Really, REALLY Need Some Bootcamp Help On A 2011 imac

[clarkr]

Hi all and thanks in advance, it's been a while.

Have a 21.5" mid 2011 imac. New Two Terabyte HD, 12 GB ram. AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB graphics card. I am currently running OS Sierra 10.12.6.

Problem 1: My old hard drive crashed so bought a new one. Installed El Capitan on it and upgraded it to Sierra. Mac side boots and runs OK.

Now trying to install Windows 8.1 on a Bootcamp partition without ANY luck. The reason I need 8.1 on my system is so I can run an older version of Photoshop I purchased in the past. (Please don't suggest upgrading to Adobe's rent-a-software. I am a retired Commercial Artist that only uses it occasionally for personal use.) At the moment I am using my son's PC to get online.

Problem 2: My internal optical drive on my imac will not mount the windows install disk. It ejects it every time. The optical works on any DVD but the Windows disk so I don't see how this is a problem but it is. I have the original Windows 8.1 legitimate installation disk with key. Also tried an old ISO Windows install disk. This didn't register when boot/option.

Problem 3: Using Bootcamp 6.1.0 I selected both check boxes. The Download latest Windows support file downloads the files but won't install them because it's for Windows 10. Unchecked box and ran with Remove Windows 7 or 8.

I created Bootcamp partition formatted in Dos Fat32 with MBR. Put my windows disk into an external drive and after reboot selected EFI boot which loaded the Windows disk in external drive. Went through the whole process of key etc. and got to where to install. Error says couldn't install EFI on Bootcamp partition, needs to install on GPT disk. Windows must be installed on NTFS partition.

Tried to create a USB boot drive. Never showed up on boot with option held down.

OK, reformatted drive in BC to GUID format. Didn't work because I read that the mac changes the formatting to two separate types of format, a hybrid, that won't install this software. Tried WinDiskWriter still no joy. Used fdisk to remove security coding and installed NTFS. Got the software to install from EFI boot to Bootcamp partition. Then converted the drives back to having the sercurity setting with fdisk.

Was booted in Windows 8.1. Installed new software and virus software. Transfered about a hundred GB's of back up files over. Booted fine until I went into the mac side. Tried to boot into Windows. Wouldn't boot. Only EFE boot disk to boot into Windows. All my 2 days of work was gone. No options to boot into Windows Bootcamp.

These are just a few of the things I have tried to get Windows to install. The black screen, the flashing cursor in upper left corner, the blue screen of death from windows. I have tried so many things I really can't even remember where I am at with it. I have literally been working on this for over 60 hours and no joy.

Can anyone PLEASE help me get this to work?

Thanks,

Clark

 

[zarmanto]

Recognizing that this isn't particularly intuitive... updating the iMac to the latest supported version of OS X (and of Bootcamp) is likely where you went astray. Since you're attempting to install an older version of Windows, you would have probably had a better chance of success if you had installed a version of macOS which is of a similar vintage to that version of Windows -- in this case, I believe that would be 10.9 (Mavericks). Unfortunately, Apple isn't historically very friendly to downgrading, so that may or may not be an option at this point; specifically, sometimes firmware updates to support the newer OS limit your downgrade options.

Still, if you don't have anything important on that installation yet, it might be worth a try. If the iMac will let you install Mavericks on it, then you can use the version of BootCamp that came with that to install Windows 8. Once that's done, you should be able to upgrade OS X back to the latest supported version.

 

[clarkr]

Recognizing that this isn't particularly intuitive... updating the iMac to the latest supported version of OS X (and of Bootcamp) is likely where you went astray. Since you're attempting to install an older version of Windows, you would have probably had a better chance of success if you had installed a version of macOS which is of a similar vintage to that version of Windows -- in this case, I believe that would be 10.9 (Mavericks). Unfortunately, Apple isn't historically very friendly to downgrading, so that may or may not be an option at this point; specifically, sometimes firmware updates to support the newer OS limit your downgrade options.

Still, if you don't have anything important on that installation yet, it might be worth a try. If the iMac will let you install Mavericks on it, then you can use the version of BootCamp that came with that to install Windows 8. Once that's done, you should be able to upgrade OS X back to the latest supported version.

Thanks zarmanto. Ok where would I find Mavericks to download. I have a ton of time put into the Bootcamp portion on updating system software and app, virus, software plus backup files (90 Gigs) but if this will cure the mess Apple has created for me I am willing to try it.

As it stands now in the Apple choose disk startup there is a listing for Windows 8.1 but it won't boot into that. I can boot into windows using EFI boot when holding option key. Have no idea what that is or if it's taking up a double of disk space.

