Will Windows 7 64Bit Install on Macbook?

Question

Will Windows 7 64Bit Install on Macbook?

I have been trying to educate myself on whether or not Windows 7 will install onto my Macbook 4,1. Have seen a lot written about MBP's, but little on just MacBooks. I currently run Vista and XP on my machine in 32 bit through BootCamp and Parrallels, but am hoping to get rid of Vista and replace it with 64bit Win 7. Just wondering if it can be done, or if I have to go get the 32 bit version to do this.

MacBook 4,1, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 4 GB Ram

Posted on Oct 15, 2009 9:24 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Oct 15, 2009 11:33 AM in response to danielwaldhart

Do you need 64-bit? probably not. I don't know what a 4,1 MacBook is, as far as model/yr. I do know that booting from 64-bit Windows depends on having an EFI64 (Unified EFI 2.x) to be successful without alteration.

Windows 7 comes with 32/64-bit media. And System Builder Home Premium is $99 (but that comes in only 32 or 64-bit, not both).

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Answer 2

Oct 15, 2009 12:56 PM in response to The hatter

Do I need 64-bit? I thought it might come in handy. I do a lot of video encoding, work with virtual simulations for network topology, 3d animation, plenty of processor intensive applications. I have noticed much better response from Snow Leopard even without any of my 3rd party apps being actual 64 bit apps. Even Vista running in Parrallels runs snappier with Snow Leopard. But back to the question that I asked. A MacBook 4,1 is the early '08 model. Last one made in black. Intel Core 2 duo 2.4 Mhz. It does not have the EFI64 , so it is not on the approved list to boot into 64 bit. I can get either system from Microsoft for free through school so that's not really a problem.

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Answer 3

Nuvin

Level 1

28 points

Oct 28, 2009 4:41 PM in response to danielwaldhart

Hi,
I am running Windows 7 ultimate 64-bit on MacBook unibody and upto now I managed to get everything up an running.
Windows 7 install fairly easily and runs OOB using BootCamp (dual boot). Then install the BootCamp drivers 64-bit version. Remember to run it as Adminstrator mode.

Even better install the latest bootcamp v3 drivers from the snow leopard dvd. You will have all fn keys, on screen displays etc. Also some people say that you cannot have a native right click on MacBook with Windows, but I can assure you that the bootcamp v3 drivers add a native right click to windows via the bootcamp control panel.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see that I could even access the mac os file system via Windows!

I can say that Windows 7 really rocks on MacBook with 4GB of accessible RAM.

Hope that this helps.

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Answer 4

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Oct 28, 2009 5:20 PM in response to danielwaldhart

Trouble with web, articles can change, because I know that Early 2008 MacBook WAS in fact on the Vista 64-bit list at one point, then in Late 2008 the MacBook was dropped. Was that too confusing? did someone change their mind? Who knows?

Macs support 64-bit Vista:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846

If it works for you, fine. Vista 32-bit should but hasn't for many, provided 3GB RAM.

I am use to Mac Pro users, so when I hear heavy or lot of video and such.... on a MacBook...

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Answer 5

Oct 28, 2009 5:32 PM in response to The hatter

Thanx Hatter,
I managed to get 64-bit running installed through Parallels (after updating it). It works like a champ, although there seemed to be a video driver issue Windows didn't like. I still have to go through it and make sure all the drivers are "happy". I removed Vista which I had installed through Boot Camp, but could not re-partition the drive again to make a new Boot Camp partition. I believe the error message said something about not being able to remove certain files. I dunno, ran Disk Utility and repaired but still no go. Don't have a big enough external drive to back up entire hard drive so I doubt I'll be working on that any farther. Thanks for the input on this. It's running, so it must have worked?

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Answer 6

Nov 9, 2009 1:42 AM in response to danielwaldhart

I want to install Windows 7 64 bit on my macbook 5,1. Its the late 2008 model with 4GB of Ram, is it possible to install it? and I really dont know if i need it all i do in windows is play, will 32bit be enough...

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