Mac OS X Lion is an awesome operating system. The only problem is if you use a lot of Windows only applications, so making the switch to a Mac can be very difficult. But you can get the best of both worlds by installing Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp. Here is how to install Windows 7 on Mac OS X Lion using Boot Camp.
Install Windows 7 on Mac OS X Lion using Boot Camp
Before we start we need to cover some perquisites.
- Windows 7 DVD or ISO (You can always burn your ISO to DVD if you need to. Here is how to do it in Windows 7 and Mac OS X Lion)
- USB flash drive or external hard drive.
When you have these ready lets begin.
Setting Up BootCamp in Mac OS X Lion
Setting up Boot Camp is very easy. Go to the Utilities folder by going to the Go menu and selecting Utilities.
Find Boot Camp Assistant under the Finder windows and click on it.
The Boot Camp Assistant will open with an introduction. Backup your hard disk just in case something go terrible wrong. When you are down you can click Continue to proceed.
Depending on what type of Mac you have the Create a Windows 7 install disk may be highlighted. Do note that this is only available for Macs without a SuperDrive like a MacBook Air. For these tutorial we are going to use a DVD, if you have a MacBook Air you can follow this guide. Make sure the other two boxes are check and click continue when you are ready.
Next is the download of the Windows Support Software. This includes all the drivers for your devices and other software to make Windows 7 work with your make. You can either use a CD or DVD to store the files or an external drive. We are going to select the external drive and click continue to proceed.
Select the drive and give the files a name and click Save to continue.
Get ready to wait as well. Might take a while to download all the Windows Support files.
You will be prompted for your admin rights. Enter them in and click Add Helper to continue.
Up next is the partition tool, which is where we will create the Windows partition. Click and drag the little divider to change the amount of space for the Windows partition or click Divide Equally to split the Hard Drive in half. When you are happy with your partitioning make sure you put in the Windows 7 installation DVD then click Install to continue.
The Boot Camp Assistant will do the rest.
This concludes the first part the next part is installing Windows 7.
Installing Windows 7 on the Boot Camp Partition
After Boot Camp is all finished your Mac will reboot. Windows boot loader should automatically start and you should be at the installation screen. Click Next to continue.
Click install to proceed with the installation.
Click the check box next to I accept the license terms and Next to continue.
You will want to use the Custom install method. Click it to continue.
You will be taken to the Where do you want to install Windows? Select BOOTCAMP and click on Drive options.
You will want to Format the BOOTCAMP partition. Make sure to remember the partition number as well.
Click OK to proceed with the format.
Make sure you are still on the same partition and click Next.
Windows will start installing. Give it a couple minutes while it installs.
Go ahead and go through the regular Windows setup. Continue until you get to the Desktop.
From the Desktop you will want to go to explorer and then the external drive where you stored the Windows Support folders. Double click on the setup files to install your Mac drivers. You will want to reboot and install the Windows updates for your machine.
If you ran into into this error: Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model it is because you installed Windows 7/Vista x64.
Apple restricted support for Windows x64 to a few Macs, click the link to see the list. If you have unsupported hardware and receive this error here is how to fix it.
Fix for Boot Camp x64 is Unsupported on this Computer Model
You will need to go back to the drive that had the Windows Support files in them. Go to the Drivers folder | then Apple. Right click on BootCamp64.msi and go to Properties.
Go to the Compatablity tab and check the box for Run this program in compatablity mode for. It will be preset to Previous version of Windows. Click OK to continue.
Next head over to the Start Search and type in CMD and right click on the CMD.EXE and select Run as administrator.
When the command prompt opens type in the drive letter for your external drive and the path to BootCamp64.msi. Hit enter to start the install process.
Run through the Boot Camp installation and restart your computer.
Finishing Up
Make sure you install all your Windows updates especially all new drivers for your Mac hardware. If you want to go back to your Mac OS X just restart the computer and hold down the alt key and select the Mac Hard drive. If you have that error, this one, Boot Camp x64 is unsupported on this computer model it is because you installed Windows 7/Vista x64, make sure you follow the steps above on how to get around it.
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