Thanks, Clark

 

[clarkr]

Recognizing that this isn't particularly intuitive... updating the iMac to the latest supported version of OS X (and of Bootcamp) is likely where you went astray. Since you're attempting to install an older version of Windows, you would have probably had a better chance of success if you had installed a version of macOS which is of a similar vintage to that version of Windows -- in this case, I believe that would be 10.9 (Mavericks). Unfortunately, Apple isn't historically very friendly to downgrading, so that may or may not be an option at this point; specifically, sometimes firmware updates to support the newer OS limit your downgrade options.

Still, if you don't have anything important on that installation yet, it might be worth a try. If the iMac will let you install Mavericks on it, then you can use the version of BootCamp that came with that to install Windows 8. Once that's done, you should be able to upgrade OS X back to the latest supported version.

OK, I found a Mavericks ISO download on the Internet Archive Site and am downloading it to a flash/thumb drive. How do I reformat my imac to install it? I am sure it will say it can't install an older version so it will need a wipe. How do I do that?

I formatted the flash drive to an NTFS format. Is that ok?

Thanks again, Clark

 

[zarmanto]

OK, I found a Mavericks ISO download on the Internet Archive Site and am downloading it to a flash/thumb drive. How do I reformat my imac to install it? I am sure it will say it can't install an older version so it will need a wipe. How do I do that?

I formatted the flash drive to an NTFS format. Is that ok?

Thanks again, Clark

Microsoft's NTFS isn't bootable for an OS X install image; you need to use an Apple partition scheme. But that's not overly concerning, since the imaging process should reformat the destination volume with the correct partition scheme.

Normally, I'd urge you to only use "official channels" for your install image -- but in an odd twist of fate, Mavericks happens to be the one OS missing from Apple's support documents. All versions down to 10.10 are listed... and then it skips down to 10.8. Very weird.

It's been awhile since I've tried creating a bootable USB for Mac, but I think you may be able to just use Disk Utility on any running Mac to image your ISO to a USB stick. After imaging, it should theoretically be bootable with no additional steps -- but sometimes this fails.

Another possible alternative is, you can attempt to come up with your own variant imaging command for Apple's command line utility, based upon Apple's official "Create a bootable installer" support document. That doc does not provide the exact command for OSes older than 10.11, but it doesn't look terribly difficult to decode. For this scenario, you would need to mount the ISO on the desktop of your Mac, find the installer package on the volume, and verify that it contains the "createinstallmedia" resource within that package. That said: even in the best of circumstances, this can also fail on rare occasions.

Worst case scenario is, you may have to use the ISO for it's original intended purpose, and create a bootable DVD instead. Note that the Mavericks install image is over 5GB, so you'll need to use a dual-layer (8GB) DVD to successfully image it.

 

[clarkr]

Microsoft's NTFS isn't bootable for an OS X install image; you need to use an Apple partition scheme. But that's not overly concerning, since the imaging process should reformat the destination volume with the correct partition scheme.

Normally, I'd urge you to only use "official channels" for your install image -- but in an odd twist of fate, Mavericks happens to be the one OS missing from Apple's support documents. All versions down to 10.10 are listed... and then it skips down to 10.8. Very weird.

It's been awhile since I've tried creating a bootable USB for Mac, but I think you may be able to just use Disk Utility on any running Mac to image your ISO to a USB stick. After imaging, it should theoretically be bootable with no additional steps -- but sometimes this fails.

Another possible alternative is, you can attempt to come up with your own variant imaging command for Apple's command line utility, based upon Apple's official "Create a bootable installer" support document. That doc does not provide the exact command for OSes older than 10.11, but it doesn't look terribly difficult to decode. For this scenario, you would need to mount the ISO on the desktop of your Mac, find the installer package on the volume, and verify that it contains the "createinstallmedia" resource within that package. That said: even in the best of circumstances, this can also fail on rare occasions.

Worst case scenario is, you may have to use the ISO for it's original intended purpose, and create a bootable DVD instead. Note that the Mavericks install image is over 5GB, so you'll need to use a dual-layer (8GB) DVD to successfully image it.

OK, seems like I am back at square one again.

After 3 days finally got a USB Mavericks installer to work. Wiped the hard drive. Installed the software with no hitches. Now on to Bootcamp...

Same items. Can't mount Windows 8.1 Install DVD into imac internal optical bay. Keeps ejecting it.

It will load in an external DVD drive. I can run bootcamp with this installed while booted into Mavericks. When it restarts to install Windows I get a blinking bar upper left corner of black screen.

When I boot up with option key to list it reads left to right... Mac OS, Recovery 10-.9.5, Windows (DVD icon), EFI Boot (DVD Icon).

1. If I click the Windows DVD I get a reboot with an empty black screen that will sit there til the cows come home.

2. If I click on the Windows EFI disk icon: Press any key to boot into CD or DVD. Click a key and windows starts to load. Click on Install Now. Asks for key which I type in. Goes to Accept License Terms and click OK. Select Custom Install Windows only (advanced). This brings up Where do you want to install Windows menu.

