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Windows 7 x64 and my MBP...won't install...

F

FearoftheNight

Diamond Member
I tried bootcamping win7 x64 on mbp late 2007 santa rosa and when the computer started the windows installer wouldn't start...i would end up with an apple that would turn into a circle with a line through it and a folder with a question mark in it. Then I saw this...

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1846
Does this mean I can't install windows 7?
 
If you have the x32 install disk, then you can go that route with the same key.

However, to make sure that we touched on all the bases...

You ran the BootCamp Assistant, and created a partition that we will call Fred.
You put your Win7 disk in the drive, held ALT at boot to bring up the bootloader, selected Win7 and let it load.
You are in the setup, and have your list of partitions. Fred is size... 50GB. So you selected that partition and told it to format yes?

If you didn't format the new partition that might be your problem. If you did, then hrm.
 
I'm pretty sure you don't need to hold alt as if you boot off bootcamp assistant it will default to boot off the cd. I have a disc i burned off an iso off msdn but it's the 64 bit version...which why my mac can't boot off it.
 
FearoftheNight said:
I'm pretty sure you don't need to hold alt as if you boot off bootcamp assistant it will default to boot off the cd. I have a disc i burned off an iso off msdn but it's the 64 bit version...which why my mac can't boot off it.
Click to expand...

It should at least boot man, it sounds more like a bad burn.

I always hold alt (when booting to something not default), just playing it safe you know?
 
so if its win 64 it'll still load? i thought i had t use some kind of img utility to make it bootable? (at least seen some kind of guides from 2009 that were doing this for earlier versions of win7/leopard)
 
FearoftheNight said:
so if its win 64 it'll still load? i thought i had t use some kind of img utility to make it bootable? (at least seen some kind of guides from 2009 that were doing this for earlier versions of win7/leopard)
Click to expand...

No, if the disk isn't even booting, then it is a bad disk. The thing SHOULD at least boot. And will probably install. I think that all Apple is saying is that they don't have guaranteed drivers for the hardware. But the CPU is 64bit.
 
FearoftheNight said:
is it possible that its a problem w/ my drive? i'm using an external drive...should that cause a problem of some sort?
Click to expand...

Intel Macs will boot off of USB, they just won't install to USB, and that is only OS X anyway. So, you can use a USB external optical drive to hold the disk and run the installer, but you cannot then install to a USB external hard drive.
 
TheStu said:
Intel Macs will boot off of USB, they just won't install to USB, and that is only OS X anyway. So, you can use a USB external optical drive to hold the disk and run the installer, but you cannot then install to a USB external hard drive.
Click to expand...

I installed 10.6 over USB on a MacBook Air......
Anyways, I would try another disk (burned at a lower speed) or a x32 disk.
 
Last edited:
TheStu said:
Intel Macs will boot off of USB, they just won't install to USB, and that is only OS X anyway. So, you can use a USB external optical drive to hold the disk and run the installer, but you cannot then install to a USB external hard drive.
Click to expand...

That is what I said Patranus.
 
TheStu said:
That is what I said Patranus.
Click to expand...

Sorry, misread. Thought you said you cannot install from a USB (flash) drive.
(ya, I know totally not what you wrote)

Anyways....

You can install to an external USB/USB Flash drive.
Formate it with the GUID option checked in Disk Utility and you are good to go.
 
Patranus said:
Sorry, misread. Thought you said you cannot install from a USB (flash) drive.
(ya, I know totally not what you wrote)

Anyways....

You can install to an external USB/USB Flash drive.
Formate it with the GUID option checked in Disk Utility and you are good to go.
Click to expand...

When did this change? Last I checked (maybe a year or so ago) USB drives were still a no for installation targets.
 
TheStu said:
When did this change? Last I checked (maybe a year or so ago) USB drives were still a no for installation targets.
Click to expand...

The GUID option is not default. You have to go into the settings. if you do not enable this option you cannot target a USB drive. It has been this way for a while.
 
Patranus said:
The GUID option is not default. You have to go into the settings. if you do not enable this option you cannot target a USB drive. It has been this way for a while.
Click to expand...

Hrm... this is information that I never knew. I cannot say for sure if I ever did a GUID partition map or not.

Honestly, the only thing I would need this for would be my PowerBook, and it cannot boot USB (from what I have heard).
 
64-bit Windows isn't officially supported by Bootcamp on the Macbooks. Only snag I had though was having to install the drivers manually. They're on the OS X disc.
 
Hey guys sorry if I was unclear. I have a boot camp partition made for windows on the laptop hdd. My dvd drive has a lot of problems readings discs so I was trying to boot from an external dvd drive to install but it does work. After a few secs I just get the apple logo that alternates between the null symbol and a folder icon w/ a question mark inside..
 
FearoftheNight said:
Hey guys sorry if I was unclear. I have a boot camp partition made for windows on the laptop hdd. My dvd drive has a lot of problems readings discs so I was trying to boot from an external dvd drive to install but it does work. After a few secs I just get the apple logo that alternates between the null symbol and a folder icon w/ a question mark inside..
Click to expand...

No, I got all that, did you follow that one guy's link? Have you tried re-burning the disk at a lower speed?
 
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