HELP with Windows 7 only on MacBook Pro

[Mihai Tanase]

Hello everybody. I really need your help, pls. I'm on a business trip and my EliteBook from work failed. I need a Windows 7 machine in order to run some bespoke software in a presentation I have to make tomorrow. Due to circumstances my only option is to install Windows 7 on my personal MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2012. The problem I have is I already upgraded to macOS Sierra and I can't install Windows 7 with Boot Camp because it only works with Windows 10. Also, for some reason I don't have a previous OS X in my purchased items so I can't downgrade. I did some research and found that it might be possible to install Windows 7 on my Mac just like on a Windows PC. I have a bootable USB with Windows 7 from the EliteBook and a spare HDD in the SuperDrive bay of my Mac. I'm thinking of formatting the spare HDD (FAT), remove the SSD with macOS Sierra and replace it with the FAT formatted HDD, boot the Mac with option key from the Windows 7 USB and install it that way. My question is: WILL IT WORK?! If someone has a step by step guide or any suggestions that will work with the tools I have at my disposal I will forever be grateful. I know some of you might want to comment with opinions regarding the sacrilege I am considering but PLEASE DON'T!!!! This is quite a serious problem. I'm quite desperate so unless you have useful advice I would like to ask you to take your rants somewhere else. Thank you.

 

[Russ5144]

Hello everybody. I really need your help, pls. I'm on a business trip and my EliteBook from work failed. I need a Windows 7 machine in order to run some bespoke software in a presentation I have to make tomorrow. Due to circumstances my only option is to install Windows 7 on my personal MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2012. The problem I have is I already upgraded to macOS Sierra and I can't install Windows 7 with Boot Camp because it only works with Windows 10. Also, for some reason I don't have a previous OS X in my purchased items so I can't downgrade. I did some research and found that it might be possible to install Windows 7 on my Mac just like on a Windows PC. I have a bootable USB with Windows 7 from the EliteBook and a spare HDD in the SuperDrive bay of my Mac. I'm thinking of formatting the spare HDD (FAT), remove the SSD with macOS Sierra and replace it with the FAT formatted HDD, boot the Mac with option key from the Windows 7 USB and install it that way. My question is: WILL IT WORK?! If someone has a step by step guide or any suggestions that will work with the tools I have at my disposal I will forever be grateful. I know some of you might want to comment with opinions regarding the sacrilege I am considering but PLEASE DON'T!!!! This is quite a serious problem. I'm quite desperate so unless you have useful advice I would like to ask you to take your rants somewhere else. Thank you.

I'm not sure about booting win 7 from an external drive or any additional user-installed drives, but I'm currently running a 2012 iMac on MacOS sierra with a win 7 partition at the end of the stock internal drive... i just partitioned the drive with disk utility (dos fat) & booted the machine from an external windows install disk (circumventing the boot camp utility)... selected that partition to format & install (the DOS FAT one) and it installed without a problem... the only other thing you'll need to do is obtain the bootcamp drivers, and load them on to a USB stick so you can install them after.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Why don't you use a Windows 7 VM?