Four partitions listed...
Name - Drive 0 Partition 1, Total Size 200 MB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 2, Total Size 327.4 GB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 3, Total Size 619.0 MB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 4: BOOTCAMP, Total Size 1534.8 GB, - Free Space 1534.4 GB, - Type: Primary

(I am assuming that partition 2 is the Mac partition. Have no clue what #1 or #3 are.)

All partitions have error message: Windows can't be installed on drives (show details)

When clicking on that "show details link" a window pops up and says:

"Windows can't be installed to this disk. The slelected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI system, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS."

There are options to click on in the lower part of this window. Refresh, Delete, Format, Load driver (Extend and New have no link). I have not clicked on any of these yet.

I am exactly where I was three days ago before working on installing Mavericks. I thought this was supposed to be a fix for this? Now what? Do I have to find Mountain Lion and install it?

Thanks,
Clark

 

[splifingate]

Can't mount Windows 8.1 Install DVD

Have you tried a Win7 or Win10 image?

 

[clarkr]

Have you tried a Win7 or Win10 image?

I don't have a Windows 7 full version just an upgrade when I went on up the ladder from XP. I can't use Windows 10. It will not run my older version of Photoshop on it, thus the 8.1.

On that note, I formatted a flash drive to do an ISO of Windows. There is a difference on this Mavericks downgrade from Sierra. It is actually installing the Windows Support Files in Bootcamp Assistant.

Have my fingers crossed this will solve the Windows load onto USB for boot disk

 

[splifingate]

A right arduous path to tread . . . I really appreciate your determination

 

[zarmanto]

Four partitions listed...
Name - Drive 0 Partition 1, Total Size 200 MB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 2, Total Size 327.4 GB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 3, Total Size 619.0 MB, - Free Space 0.0 MB, - Type: Primary
Name - Drive 0 Partition 4: BOOTCAMP, Total Size 1534.8 GB, - Free Space 1534.4 GB, - Type: Primary

(I am assuming that partition 2 is the Mac partition. Have no clue what #1 or #3 are.)

Supposedly, partitions 1 and 3 are some kind of padding that's created during the bootcamp process, having to do with "EFI alignment on SSDs" or some such. AI search results suggest that you can delete them -- but recommends that you only do so from Disk Utility -- not from the Windows installer. Personally, I'd suggest that you leave them alone, as I don't particularly trust the AI to be entirely right about that detail.

... Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS."

There are options to click on in the lower part of this window. Refresh, Delete, Format, Load driver (Extend and New have no link). I have not clicked on any of these yet. ...

Yeah... Microsoft errors aren't always helpful; they'll tell you what's wrong, but not what you can do about it. And when they do tell you what you can do about it... that's usually either too cryptic for non-techies or simply outright incorrect.

Delete the bootcamp partition 4. That should change the list of partitions to include free disk space in its place; you should be able to select that free space and install, whereupon Windows will create the partition that it needs. (Reference: personal experience)

 

[clarkr]

Supposedly, partitions 1 and 3 are some kind of padding that's created during the bootcamp process, having to do with "EFI alignment on SSDs" or some such. AI search results suggest that you can delete them -- but recommends that you only do so from Disk Utility -- not from the Windows installer. Personally, I'd suggest that you leave them alone, as I don't particularly trust the AI to be entirely right about that detail.



Yeah... Microsoft errors aren't always helpful; they'll tell you what's wrong, but not what you can do about it. And when they do tell you what you can do about it... that's usually either too cryptic for non-techies or simply outright incorrect.

Delete the bootcamp partition 4. That should change the list of partitions to include free disk space in its place; you should be able to select that free space and install, whereupon Windows will create the partition that it needs. (Reference: personal experience)

thanks for the help guys I appreciate it. As of right now I am back to where I started from 10 days and about 60 actual hours ago. This process should be an easy install no longer than a half hour. Great job by Apple's grade school programmers.

I have run so many options and scenario's I don't even know where I am at now.

Still with the same problems with the internal optical drive. It ejects anything to do with Windows. It will mount software DVD'd and such but not those. Have spent hours looking for a solution without finding one.

The software boots on an external DVD drive. But when I option boot and the DVD is listed along with EFI boot DVD and click on Windows disk it either goes to a black screen with flashing line on upper left corner (it did this when I first started) or if I can get it to boot from the dvd it sometimes will go to a blank black screen and won't load anything.

Last Two Tries - ALL Day Long:

1. Tried making a boot disk from an ISO disk I have. I can copy the file to the desktop and it creates a volume. I don't know what to do with it after that. Bootcamp won't recognize it to make a USB install. I can't copy it to a USB because I get an error: privacy.rtf won't copy because same named file on destination volume (which is formatted blank). There is no way to change or delete the files name as it is locked. I searched to find the file with the same name. No file exists I can find.

The only option I can do with the mounted volume is burn it to disk. I get a write error from the internal drive. So now I have wasted mega hours downloading and trying to find work arounds on ISO installation.

