How do you create a bootable Windows disk on Mac?

[Rakehellion]

I built a computer that doesn't have an optical drive. I used dd to copy the DVD to a USB stick, but it won't boot. Are there any tools out there that will do this the right way?

 

[TheStu]

You could go through the bootcamp process, I think it has a step that takes an ISO and turns it into a USB stick.

 

[bearxor]

Do you have an iso? You can use disk utility to put an iso on to a flash drive.

 

[Zaap]

You could go through the bootcamp process, I think it has a step that takes an ISO and turns it into a USB stick.

I wonder is that bootable on a normal x86 PC? (I have no idea).

If all else fails, you could install Windows in a VM (VirtualBox for example) and then use that to create a bootable Windows USB installer using your choice of Windows apps. Round-about I'm sure, but it will definitely work if there's not a more direct way.

 

[TheStu]

I wonder is that bootable on a normal x86 PC? (I have no idea).

If all else fails, you could install Windows in a VM (VirtualBox for example) and then use that to create a bootable Windows USB installer using your choice of Windows apps. Round-about I'm sure, but it will definitely work if there's not a more direct way.

I'm not sure either, I've never tried it.

Actually, I'm not 100% sure that I've ever gotten Windows to install off a USB stick before Windows 8...

 

[accguy9009]

I'm not sure either, I've never tried it.

Actually, I'm not 100% sure that I've ever gotten Windows to install off a USB stick before Windows 8...

MS created this tool sometime ago

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

 

[bearxor]

Rufus is a much better tool than the Windows 7 USB creator from Microsoft, if you're running Windows.

http://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

[TheStu]

MS created this tool sometime ago

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

I'm aware. And my previous point stands.

 

[ViRGE]

Boy, this is a tough one. I've honestly never had to do something quite like this before.

You say you built a computer. Is the motherboard new enough to support UEFI? If so, then you actually don't need to do anything special. Just copy over the contents of the ISO to a FAT32 formatted drive.

Otherwise if this needs to be MBR/BIOS this is going to be trickier. I don't know how to create the NT60 bootsector on a Mac.

Does anyone know if UNetbootin would work if you fed it a Windows ISO?

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

 

[Childs]

How about this:

https://kb.iu.edu/data/bciz.html

Creating a Windows flash drive installer on an OS X computer

Note: In Mac OS X, the option to create a Windows 7 flash drive will only appear if the computer you're using does not have an optical drive. On Macs with optical drives, the option will be either missing or grayed out.

In Mac OS X, to create a bootable Windows 7 flash drive:

From the Finder, open the Applications folder, and then Utilities.

Open the Boot Camp Assistant, and then click Continue. The next screen should give you a list of options.

UITS recommends making the USB drive installer first. You can skip the actual Windows install and downloading the support software at this time, as it will be easier to do both later. To proceed:

Verify that the USB drive you will be writing to is plugged in.
Uncheck the Install Windows 7 and Download the latest Windows support software from Apple options.
Check Create a Windows 7 install disk and click Continue.

Your USB drive should be listed in the "Destination disk" area. Use the choose button to browse to your .iso file; after selecting it, click Continue.

If prompted, confirm your action and/or provide an administrator's password. The process of writing the .iso file to the USB drive can take twenty minutes or longer.

You can download a full Windows 7 iso from Microsoft, or use dd to create an iso from your existing install DVD. I haven't tried this, but it seems like it should work.

 

[Rakehellion]

Do you have an iso? You can use disk utility to put an iso on to a flash drive.

I put the disk on a drive and it wouldn't boot.

I wonder is that bootable on a normal x86 PC? (I have no idea).

I tried creating the image with Boot Camp. It looked like it was trying to work, but it just stalled on startup.

MS created this tool sometime ago

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

That's what I ended up doing. I was wondering if Toast (does this still exist?) or something would be able to do it on Mac, I guess I'll keep wondering.

 

[Rakehellion]

Boy, this is a tough one. I've honestly never had to do something quite like this before.

You say you built a computer. Is the motherboard new enough to support UEFI? If so, then you actually don't need to do anything special. Just copy over the contents of the ISO to a FAT32 formatted drive.

Otherwise if this needs to be MBR/BIOS this is going to be trickier. I don't know how to create the NT60 bootsector on a Mac.

Does anyone know if UNetbootin would work if you fed it a Windows ISO?

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

I tried booting with UEFI and BIOS and they both said files were missing.