Issues installing Windows 7. Frustrating black screen. Help please?

[mrsindigo]

Hi everyone, I posted this on some other mac forum but no one is helping me

I have been trying to install Windows this week, and it has been quite the adventure, finally I have given up and decided to ask for help.
It's a macbook pro from late 2011 running Lion 10.7.5.

First of all, the CD/DVD drive doesn't work, it keeps the discs in and then ejects them about 10 seconds later. So I went and bought a "USB SUPERDRIVE" and managed to burn the Windows 7 ISO I have onto a DVD (I read somewhere installing Windows from a USB was only available for newer macbooks).
I open bootcamp and do the partition but when it restarts to install windows it goes to a black screen with a ticking cursor thing? Like the one that is there when you are typing something.

I tried to burn the disc again on my iMac to see if it was an error or something with the superdrive, but that didn't help either, I'm clueless about all this in all honesty so I don't know what to do.
I also tried installing it without bootcamp, simply creating a partition in disc utility and going off of there but that didn't work either. Sometimes if I restart the computer pressing the option key and select the Windows DVD it says "no bootable device insert boot disk and press any key" but only sometimes, most of the time it just remains black.

Any suggestions?Could it be the windows file being corrupted / should I redownload? or is there something wrong with the macbook?

 

[Candlelight]

Hi everyone, I posted this on some other mac forum but no one is helping me

I have been trying to install Windows this week, and it has been quite the adventure, finally I have given up and decided to ask for help.
It's a macbook pro from late 2011 running Lion 10.7.5.

First of all, the CD/DVD drive doesn't work, it keeps the discs in and then ejects them about 10 seconds later. So I went and bought a "USB SUPERDRIVE" and managed to burn the Windows 7 ISO I have onto a DVD (I read somewhere installing Windows from a USB was only available for newer macbooks).
I open bootcamp and do the partition but when it restarts to install windows it goes to a black screen with a ticking cursor thing? Like the one that is there when you are typing something.

I tried to burn the disc again on my iMac to see if it was an error or something with the superdrive, but that didn't help either, I'm clueless about all this in all honesty so I don't know what to do.
I also tried installing it without bootcamp, simply creating a partition in disc utility and going off of there but that didn't work either. Sometimes if I restart the computer pressing the option key and select the Windows DVD it says "no bootable device insert boot disk and press any key" but only sometimes, most of the time it just remains black.

Any suggestions?Could it be the windows file being corrupted / should I redownload? or is there something wrong with the macbook?

I'm just chasing the same issue!

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4536

 

[mrsindigo]

I'm just chasing the same issue!

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4536

yes that was the first thing i tried

 

[norski27]

I was facing a very similar issue earlier today installing Windows 7 on my 2012 Mac Mini. I kept getting the "No bootable device" message. All I had to do was remove the USB Flash Drive that had the Apple drivers on it and basically repeat the Bootcamp process from the beginning. I knew I was supposed to remove all unnecessary USB devices, but I did not realize that included the USB drive with the Apple drivers on it. You can install those drivers later once Windows has been installed. Once all I had was the power cord, HDMI, and Windows ISO Flash Drive plugged in, the process went perfectly.

 

[mrsindigo]

I was facing a very similar issue earlier today installing Windows 7 on my 2012 Mac Mini. I kept getting the "No bootable device" message. All I had to do was remove the USB Flash Drive that had the Apple drivers on it and basically repeat the Bootcamp process from the beginning. I knew I was supposed to remove all unnecessary USB devices, but I did not realize that included the USB drive with the Apple drivers on it. You can install those drivers later once Windows has been installed. Once all I had was the power cord, HDMI, and Windows ISO Flash Drive plugged in, the process went perfectly.

Interesting... I wonder if it's not working because I *cant* unplug everything, seeing as unplugging everything would mean the usb superdrive as well and there would be no disc to load without that.

 

[jekyoo]

You have to disconnect any USB device that's connected to the your Mac. Only USB device that should be used is your thumb drive. Once it boots, you can then connect your keyboard/mouse if you're using an iMac.

 

[mrsindigo]

You have to disconnect any USB device that's connected to the your Mac. Only USB device that should be used is your thumb drive. Once it boots, you can then connect your keyboard/mouse if you're using an iMac.

I *cant* unplug everything, seeing as unplugging everything would mean the usb superdrive as well and there would be no disc to load without that.

 

[jekyoo]

I *cant* unplug everything, seeing as unplugging everything would mean the usb superdrive as well and there would be no disc to load without that.

Ops, misread. Thought you said usb thumb drive.

Are you sure you made a bootable DVD of Windows? My advice is to get a usb flash drive and make a bootable thumb drive for it. With Boot Camp assistant, it really makes the install very easy.

 

[mrsindigo]

Ops, misread. Thought you said usb thumb drive.

Are you sure you made a bootable DVD of Windows? My advice is to get a usb flash drive and make a bootable thumb drive for it. With Boot Camp assistant, it really makes the install very easy.

Yes it is a bootable DVD of Windows because I managed to install it perfectly fine on my brother's laptop. Of course I still need to do it on mine because well, that laptop is his

 

[xcodeSyn]

It's a macbook pro from late 2011 running Lion 10.7.5.

First of all, the CD/DVD drive doesn't work, it keeps the discs in and then ejects them about 10 seconds later.

Given that Boot Camp Assistant is hard coded to look for Windows Installer from your internal optical drive, you only have two choices: either fix your internal drive or use a VM application as outlined in this link. Don't waste your time with USB flash drive or external DVD drive because they won't work in your case. IF you do a search in the MBP forum, you'll find plenty discussion of this issue. Good luck.

 

[norski27]

Now that I think about, I do remember that if your Mac had a built-in optical drive, you have to use that DVD drive instead of an external one, which is bad in your case since your internal does not work. I am assuming Bootcamp is not allowing you to create a bootable Windows 7 ISO Flash Drive because you have that internal DVD drive. There is a simple way to get around that, but I believe you need to upgrade to OS X Mavericks.

So here's what I would do if I were in your situation: in Bootcamp in Lion, click "Remove Windows", which will just take your hard drive back to a single Mac partition. Then, upgrade to Mavericks for free in the Mac App Store, and then follow the instructions in this video to allow you to use a Flash Drive to install Windows 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?annota...&feature=iv&src_vid=KmHxkahbK-g&v=WQE2vbpYwRs

I think all of your problems are stemming from the broken DVD drive, and that video above should allow you to bypass the DVD drive and use a USB drive instead.