2. I downloaded the files to a USB in bootcamp that are supposed to contain drivers and such (at least that much has worked). I booted my Windows disk up and partitioned the drive. It auto rebooted after this (I think) and went to the blinking screen. Rebooted with option and USB didn't show up, just the DVD Windows. Clicked on that and booted into blank screen or blinking bar (can't remember any more).

No luck booting from the installer disk. Clicked on the EFI boot icon. Boots into Windows. Install key for the thousandth time. Got to the screen with list of drives. All have error that EFI needs GUID? type of formatting. Mine appears to be MBR or some other thing I don't remember. Tried erasing bootcamp drive in this section. Still no luck.

Quite frankly I am to the point of taking this piece of Apple garbage outside and beating it into rubble with a sledge hammer.

Besides doing that, does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks again in advance,
Clark

 

[clarkr]

Ok, Going into my third WEEK, I have literally over 100 hours just trying to install Windows 8.1 on my 2011 imac.

Working machine before HD crashed. Had High Sierra running with Windows 8.1 in Bootcamp. Installed this years ago I believe starting out with Windows XP (32 bit) on Leopard or Snow Leopard without any hitches to speak of. Upgraded Mac OS and went through Windows 7 upgrade then full version of Windows 8.1.

Installed new HD and installed new Mac software. Started out with High Sierra, then Sierra, then El Capitan, then Mavericks and finally Lion. Going backwards with hopes Bootcamp would work installing Windows 8.1 from Windows disk.

Using Bootcamp Install itself on each of those version gave me no install using DVD legit Windows disk. First, the internal optical drive in my imac would not accept Windows installer disks. Put the disks in and it ejected them. Drive works fine with any DVD or CD's. Just not with Windows Install Disk or ISO burned disk. I read that to install Windows it had to be from the internal drive not an external (God only knows why but that is what I read).

I used an external USB optical to get the Windows disks to mount on desktop. They did. Went through Bootcamp install using USB flash drive (32 GB). Once partition installed in Bootcamp with MS-DOS (FAT). Then imac rebooted. Results... black screen with flashing - sign in upper left corner. Never booted no matter how long I let it cycle. Ok, turned off and booted with option held down.

Holding down option showed Windows disk and EFI Windows Disk (plus Mac HD). Clicking on Windows disk restarted and a black screen came up with nothing on it. Would do nothing. Rebooted holding option again. Clicked on Disk EFI. Rebooted into Windows install after clicking on keyboard for any key. Windows booted for install. Typed in key. Went to list of disks. Every disk listed had an error. EFI not compatible with MBR format. Needed GPT format, NFTS type of disk. Tried the format option. Error can't install. No options for the GUID (GPT) type of format in Bootcamp just theMac Journaled and DOS type without the third option for MBR or GUID.

Checked Bootcamp partition after reboot into Mac in Disk Utility and said partition was now NTFS after erased in Windows install. Ok, thought it needed NTFS format to install. Nope. I kept downgrading the Mac OS thinking it may be needed but same problems in every version. Also in Lion, tried this with Windows 7 upgrade disk. Same results. OK... now to the USB install disks.

Went through the install on USB flash drive through Bootcamp. El Capitan up to High Siera would want to install drivers for Windows 10 on USB disk. No option for other and would give error and stop installation. Could uncheck this box and go on. Same as before errors.

OK, kept downgrading Mac OS to get the install of drivers. Mavericks did download the files/drivers. Created USB install disk. Same as before only the the USB was listed as EFI got the same errors. I downloaded and tried WINDISKWRITER software, same results. USB in Utilities was not a bootable drive. Same errors.

OK downgraded to OS Lion. Different Bootcamp install with three options instead of the two in newer OS. Results were the same.

Then put ISO Windows on desktop to install Windows on USB. Did installs with this. Same exact results.

OK so what is exactly the problem? These Intel Macs were sold SPECIFICALLY to run both OS softwares yet they have no possible way that I can see how to install windows in Bootcamp.

Is it hardware of software? I read that for some reason when making partitions in Bootcamp it made a hybrid type of system that Windows would reject. Supposedly this workaround turned off the protective coding called SIP to change the drive format. I tried that in Lion and SIP is not even a part of the software.

I am completely at a loss on how to do what should be a 30 minute install. So far I have invested literally over 100 hours of time. I have chased my tail across the internet looking for software or solutions. I have tried dozens of supposed fixes and different third party softwares which none have worked.

So it is a reality that Mac created an expensive computer to install Mac and Windows OS but it was built or coded to not be able to.

I can't keep throwing hours and days away on this. If someone doesn't have some idea's or solutions on what to try I am just going to get rid of this machine and buy a PC.

Thanks to all on here who have helped and to those in the future who hopefully will in advance.

Clark

EDIT: Would installing Leopard or Snow Leopard give me any joy? Would have to find it online to install but if this is a real option willing to do so. Thanks.

 

[!!!]

