MacBook Pro Core i7 + Windows 7 Bootcamp issues
I recently bought a brand new MacBook Pro Core i7 2.66Ghz with 8GB Ram and 500GB 7200rpm HD and Hi-Res display.
When I received it, I updated all Mac OS X software via software update.
I then created a 70GB Bootcamp partition to install a new full copy of Window 7 Ultimate.
I started with the 64bit version of Win 7, but as has been noted here there are some issues with the driver packages and even after managing to get the 64bit version of the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package update to install in Windows (having first installed Bootcamp 3.0 drivers), the wireless driver would not install or work, nor would the NVidia driver, so I had a very odd display aspect and low res support. There may well have been other drivers not working either, but these two really stood out.
Despite the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package apparently being installed (as reported by "About Bootcamp", the 3.1 package was still being offered to me in Apple Software Update. I tried to install again, and again it still showed as being available to install. Obviously some issue's here.
So I decided to try the Windows 7 32bit edition instead, as I don't necessarily need the 64bit version to run the Windows apps I need.
I deleted the Bootcamp partition and started again. I ended up in the exact same situation with Windows 7 32bit as I had done with Windows 7 64bit - wireless device without a driver, NVidia drivers not installed. This time I had used the Bootcamp 32bit driver packages.
In the end I've opted to just install it via VMware as a pure virtual machine. This works fine, but for what I do in Windows, I prefer to have a Bootcamp setup.
Is there a general issue with the new MacBook Pro's and Windows 7 despite Apple releasing updated driver packages? Do these new driver packages handle the dual GPU setup properly?
I have read a number of "How to's..." for installing Windows 7 on the a MacBook Pro, but none have been successful for me. Am I wasting my time for now and need to wait for Apple to update Bootcamp for the 2010 MacBook Pro's, or am I just missing something in the way I'm doing this? I can't believe it shouldn't be this hard?
When I received it, I updated all Mac OS X software via software update.
I then created a 70GB Bootcamp partition to install a new full copy of Window 7 Ultimate.
I started with the 64bit version of Win 7, but as has been noted here there are some issues with the driver packages and even after managing to get the 64bit version of the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package update to install in Windows (having first installed Bootcamp 3.0 drivers), the wireless driver would not install or work, nor would the NVidia driver, so I had a very odd display aspect and low res support. There may well have been other drivers not working either, but these two really stood out.
Despite the Bootcamp 3.1 driver package apparently being installed (as reported by "About Bootcamp", the 3.1 package was still being offered to me in Apple Software Update. I tried to install again, and again it still showed as being available to install. Obviously some issue's here.
So I decided to try the Windows 7 32bit edition instead, as I don't necessarily need the 64bit version to run the Windows apps I need.
I deleted the Bootcamp partition and started again. I ended up in the exact same situation with Windows 7 32bit as I had done with Windows 7 64bit - wireless device without a driver, NVidia drivers not installed. This time I had used the Bootcamp 32bit driver packages.
In the end I've opted to just install it via VMware as a pure virtual machine. This works fine, but for what I do in Windows, I prefer to have a Bootcamp setup.
Is there a general issue with the new MacBook Pro's and Windows 7 despite Apple releasing updated driver packages? Do these new driver packages handle the dual GPU setup properly?
I have read a number of "How to's..." for installing Windows 7 on the a MacBook Pro, but none have been successful for me. Am I wasting my time for now and need to wait for Apple to update Bootcamp for the 2010 MacBook Pro's, or am I just missing something in the way I'm doing this? I can't believe it shouldn't be this hard?
MacBook Pro Core i7 2.66Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 8GB Ram