBack up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again." any explanations/tips?
 
Partition the HDD using disk utility before you boot to the DVD with the format of MS-DOS (FAT) then boot to the DVD.
64bit Windows 7 requires a partition of atleast 20GB.
Feel free to PM me I will happily help you through this.
 
ltlblusmrf said:
k so i was able to burn the iso to a dvd and it recognizes it but then I get this message " Could not partition hard drive because some files could not be removedBack up the disk and use Disk Utility to format it as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume. Restore your information to the disk and try using Boot Camp Assistant again." any explanations/tips?
Click to expand...

How large are you telling it to allocate to Windows? Disk Utility is encountering something it deems as unmovable. It will do some very rudimentary defragmenting to create a contiguous area of free space to install Windows, but it is very limited as to what it will move. You have a few options.

1. Try allocating a smaller amount to Windows. Start with your desired size, and each time it fails, reduce that amount by 5GB depending on how much you are willing to go down and try again until it succeeds.

2. Purchase iDefrag (http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iDefrag.php) (I absolutely have no affiliation with them but I have been a happy customer) and allow it to do an offline defragmentation of your Macintosh HD volume. This will usually set up contiguous free space and allow the Book Camp Assistant to successfully partition the hard disk.

3**. Do what the Boot Camp Assistant is recommending, and do a complete backup of your computer using Time Machine on to external media. Then, boot using your model specific recovery method and select "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and allow the system to be restored. The data will be rewritten in a mostly contiguous are on the disk, and should allow the Boot Camp Assistant to complete successfully.

**You will be wiping your entire hard disk when you do this, and relying on Time Machine to preserve your data. If something did go wrong with Time Machine, you could lose data. If you do perform this, deactivate any software that requires product activation such as Adobe products or deauthorize iTunes accounts before you start. After the fact, some software may not work correctly and may need to be reinstalled, so you will need the original media and installation keys or rights to re-download from the App Store to get back where you were.

1 would be the best option if you can get it to work at a reasonable size.
2 would cost a little money but will probably present you the option you originally wanted without having to go down in size.
3 would only be advised if you have a lot of technical experience with Apple Computers and Mac OS X.
 
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