Results... black screen with flashing - sign in upper left corner

Sounds like you can get it to boot into a Windows installer, just that it doesn't do anything past that point. Might be time to find another installer?

Went to list of disks. Every disk listed had an error. EFI not compatible with MBR format. Needed GPT format, NFTS type of disk. Tried the format option.

I believe windows 10 and up support EFI natively. Certain versions of Boot Camp do indeed use some sort of hybrid system to make it work even if win 7 didn't support it. It should work. If it didn't, I would have gone back to boot camp, removed the partition, and tried again from the start. I don't know if you have to format, been a long time since I've done this and Apple's online guides don't really give much info. Follow exactly what the boot camp assistant tells you to do.

Went through the install on USB flash drive through Bootcamp. El Capitan up to High Siera would want to install drivers for Windows 10 on USB disk. No option for other and would give error and stop installation

I don't understand what the issue is here. You need the drivers to exist on the install USB. Not sure what "option for other" means nor do you tell us what the error is.

Same errors.

As? Sounds like you are doing completely different steps on different versions of macOS and Windows. I understand you're probably very frustrated but it's hard for others to help you if you only give vague explanations.

I read that for some reason when making partitions in Bootcamp it made a hybrid type of system that Windows would reject

Yes. For Win 8.1/7/XP.

Supposedly this workaround turned off the protective coding called SIP to change the drive format

No, it's not necessary to turn off SIP for Boot Camp in general, nor is it required to change the drive format.

I tried that in Lion and SIP is not even a part of the software.

Correct.

EDIT: Would installing Leopard or Snow Leopard give me any joy? Would have to find it online to install but if this is a real option willing to do so. Thanks.

2011s only came with Snow Leopard or Lion.

To be honest I think your best bet is going to be to create an installer for the version of macOS you want, then boot into that and wipe the internal drive completely. Including the partition map. Something could be screwed up with that. I don't know if that's what you're doing when downgrading or not. It's not enough to just erase the Macintosh HD partition, particularly when dealing with boot camp.

On a similar note, you say your drive crashed. What did you replace it with? Maybe there's some weird incompatibility going on there?

 

[clarkr]

Mid 2011 imac
Hard drive replacement - Brand: OWC 2.0TB HDD - Compatible with: iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011) Model ID: iMac12,1 (2.5GHz i5 , 2.7GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7)
Disk Utility Drive Info: File System Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Lion 10.7.5 installed from clean install. Works perfect.

Original Internal Optical Drive: Will not mount any Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 disk. Legit copy of full install for the 8.1. Legit copy of Windows 7 upgrade. Will not mount disk with Windows ISO on it. Ejects all of these disks. Read somewhere that in order to install windows on Bootcamp you have to use this drive. Reason unknown to me.

External USB Optical Drive: Mounts all of the above on desktop.

Bootcamp Version: (4.0.4 (437)

Start Bootcamp Info: Bootcamp downloads support software, creates partition for Windows, and then starting Windows installer.

Select Tasks Window:
Check Box: Create a Windows 7 install disk - selected.
Need a USB flash drive and Windows 7 ISO
Check Box: Download Windows support software from Apple - selected.
Bootcamp Drivers
Install Windows 7 - selected
Allows Windows partition and start install process.
Chose Windows 7 Pro ISO
Status: Copying Windows files to USB flash drive - Drive formatted and named WININSTALL
During this install Bootcamp connects to download the support software. Is this corrupting the install due to newer support files?

Burned the ISO files to the USB flash drive. Before I went on with the partitioning I checked the info on the USB. The main disk was created in Master Boot Record. The volume was called WININSTALL. The windows files were there. I checked the info and this volume was created in MS-DOS (FAT 32). It also was NOT a bootable drive in the info file.

Created the partition and it rebooted itself. Screen came up with "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". I pressed key(s) and nothing happened. Just the statement above and a flashing line under it.

Turned off computer and held option. Nothing showed up except Mac HD and Recovery HD.

So... Bootcamp made a USB with Windows software on it but it is unbootable and does not show up after the option boot.

I am using my 2011 imac with compatible software on both sides of what this Mac was designed for. All legitimate software yet I have spent unreasonable time just trying to get it to do what it was supposed to do when I bought it. I can't understand why this is so difficult.

When I installed the Mac OS I did a complete wipe of all files (at least to my knowledge) It installed the Lion and I had no files from before this install on the computer. Am I not formatting this correctly or something?

Thanks,
Clark

 

[clarkr]

Mid 2011 imac
12 GB Ram
2 TB Hard Drive - OMC replacement internal HD - Lots of disk space on both partitions.
OS Lion 10.7.5 - Clean install
Disk Utilites Version: 12.1.1 (353)
Boot Camp Version: 4.0.4 (437)

First of all what type of formatting is normal for a Windows install? Is it EFI or some other type of format? I have read that you don't want EFI install because it causes problems. So what SHOULD it be?

