No Optical Drive
I just purchased a new MacMini. No optical drive. How can I download Windows 8 and Parallels 8 so they can be installed on my hard drive? Thanks.
Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
I just purchased a new MacMini. No optical drive. How can I download Windows 8 and Parallels 8 so they can be installed on my hard drive? Thanks.
Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2)
Since you have no optical drive the only option appears to be USB.
Read these instructions carefully.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.7.pdf
From the manual:
You may be able to install Windows 7 with a USB flash drive that contains a Windows 7 ISO
image downloaded from Microsoft. To check whether you can do so, open Boot Camp
Assistant, click Continue, and see if the option “Create a Windows 7 install disk” is available.
To install Windows 7 with a USB flash drive, you need the following:
-An ISO image of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate downloaded
from Microsoft.
-A USB flash drive with 4 GB or more.
Boot Camp Assistant erases the flash drive, and copies to it the Windows 7 ISO
image and software drivers that let Windows work with your Mac hardware
Since you have no optical drive the only option appears to be USB.
Read these instructions carefully.
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.7.pdf
From the manual:
You may be able to install Windows 7 with a USB flash drive that contains a Windows 7 ISO
image downloaded from Microsoft. To check whether you can do so, open Boot Camp
Assistant, click Continue, and see if the option “Create a Windows 7 install disk” is available.
To install Windows 7 with a USB flash drive, you need the following:
-An ISO image of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate downloaded
from Microsoft.
-A USB flash drive with 4 GB or more.
Boot Camp Assistant erases the flash drive, and copies to it the Windows 7 ISO
image and software drivers that let Windows work with your Mac hardware
Sorry to be so tech stupud but what is an ".iso" file and how do I get it? Can I download it from the Windows site when I purchase Windows?
Yes you download the .iso from Microsoft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_image
Of interest regarding Win 8 and Parallels.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/10/25/parallels-warns-mac-users-to-not-upgrade-to-window s-8/
http://www.cultofmac.com/198145/mac-owners-should-not-upgrade-to-windows-8-just- yet-says-parallels/
FYI There is a community for the virtual machines like Parallels which might be a better place for support questions. I failed to note your interest in Parallels from your first post. My apologies.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/windows_compatibility
No Optical Drive