New MBP Retina Bootcamp Win 10 nightmare! Help!!

[sbones]

OK, so I just upgraded my Mac from an Early 2011 MBP to a new MBP Retina Mid 2015 15inch. It was a big hit to my wallet but I figure I will get some good use out of it.

So, I migrated my Mac OS Mavericks over to the new Mac with little trouble. It actually upgraded to Yosemite while still keeping my software and most of my settings in place! Pretty cool!

Bootcamp is a whole other matter. My old mac has windows 7 loaded on a bootcamp partition. The new Mac will not support any version of windows older than Windows 8. Microsoft will let me upgrade to Windows 10 from my legit copy of Windows 7 for free but I am in a queue and I don't know how long it will take (says could be a few days). Meanwhile I need to clean off my old mac and sell it before I move again by the end of this month. So I can't wait too long to upgrade my Windows just so I can migrate it over to my new Mac. Besides that, the new mac does not have a CD Drive and MS doesn't really have a good solution for creating ISO images of complete Windows systems. The whole process does not flow at all.

I tried to load an unregistered copy of Windows 10 (ISO direct from Microsoft) and it installed ok, but it was really buggy and somehow I got a lot of adware too. Then, I noticed in the back up function and restore option for Windows 7 that I tried to use forgetting that the new Bootcamp does not support it.

I would prefer to just port over an image of my Win 7 system but it doesn't seem possible.

If anyone can offer a solution, I would greatly appreciate that!

 

[na1577]

Bootcamp is a whole other matter. My old mac has windows 7 loaded on a bootcamp partition. The new Mac will not support any version of windows older than Windows 8. Microsoft will let me upgrade to Windows 10 from my legit copy of Windows 7 for free but I am in a queue and I don't know how long it will take (says could be a few days). Meanwhile I need to clean off my old mac and sell it before I move again by the end of this month. So I can't wait too long to upgrade my Windows just so I can migrate it over to my new Mac.

Unfortunately, the Windows 10 upgrade is not transferrable between computers. So even if you upgrade it on your current Mac you would not be able to move that license to the new Mac... at least not officially. There is software out there that allows you to extract the new Windows 10 product key that is issued in the upgrade, but I don't know if doing so will give you any trouble when activating the new machine.

Besides that, the new mac does not have a CD Drive and MS doesn't really have a good solution for creating ISO images of complete Windows systems. The whole process does not flow at all.

Actually, it's easier to download and install an ISO in OS X than it is in Windows. MS doesn't allow you to directly download the Windows 10 ISO in earlier version of Windows, it forces you to use an upgrade tool. That tool consistently failed to work for me.

I would highly recommend an external CD drive for your new Mac, not just for installing Windows but in unexpected situations when you may need to use it. The process of burning an ISO to a CD with Disk Utility is much easier than creating a bootable flash drive in my opinion, which is your only other option in a Mac with no CD drive.

I tried to load an unregistered copy of Windows 10 (ISO direct from Microsoft) and it installed ok, but it was really buggy and somehow I got a lot of adware too.

Adware? Can you elaborate? If you're installing direct from Microsoft there is no other software included other than Microsoft's bloaty software.

 

[sbones]

Thanks for your reply and all your input. I have a lot to consider. I'm actually speaking with Apple Care about this. I don't know how much they can say about this because it is mostly a MS issue but maybe they can give me a work around like yours.

Adware? Can you elaborate? If you're installing direct from Microsoft there is no other software included other than Microsoft's bloaty software.

The adware happened when I updated Microsoft Edge. As soon as I opened it, it when crazy with pop ups. I got some kind of media player that I couldn't uninstall and soon other software would automatically install. I ended up wiping the partition, right before I posted this thread.

 

[na1577]

Thanks for your reply and all your input. I have a lot to consider. I'm actually speaking with Apple Care about this. I don't know how much they can say about this because it is mostly a MS issue but maybe they can give me a work around like yours.

Well, it's an Apple and an MS issue. Apple could offer Windows 7 drivers for newer Macs but made the decision not to. I guess Windows isn't a priority for them since OS X has matured enough that most customers just don't care about Windows support anymore.

The adware happened when I updated Microsoft Edge. As soon as I opened it, it when crazy with pop ups. I got some kind of media player that I couldn't uninstall and soon other software would automatically install. I ended up wiping the partition, right before I posted this thread.

Oh I see, that makes sense. I've been using Edge and forgot how awful the web is without adblock... I hate having to use it because I want to support the sites I visit with ad revenue, but even reputable sites can wind up displaying some really awful ads.

 

[IowaLynn]

I used Win 10 through all the builds, and 8.0/8.1 from Dev Preview on, and while I don't like Edge, it never did what you mention with pop-ups or unwanted ads etc. Something else and maybe from your backup or install or if you download this direct ISO but thru a torrent actually.

I have all my files from Windows backed up using Paragon HDM Pro and contemplating buying new Windows 10 for my new Mac.