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USB Drives No Longer Required to Install Windows with Boot Camp in OS X El Capitan

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Apr 12, 2001
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With OS X El Capitan available today to the public, some have begun discovering interesting tidbits and changes the new operating system has to offer. Twocanoes (via The Loop) has discovered that Boot Camp has gained the ability to install a Windows partition without a USB drive.

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Image via Twocanoes​
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Boot Camp comes with a modified interface that places the ISO image selector and partitioning on a single screen, allowing a user to easily select an ISO image and partition their hard drive before installing Windows. Once Boot Camp Assistant completes its tasks, the computer restarts with the normal Windows installation processes.

The change comes from Apple reworking how many partitions Boot Camp Assistant creates, according to Twocanoes.
Boot Camp Assistant doesn't just create a Boot Camp partition, but also creates an additional partition called "OSXRESERVED" that is FAT32 formatted.  It places this partition right after the recovery partition, and before the Boot Camp partition...
Click to expand...
The "OSXRESERVED" partition includes all the installer files, Boot Camp drivers and EFI files required for to create and boot the Windows partition. Once Windows is installed and the user boots back into OS X, the "OSXRESERVED" partition is removed and the space reserved for that partition is added back to the OS X partition.

The only El Capitan-running Macs that support the new USB drive-less Windows installation are the 11- and 13-inch MacBook Air, the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac Pro.

Article Link: USB Drives No Longer Required to Install Windows with Boot Camp in OS X El Capitan
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/30/el-cap-boot-camp-no-usb/
mariusignorello said:
I would never put my Mac through the agonizing pain that is installing and running Windows.
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I had to, and for such a specific reason too. I want to run KODI and VLC and pass audio and video through the HDMI port to my receiver and then projector. But the Mac has a bug where the audio doesn't pass as it should once you turn on the projector when it's connected to a reciever. Some EDID issue. (Read about it here.) Were it not for that really specifc reason, I'd be Windows free. :-/
 
Is it limited by year? Or, every release of Macbook Air, Macbook Pro, and Mac Pro? Fundamentally though, there is no reason why every model couldn't have this feature.
 
chirpie said:
I had to, and for such a specific reason too. I want to run KODI and VLC and pass audio and video through the HDMI port to my receiver and then projector. But the Mac has a bug where the audio doesn't pass as it should once you turn on the projector when it's connected to a reciever. Some EDID issue. (Read about it here.) Were it not for that really specifc reason, I'd be Windows free. :-/
Click to expand...
I was able to connect my Mac to my receiver and pass through audio to the surround speakers and video to the TV. Is the bug limited to projectors and not TVs?

Edit: realized that was from 2003.
 
Last edited:
Nermal said:
"... then press Install button". Shouldn't that be either "press Install" or "press the Install button"? It sounds strange to me as it stands.
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Certain countries' languages don't have 'articles', and people from those countries tend to also not use them in English. Annoys me too, but it's becoming so pervasive now, that it'll probably become mainstream sooner or later. :(
 
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chirpie said:
I had to, and for such a specific reason too. I want to run KODI and VLC and pass audio and video through the HDMI port to my receiver and then projector. But the Mac has a bug where the audio doesn't pass as it should once you turn on the projector when it's connected to a reciever. Some EDID issue. (Read about it here.) Were it not for that really specifc reason, I'd be Windows free. :-/
Click to expand...
Did that problem ever get fixed?
 
realeric said:
Seriously why would you install Windows on Mac?
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I will say that there's one application that requires a Windows environment, which is for a universal home theater remote. Running it in WINE doesn't work, VMware/VirtualBox doesn't work, and there will never be a Mac version.
 
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