How do you install Windows 7 on Macbook Air with a Windows 7 ISO image?

Acius wrote:

Macbook Airs have no optical drives, and I can't buy one.

Why not

Maybe you should consider a virtual machine to run Windows.

http://lifehacker.com/5714966/five-best-virtual-machine-applications

I think the question was... why can't you buy one?

You can get external USB DVD players from many places for like $25 or so... but you may need to read reviews and shop carefully, because I've heard there are several brands that won't boot right on some Macs. They'll work, but not for booting like on a Windows disk... but some do work. Apple's is expensive at $80, but it should work.

You also should NOT stick to Windows programs just because you know them... its usualyl much easier to just learn a new program to do the same thing right in OSX.

I'm actually the maker of Wineskin, so I could assist you some there if your having a ton of problems, but it can be very difficult to get some programs working... way beyond the normal or even power user level. Some things run super easy too of course, so you never know.

Crossover works pretty much the same way without actual porting to a full Mac app... but its very user friendly (but of course can still get complicated, just depends what your are trying to run)

Also If you get something like Parallels 8, you can run Windows 7 in a virtual machine, which can install directly from your ISO image without needing a disc at all. For you, this may be the best option.

Acius wrote:

Well, i suppose they're meant to be ultra-portable, and Apple decided optical drives were a thing of the past and decided not to give one to macbook airs.

I meant why can't you buy an external drive, Apple make one.

I don't have a MBAir but I have just installed Windows 7 on my iMac (mid 2009, Mountain Lion) without using the optical drive. I used the Enterprise trial version available on the MS site as an iso disk image plus the Windows support modules for my machine as available from Apple.

I did not use Bootcamp Assistant because my primary internal drive was already split into multiple partitions so BCA would not work. I first installed the following software on the Mac: fdisk and diskutil (these are readily available or maybe already installed; I needed Xcode and macPorts but YMMV). I also installed Paragon's NTFS drivers in order to be able to see the Windows partition after installation though this is not essential.

I used 2 USB sticks, one to hold the Windows drivers (Apple has an article on how to prepare this),and one to hold the Windows installer. Both should be formatted as MBR/FAT32 using disk utility. I also installed rEFIt to make things simple.

If you don't use BCA you must first configure the hybrid MBR record on your primary boot disk. This can be done with diskutil and fdisk in Terminal; google for detailed instructions and be very careful or you can destroy your disk.

If BCA works to create the Windows installer then use that, otherwise you can knit it yourself using dd and the boot sector copied from the BCA package plus the files from the Windows iso file. Once these are all prepared, reboot into rEFIt with both USB sticks plugged in. Use rEFIt to select the Windows Install USB. Windows Set-up allows a 'Custom' option so one can select the partition where to install it and provides an NTFS formatter to initialize it ( this is an essential step). Then just follow the prompts.

This isn't simple and not for the faint of heart but with a little research it is possible and free.

Acius wrote:

As for learning mac apps only, well, Windows apps dominate the market with most of applications being made for windows, especially games, with 90% market. So for some apps, there just isn't a mac version available, or if there is, it's costly. (Which you already know I can't buy things)

Which apps can't you get for Mac specifically (or is it just games)

Acius wrote:

Games..But, hey I found my solution!!

Crossover, from Crossweavers, which uses Wine but makes it really easy for the user! Thanks everyone!

Good luck with that.

I don't think you can boot camp with .iso, you can maybe borrow a disk drive from your friends.

Acius wrote:

Crjohnson, I think you can really help me!

Okay, how do you use Wine? I don't want to install lots of software like MacPorts, just want the minimal software. So there are many things like Wine, WineBottler, and Wineskin Winery. What do I use for what? For example, I want to turn a windows game (Age of Empires 2 for example) into a full Mac App. How would I go about this?

I tried researching but it is so in-depth with terminal commands and all(i dont want to risk ruining my computer)

What is crossover? Is it another wine app?

Oh, and I tried Winery Wineskin...why doesn't it work? It keeps installing random things like Gecko, or Mono, but in the end, it doesn't work. Do I need the windows app's executable, or the window's apps's installation executable??

What are engines, and how many do I need to create? I think the best thing for me is to learn wine, because installing windows with bootcamp isn't worth the effort, I think, with me having only a few apps i need to run.

As for learning mac apps only, well, Windows apps dominate the market with most of applications being made for windows, especially games, with 90% market. So for some apps, there just isn't a mac version available, or if there is, it's costly. (Which you already know I can't buy things)

You probably cannot afford to buy Crossover either. It is designed for user friendliness though, but of course Wine cannot run everything.

Yes you have to learn some things to use Wineskin. Normally on Gecko and Mono prompt, just cancel them. Gecko is needed if you have a program using mshtml (its basically a replacement for Internet Explorer for programs that use parts of it). Mono is a replacement for .NET if your program requires that. You do not want to install them if you don't need them as they will just waste space. You can always refresh the wrapper later on and get the same prompts if you find out you need them later.

You can copy the full installed version of a game inside the Wineskin wrapper and try to set it up that way, but its usually easier to just run the installer and install it inside the wrapper just like you'd install it in Windows.

An Engine is something you download... its basically a specific Wine build made for a Wineskin wrapper.

If you do not want to learn Wineskin enough to get in and port your programs yourself, you can often find other people who have done so (at least with games).

Check out sites like PaulTheTall.com who has tons of Wineskin wrappers already made and ready to go for many games... you just download the wrapper, install the game you want in it using the normal Installer, then its ready to go. Many you'll need to manually update yourself to Wineskin 2.5.8 though since all the older versions broke ok the OS X 10.8.2 and 10.7.5 update, and Paul hasn't gotten to all of them yet since he has hundreds (including AoE 2 i think).

There is also Portingteam.com which has tons of pre-made wrappers for games (Including Cider hacks from official games).

If your talking about non-Game apps though, you can normally find an alternative... many of which are free.

Here's how you set up a USB thumb drive with a Win 7 ISO.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/9585/how-to-setup-a-usb-flash-drive-to-install-wi ndows-7/

It works for me with Boot Camp. The latest Boot Camp assistant actually has an option for this.

Could you be more specific on how to put the iso on the usb and make it bootable.