Bootcamp after partitioning:
Mac Hard Drive: Reads Journaled and GUID format
Boot Camp partition is MS-DOS (FAT)

16 GB USB Flash Drive: Formatted in Dos-32 (Fat) before Boot Camp did install on it.

Created USB Boot Camp installation for Windows 8.1 Pro. Downloaded support files during installation to 2nd USB by checking only the install Boot Camp files box.

Went back into Boot Camp and Installed Windows in Boot Camp from ISO file by checking the other two boxes.

Disk Utilites INFO after USB creation: Reads not bootable in Disk Utilities.

USB would not boot on restart. Option start lists the USB as EFI disk. Click on that to install. Starts Windows install. Type in key. Window goes to listed drives and reports error on all listed.

"Windows can't be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

Windows can't be installed on this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted as NTFS."

Somewhere the Boot Camp install has changed the hard drive from GUID format to MBR in both the Mac partition and the Boot Camp partition when trying to install Windows according to the error trying to install above.

Rebooted into Mac HD.

Macintosh HD is now formatted in Mac OS Extended (Journaled) no mention of GUID format or MBR type.
Boot Camp partition is still formatted in MS-DOS (FAT). No mention in INFO that it is formatted in MBR as it stated when trying to install windows from EFI USB drive.

USB Flash Drive Installer: Now the USB install flash drive reads Master Boot Record in the top of Disk Utilites for the USB drive. So Boot Camp erased and changed the USB flash drive from MS-DOS (FAT) to MBR somehow.

The USB 'Volume' WININSTALL is formatted still in MS-DOS (FAT).

Tried install again. Same errors. Where the drives are listed clicked on the Boot Camp partition and clicked format. Same error. Booted into Mac. Utilities info lists drive as NTFS which is supposeldly what windows can be installed as. Rebooted again went into EFI Boot from Windows install DVD disk is again in the MBR format.

So what gives?

 

[clarkr]

Mid 2011 imac
Hard drive replacement - Brand: OWC 2.0TB HDD - Compatible with: iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011) Model ID: iMac12,1 (2.5GHz i5 , 2.7GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7)
Disk Utility Drive Info: File System Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Lion 10.7.5 installed from clean install. Works perfect

I have tried everything I can think of to get Windows 7 OR 8 to install on this machine in Boot Camp.

I got through the entire boot camp process. It downloads the Boot Camp files from the internet, installs the Windows 8.1 OR Windows 7 files and reboots. Get the flashing icon black screen.

The USB flash disk is NOT listed in Disk Utilities as a bootable disk.

When holding down the option key it will show the USB as an EFI disk. Clicking on that loads the Windows software. When it gets to where to install it there is an error that the disk needs to be in another format. Tried erasing the Boot Camp volume and it turns it into NFTS format which is what is needed for the EFI install. Still error.

I ran this Windows ISO file on a late 2013 imac OS El Capitan and it loaded perfectly and opened on reboot to the Windows install. I went without a hitch. I even tried using this USB installer on the 2011 and it did not work. Reinstalled El Capitan on the 2011 and still did not work. Reinstalled Lion and it did not work. Tried to make a bootable USB on the 2011 using same ISO and same as before.

is it even possible to install Windows software on a USB on this imac?

Thanks,
Clark

 

[Bigwaff]

is it even possible to install Windows software on a USB on this imac?

I don't think it's possible to install Windows on an external USB drive using Bootcamp. Bootcamp expects the Windows partition to be on the internal storage. I don't have a Windows Bootcamp install anymore but it took me 5 seconds to search the web and find this -

How to Use Boot Camp on an External Drive to Run Windows on a Mac

Boot Camp and Boot Camp Assistant allow you to install Windows on your Mac. It's a nice capability that lets you select – at boot time – which

eshop.macsales.com

 

[Sergey-Galan]

Mid 2011 imac
12 GB Ram
2 TB Hard Drive - OMC replacement internal HD - Lots of disk space on both partitions.
OS Lion 10.7.5 - Clean install
Disk Utilites Version: 12.1.1 (353)
Boot Camp Version: 4.0.4 (437)

Hi. I have a question: what do you want to achieve?
1. macOS + Windows?
2. Keep Windows only?
3. Why Windows 8.1 and not 10 or 11?
As far as I understand, you don't have Open Core installed, so you need to install Windows with legacy boot.
You can try my program Windows Install (there's a tutorial video there). However, my program requires Windows with legacy boot to be installed on a non-system drive, since the drive must be disconnected during the Windows installation. Therefore, you can install macOS High Sierra (this is the minimum operating system for the program) on an external drive, and then install Windows on the internal drive while on the external drive. And, of course, you'll have to install the drivers yourself.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Mid 2011 imac
12 GB Ram
2 TB Hard Drive - OMC replacement internal HD - Lots of disk space on both partitions.
OS Lion 10.7.5 - Clean install
Disk Utilites Version: 12.1.1 (353)
Boot Camp Version: 4.0.4 (437)

So what gives?

