Help Needed: How Hard to Install Windows 10 On A Mac Mini?

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

There is already a very long thread about the OP's security concerns with High Sierra

Advice Please: What To Do With Mac Mini mid2011???

Hey guys, Sorry to be making a new thread, but I know MacRumors is the community which has the most experts on Macs on the internet. I searched the forums and I couldn't find a previous thread related to my severe problem. My biggest fear has come true: Apple will stop giving security updates...

forums.macrumors.com

Please, let's keep this thread on topic and limit the discussion to Windows installation. It's a violation of the MacRumors rules to start multiple threads on the same topic.

Sorry Boyd, I didn't mean to be breaking the rules!

I'll focus this thread on running Windows 10.

 

[Boyd01]

No worries, let's just try to stay on topic.

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

It's still unbelievable to me that my Mac Mini mid2011 may have problems running Windows 10 64Bit... 😓 😓 😓

The minimum requirements for Windows 10 64Bit are: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/windows-10-specifications?ranMID=42411&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A&epi=TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A&irgwc=1&OCID=AID2000142_aff_7815_1243925&tduid=(ir__myioq9qqgskftmg9kk0sohzwxn2xi6qwkl9h6kol00)(7815)(1243925)(TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A)()&irclickid=_myioq9qqgskftmg9kk0sohzwxn2xi6qwkl9h6kol00
CPU: 1Ghz
RAM: 2GB

My Mac Mini mid2011 has:
CPU: Intel 2.3Ghz i5 dual core
RAM: 8GB of DDR3 RAM

What possible problems could I have running Windows 10 64Bit on my Mac Mini mid2011???

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

It's still unbelievable to me that my Mac Mini mid2011 may have problems running Windows 10 64Bit... 😓 😓 😓

The minimum requirements for Windows 10 64Bit are: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/windows-10-specifications?ranMID=42411&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A&epi=TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A&irgwc=1&OCID=AID2000142_aff_7815_1243925&tduid=(ir__myioq9qqgskftmg9kk0sohzwxn2xi6qwkl9h6kol00)(7815)(1243925)(TnL5HPStwNw-QORrIzxohWGuiqiA.r.l8A)()&irclickid=_myioq9qqgskftmg9kk0sohzwxn2xi6qwkl9h6kol00
CPU: 1Ghz
RAM: 2GB

My Mac Mini mid2011 has:
CPU: Intel 2.3Ghz i5 dual core
RAM: 8GB of DDR3 RAM

What possible problems could I have running Windows 10 64Bit on my Mac Mini mid2011???

It has nothing to do with the technical specs of your Mac Mini. They are fine for running Windows 10.
It has everything to do with the fact that Apple does not support Windows 10 on bootcamp for your machine anymore.

In other words: You can not install Windows 10 via Bootcamp on your machine. Your Mac mini is considered 'too old' by Apple. Apple therefore dropped support for installing Windows 10 on your machine with bootcamp.

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

It has nothing to do with the technical specs of your Mac Mini. They are fine for running Windows 10.
It has everything to do with the fact that Apple does not support Windows 10 on bootcamp for your machine anymore.

In other words: You can not install Windows 10 via Bootcamp on your machine. Your Mac mini is considered 'to old' by Apple. Apple therefore dropped support for installing Windows 10 on your machine with bootcamp.

Okay thank you for your reply AndyMacAndMic!

It seems like things are just going from bad to worse for me and my Mac Mini mid2011... 😓 😓 😓

Do I need to use Bootcamp to install Windows 10?

What would happen if I just put the Windows 10 64Bit installer on a USB flash drive and inserted it into my Mac Mini mid2011 and installed it this way without Apple's Bootcamp?

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Okay thank you for your reply AndyMacAndMic!

It seems like things are just going from bad to worse for me and my Mac Mini mid2011... 😓 😓 😓

Do I need to use Bootcamp to install Windows 10?

What would happen if I just put the Windows 10 64Bit installer on a USB flash drive and inserted it into my Mac Mini mid2011 and installed it this way without Apple's Bootcamp?

You probably can install Windows 10 (bypassing bootcamp) directly on your machine as you mention. If you do that you will lose MacOS completely. From than on your machine will only run Windows and nothing else.

I have read about another possibility though. Install Windows 7 via bootcamp on your machine. After that: start your Mac mini in Windows and upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 from within Windows 7. I have read on a lot of forums that this works, but I have no experience with it myself.

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

You can install Windows 10 (bypassing bootcamp) directly on your machine as you mention. If you do that you will lose MacOS completely. From than on the machine will only run Windows and nothing else.

I have read about another possibility though. Install Windows 7 via bootcamp on your machine. After that upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10. I have read on a lot of forums that might work, bu I have no experience with it myself.

Thank you so much for your reply AndyMacAndMic!

