Install Windows with lid closed - is it possible?

[Constantine1337]

Hi,

I got a MacBook Pro 13" with cracked screen. The machine itself is working fine with an external display, so I plan on using it as my main desktop computer (parallel to my MBA 2011).

The problem that I encountered is that I can't seem to install Windows on it, due to the fact, that during the BootCamp installation process the video is displayed exclusively on the internal display. Is there any way around this? I would gladly copy windows partition from my MacBook Air over to the MacBook Pro, but CCC does not work on NTFS Volumes. Do you guys have any ideas on how to solve this issue - I really need Windows on my computer!

 

[cathyy]

Probably not the most efficient way, but it sounds plausible.

1) Partition your disk in OS X first to allocate the amount of space you want for both partitions

2) Turn off your Mac and take the HDD out

3) Swap the HDD to another computer. I'm not too sure how the whole driver thing plays out, but ideally the second computer should be as close to your Mac in terms of specifications as possible.

4) Install Win 7 through the new computer. Do not install any more drivers other than the basic ones. Do not register your Windows.

5) Swap back your HDD to your first Mac and attempt to boot up through it.

6) If you're able to get into Windows it should be pretty smooth sailing from there on. You may or may not need to remove some drivers. Pop in your OS X Boot Camp disk to install the drivers.


I'm not too sure how well Win 7 handles being directly taken out from one comp and placed into another. I do know though that I used to have an old AMD Athlon 3000+ with Windows 7 installed. It broke down, and I managed to acquire my friend's C2D rig. I found out only his HDD was spoiled, so I put in my old one and to my surprise, it booted all the way into Windows! So if it's able to work for that, I certainly think it would work if you attempted installing it on a similar configuration Mac.

 

[Constantine1337]

Thanks for the (one) reply (after almost 400 views)

I tried doing that with. My GF has C2D 13" MBP with nVidia 330m gfx card. My MBP is the one with the 9400M gfx card. I installed windows and started it up with the closed lid and it did not work (on both MBPs).

Then I installed BootCamp drivers (which were created on my broken MBP by bootcamp on OSX):

1) my GF's MBP starts into windows with the closed lid - the image displays on the external display perfectly

2) my broken MBP stars into windows with the closed lid - no image.


Somehow this is not working...

 

[Constantine1337]

Problem solved and here is how:

On my GF's MBP logged into windows and set it up so it uses only the external display.