Probably the following thread can provide some insights to your case.

Install Windows 10 Legacy on 2009-2011 iMac - upgraded GPU

Install Windows 10 Legacy on 2009-2011 iMac with upgraded GPU Apple has released UEFI based support for BootCamp only for 2012+ machines. While it is possible to install UEFI Windows 10 OS in pre 2012 iMacs, these installations are sometimes met with hardware level incompatibilities due mainly...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Mid 2011 imac
Hard drive replacement - Brand: OWC 2.0TB HDD - Compatible with: iMac (21.5-inch Mid 2011) Model ID: iMac12,1 (2.5GHz i5 , 2.7GHz i5, 2.8GHz i7)
Disk Utility Drive Info: File System Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Lion 10.7.5 installed from clean install. Works perfect

I have tried everything I can think of to get Windows 7 OR 8 to install on this machine in Boot Camp.

I got through the entire boot camp process. It downloads the Boot Camp files from the internet, installs the Windows 8.1 OR Windows 7 files and reboots. Get the flashing icon black screen.

The USB flash disk is NOT listed in Disk Utilities as a bootable disk.

When holding down the option key it will show the USB as an EFI disk. Clicking on that loads the Windows software. When it gets to where to install it there is an error that the disk needs to be in another format. Tried erasing the Boot Camp volume and it turns it into NFTS format which is what is needed for the EFI install. Still error.

I ran this Windows ISO file on a late 2013 imac OS El Capitan and it loaded perfectly and opened on reboot to the Windows install. I went without a hitch. I even tried using this USB installer on the 2011 and it did not work. Reinstalled El Capitan on the 2011 and still did not work. Reinstalled Lion and it did not work. Tried to make a bootable USB on the 2011 using same ISO and same as before.

is it even possible to install Windows software on a USB on this imac?

Thanks,
Clark

Install Windows 10 Legacy on 2009-2011 iMac - upgraded GPU

Install Windows 10 Legacy on 2009-2011 iMac with upgraded GPU Apple has released UEFI based support for BootCamp only for 2012+ machines. While it is possible to install UEFI Windows 10 OS in pre 2012 iMacs, these installations are sometimes met with hardware level incompatibilities due mainly...

forums.macrumors.com

Windows Install

Download Windows Install for free. Installing Windows from macOS. Suitable for Hackintosh and Macintosh. The Windows Install.app program allows you to install Windows directly from the Mac OS system. There is no need to create an installation flash drive.

sourceforge.net

 

[mzeb]

I haven't done this in many years but did it with a 2011 MBA way back when. I installed Windows via the Windows To Go instructions and then booted it off the Mac from the boot options. I installed the boot camp drivers from there. The one thing I never was able to do was get it to show up in the boot items in the System Preferences Startup Disk.

 

[clarkr]

I haven't done this in many years but did it with a 2011 MBA way back when. I installed Windows via the Windows To Go instructions and then booted it off the Mac from the boot options. I installed the boot camp drivers from there. The one thing I never was able to do was get it to show up in the boot items in the System Preferences Startup Disk.

I have tried every option I can think of. I have installed and uninstalled Mac OS from High Sierra to Lion and back again plus all in between. This 2011 imac will not create a USB bootable installer disk for Windows 8.1 (I checked this out in Disk Utilities). It seems to change the formatting either on the internal hard drive or on the USB flash drive. The USB drives will not boot on their own. Holding down the option key brings them up as an EFI boot disk. It will go through the install Windows process where I have to put in the Windows key fine. Then it comes to the showing of the partitions on the internal drive. It shows all the partitions but has an error that the EFI can't be installed on the partition for Boot Camp because it is MBR formatted and needs the GPT type of format.

If I format the Boot Camp partition in that process it still will not install Windows 8.1 with the error it needs NSTF format. I have rebooted after doing this and the Boot Camp partition says it is an NSTF format in Disk Utilities yet it will not install.

The internal optical drive may not be working correctly as it will not mount the Windows disk and keeps ejecting them. It does mount software disks etc. but will not burn a disk without an error.

I have read this Mac year needs to install using the internal optical drive and not an external USB optical (which mounts the disk perfectly but in option start shows the Windows cd and an EFI cd to boot from. Clicking on the Windows cd that was booted from an external optical it just goes to a dark screen and will not go further. If I click on the EFI cd it goes through the same process.

I am thinking of buying another internal optical drive. Does anyone know if this will mount the Windows cd for installation? Has this worked for anyone on a machine that's optical worked?

Has anyone used this software to install Windows without using a USB flash drive: Windows Install.app? The utilities used are wimlib and ntfs-3g and others

Windows Install

Download Windows Install for free. Installing Windows from macOS. Suitable for Hackintosh and Macintosh. The Windows Install.app program allows you to install Windows directly from the Mac OS system. There is no need to create an installation flash drive.

sourceforge.net

I don't understand what wimlib or ntfs-3g means. Would this type of software be safe to use?

