Installing Windows 7 from download

[nycxaxez]

Hey all! I just bought Windows 7 Professional (Full version) to install on my Mac using Boot Camp. But, Microsoft would only sell me the download version of Windows since I was using a student discount. I asked if they could send me an actual disc with which I could install it, but they said they couldn't. I paid a little extra for them to send me the backup media disc, but I'm not sure if I could do a full install from that disc.
I'm a little unsure of how to go about the Boot Camp process, though, because I've seen that I will need to have a Windows Installation disc. I've done some research and seen that I'll probably have to burn that download to a disc and use THAT as the installation disc. I guess my questions are:
1) Can I do a full install of Windows 7 from the backup media disc I ordered?
2) What can I do if I can't install using the disc? What do I do with the downloaded version of Windows 7?

I appreciate any help you can give me!

 

[balamw]

You can download ISO images of the Windows 7 Professional installer from:

32-bit Windows 7 Professional x86 ISO
Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65804/X15-65804.iso
64-bit Windows 7 Professional x64 ISO
Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65805/X15-65805.iso

Three step instructions on how to perform a clean install if all you have is an upgrade key are here: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

B

 

[nycxaxez]

Re: balamw

You can download ISO images of the Windows 7 Professional installer from:



Three step instructions on how to perform a clean install if all you have is an upgrade key are here: http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

B

I was given the download for the full version of Windows 7 by Microsoft, so I'm a little confused by you mentioning the upgrade version.

I'm new to all this ISO stuff, so any explanations on what to do with the download to set it up for Boot Camp would be awesome. Yeah, I know, I'm a newbie, so thanks for all the help!

 

[balamw]

The student version that is available for download has previously been packaged as an upgrade. It used to download as an .EXE file that would then download a .BOX file. If you were already on a Windows computer this would set everything up to upgrade your system. If not, you are out of luck.

However, they have said it's OK to install as a full version as it was sold to you, and later provided links to download the ISO versions, so yours may have come as an ISO.

Once you have an ISO file, either from the links I provided or from Microsoft, you need to burn that on to a DVD. For a self-described newbie, I would recommend using Burn to do so. Youtube HOWTO here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHpOXuzMMD8

Then, you just follow Apple's Boot Camp instructions and you should be good.

B

 

[nycxaxez]

Re: balamw

The student version that is available for download has previously been packaged as an upgrade. It used to download as an .EXE file that would then download a .BOX file. If you were already on a Windows computer this would set everything up to upgrade your system. If not, you are out of luck.

However, they have said it's OK to install as a full version as it was sold to you, and later provided links to download the ISO versions, so yours may have come as an ISO.

Once you have an ISO file, either from the links I provided or from Microsoft, you need to burn that on to a DVD. For a self-described newbie, I would recommend using Burn to do so. Youtube HOWTO here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHpOXuzMMD8

Then, you just follow Apple's Boot Camp instructions and you should be good.

B

Yeah, I'm looking at the download page and they're giving me a few options:
1)Download 3 files, which is what I think you were talking about (a .exe file and 2 .box files)
2)They also give me the option to download the .ISO file, which I guess makes this whole process easier
So I think I'm gonna go ahead and download the 32 bit .ISO file, burn it, and hope for the best. Thanks for all your help!

 

[pdjudd]

Yeah, I'm looking at the download page and they're giving me a few options:
1)Download 3 files, which is what I think you were talking about (a .exe file and 2 .box files)
2)They also give me the option to download the .ISO file, which I guess makes this whole process easier
So I think I'm gonna go ahead and download the 32 bit .ISO file, burn it, and hope for the best. Thanks for all your help!

Option one isn't going to work without Windows. You need the ISO file.

 

[nycxaxez]

Re: pdjudd

Option one isn't going to work without Windows. You need the ISO file.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Cool, thanks. Gotta go get me a DVD I can burn onto.

 

[nycxaxez]

Success!

So I just wanted to let you guys know that I was able to install Windows 7 relatively easily. I downloaded the .ISO file last night, burned it to a DVD using Burn, and then started up Boot Camp Assistant. The only real problem I ran into was when I tried to partition the hard drive. It failed the first time, telling me that there were files that were too big to be moved and had to reformat my hard drive first before partitioning. Naturally, I was pretty pissed at this since I didn't want to go through a whole reformatting process. So, as a last ditch effort, I lowered the partition for Windows 7 a bit, hoping it would work. And it did, surprisingly! So no reformatting required, because that would've sucked.
After that, I just followed the instructions that Boot Camp provided, and it was pretty easy after that. Wanted to thank you guys for helping a .ISO noob out!

 

[balamw]

You're welcome. Check out the guide on resizing your partitions if you really think you need more space. (Stickied at the top of the forum).

B