Just so that I'm understanding you correctly: If I install Windows 10 without Bootcamp then it'll be impossible to install MacOS High Sierra or any other MacOS version forever???

This problem has really been giving me so much extra stress when I'm already under so much pressure with the current health crisis... 😢 😢 😢

I guess my next option is installing Linux...? *Sigh*

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

There is a workaround posted in this very thread (two, actually) on how to install win10 using BC...
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Thank you so much for your reply AndyMacAndMic!

Just so that I'm understanding you correctly: If I install Windows 10 without Bootcamp then it'll be impossible to install MacOS High Sierra or any other MacOS version forever???

This problem has really been giving me so much extra stress when I'm already under so much pressure with the current health crisis... 😢 😢 😢

I guess my next option is installing Linux...? *Sigh*

There is no way that installing Windows exclusively would lock the Mac to Windows, it would likely just need to be wiped in the future via Target Disk or a bootable USB.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Just so that I'm understanding you correctly: If I install Windows 10 without Bootcamp then it'll be impossible to install MacOS High Sierra or any other MacOS version forever???


I guess my next option is installing Linux...? *Sigh*

What I meant was that from that moment on your Mac Mini only runs Windows and does not give you the option to start MacOS anymore. Of course you can revert the process by installing MacOS again.

But if you want to run both (Win and MacOS) on your machine you need BootCamp.

 

[hwojtek]

Just so that I'm understanding you correctly: If I install Windows 10 without Bootcamp then it'll be impossible to install MacOS High Sierra or any other MacOS version forever???

No, you don't. Read what he wrote: you lose the current MacOS installation, because your computer will have only Windows running. If you want to have MacOS back on it, you insert the USB installer of MacOS and install MacOS.

You are severely overcomplicating things. You have been given all the information and pointed to the right Apple Support pages, there is not much more you can have.

• MacOS only? Leave it as is.
• Windows only? Sure, use a Windows USB installer and wipe the disk at the beginning of installation.
• Two systems? Adjust the BootCamp as instructed and install Windows as the second system from the Bootcamp app in Mac OS.

It's that simple.

Also, if you run a fairly recent MacOS (Mojave, Catalina) you have all the firmware updates already. No need to install more. Again, you are overcomplicating.

 

[MichaelLAX]

I don't seem to be getting email notifications that replies are posted on this thread, and luckily I checked.

I have a long history of using Apple computers starting with my Apple ][+ in 1979, security is a concern of mine as well and I like to squeeze every drop of use out of my Mac's before I am forced to upgrade to newer hardware.

I am sticking with High Sierra and I advise you to do the same for now and save your money for when you are forced, like me, to make that upgrade!

What do you need to know further?

 

[BeautifulWoman_1984]

Mr_Brightside, AndyMac, hwojtek, and MichaelLax, thank you for all your replies!

No, you don't. Read what he wrote: you lose the current MacOS installation, because your computer will have only Windows running. If you want to have MacOS back on it, you insert the USB installer of MacOS and install MacOS.

You are severely overcomplicating things. You have been given all the information and pointed to the right Apple Support pages, there is not much more you can have.

• MacOS only? Leave it as is.
• Windows only? Sure, use a Windows USB installer and wipe the disk at the beginning of installation.
• Two systems? Adjust the BootCamp as instructed and install Windows as the second system from the Bootcamp app in Mac OS.

It's that simple.

Also, if you run a fairly recent MacOS (Mojave, Catalina) you have all the firmware updates already. No need to install more. Again, you are overcomplicating.

I'd LOVE to be able to run MacOS Mojave or Catalina, but the newest MacOS my Mac Mini mid2011 can run is MacOS High Sierra...

I'm desperately trying to make a list of ways I can keep my Mac Mini mid2011 secure with running the old MacOS High Sierra as it doesn't support Mojave or Catalina...

Security is really important to me so I made a thread here about it:

Very Important Question: How To Keep High Sierra Secure???

Hey guys, I have a Mac Mini mid2011 here that I was getting ready to wipe and install Windows 10 or Linux on as I was certain that High Sierra security updates end in September 2020. I'd like to keep running macOS on it instead of Windows 10 or Linux, but I didn't want to run a version of macOS...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[hwojtek]

@BW'84 - I run Mojave on a Mini 2011 acting as a server (therefore it needs to be quite secure) with minimal modifications, using dosdude1 OS installer. (http://dosdude1.com/mojave/)

While I really endorse this approach, it makes upgrading a bit more difficult (you have to have a working boot USB flash drive in order to make upgrades to the system, as it needs to be re-patched every time a major upgrade occurs). In this case...

...there is nothing wrong with High Sierra on your computer. This system is perfectly safe for home use, if you don't turn any "sharing" options and upgrade your apps to the maximum allowed, you are good to use it for another couple of years.