It is insane that this machine can't install this software on a Boot Camp partition.

 

[Vladistone]

Boot Camp partition is still formatted in MS-DOS (FAT). No mention in INFO that it is formatted in MBR as it stated when trying to install windows from EFI USB drive.

What are you tried to describe above? You are confused into the information and descriptions, cause:

1. In Disk Utility there are two options for displaying partitions (volumes) and devices tree (devices). Therefore, you are experiencing confusion between the devices (wich could have MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table) properties) and partitions properties (with file-system format):
   
   
   which may be use as UEFI as BIOS (legasy) for modern WinOS version (it meaning what it isn't for WinXP or Win7 partialy in old ver.):
   
   
   
2. If you try to open the Startup Manager before selecting the bootable disks (when power ON + Option key holding), you can only see OS_Disks/install_Disk that have either MBR or GPT EFI (or UEFI) partitions (others are simply not bootable and are not displayed on the Mac's boot screen):
   
   • There is also a peculiarity by using an OS (Open Core), which it used for new MacOSes that are unsupported on older Mac hardware, or that use hacked video cards that are not officially supported by Apple (Pardon, but you didn't specify this in your topic). So, when using the StartUp boot screen (power ON + ESC), there is no option to display MBR disks for selecting WinOS installation (EFI support only).
3. And when booting install prosessing of the Legacy Windows (XP; 7 and 8) installer, Win_Installer Inviroment can't supported for installation on GPT disks (even with pre-formatted partitions/volumes as MS-DOS or ExFAT) and have to rewrite partitions to NTSF (for Windows used only)
   
   

 

[clarkr]

Hi Vladistone, thank you for your reply. A lot of this is so vague I simply can't remember it all. I tried at least 20 to 30 options to create a bootable USB disk in Boot Camp.This process needed an ISO windows file to work with Boot Camp.

I installed versions of Mac OS from Lion to High Sierra and back again hoping the programming in one of those versions would work. Not even close.

After creating the USB drive with Windows install on it, it was not a bootable USB according to Disk Utility. No matter what I did or how I configured it, it would not auto boot from the flash drive.

Option boot showed the Mac HD, a Mac Recovery drive, and an EFI boot disk from the USB. I even put a Windows disk in an external optical drive and the Windows DVD showed up along with an EFI Disk image to install. Also the USB drive showed up as an EFI disk. Clicking on the Windows DVD went to a black screen with a flashing minus sign. The EFE installs brought me to Windows install that included autho key. From that screen it went to a window to choose where to install windows. All the drives listed had errors that would not allow installation. Even formatting the Boot Camp partition did not work, so this brought the whole Catch 22 process back into the loop.

I read in my travels through this mega mess created by Apple that the only way to install Windows on Boot Camp was using the INTERNAL optical drive, an external one did not work, to install. The USB requirement in setting up the installation was to download Boot Camp files and drivers for when Windows was installed from the internal optical DVD.

This turns out to be absolutely correct. I wasted LITERALLY over 120+ hours just trying various methods and various apps to make a Windows install possible using a USB drive.

My internal optical was bad as it turns out. It would work on some software ect. but would not even load Windows install disks. As a last resort I bought a used optical and installed it. It loaded the Windows install disks and I created the USB Boot Camp files. It installed right away. The only thing I had to do was reformat the Boot Camp partician in the install process.

So, FINAL CONCLUSION: If you do not have an internal optical drive in your 2011 imac don't waste your time trying to make a bootable USB installation. It WON'T work. Windows can only be installed from the internal optical drive, period.

The 21st century children programmers that work for Apple are either criminally stupid or else they have been instructed to program installs of Windows this way to make it difficult or impossible for users.

 

[clarkr]

mid 2011 imac; Installing Windows 8.1

I read in my travels through this mega mess created by Apple that the only way to install Windows on Boot Camp was using the INTERNAL optical drive, an external one did not work, to install. The USB requirement in setting up the installation was to download Boot Camp files and drivers for when Windows was installed from the internal optical DVD.

This turns out to be absolutely correct. I wasted LITERALLY over 120+ hours just trying various methods and various apps to make a Windows install possible using a USB drive.

My internal optical was bad as it turns out. It would work on some software ect. but would not even load Windows install disks. As a last resort I bought a used optical and installed it. It loaded the Windows install disks and I created the USB Boot Camp files. It installed right away. The only thing I had to do was reformat the Boot Camp partician in the install process.

So, FINAL CONCLUSION: If you do not have an internal optical drive in your 2011 imac don't waste your time trying to make a bootable USB installation. It WON'T work. Windows can only be installed from the internal optical drive, period.

The 21st century children programmers and engineers that work for Apple are either criminally stupid or else they have been instructed to program installs of Windows this way to make it difficult or impossible for users.