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MacBook Air 2013 Windows 7 freezes during installation

Hi there,


I have a new MacBook Air Mid 2013, 13" model (UK region) and am trying to install Windows 7 (via bootcamp) as a second OS.


When holding down 'Alt' and selecting my Windows boot DVD, everything goes OK but it freezes on the inital user input screen (Language selection). Using the same procedure, and same DVD in a Retina MBP, it works OK.


Anyone else seeing this behaviour / have any suggestions?

Posted on Jun 13, 2013 5:30 AM

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Posted on Jun 13, 2013 8:25 AM

It turns out this isn't a freeze, but rather the Keyboard and Mouse are unresponsive in the Windows Installer.


It seems when initially re-booting in to the Windows Installer process *DIRECTLY* from BootCamp assistant, the Keyboard and Mouse DO work, however after any subsequent restart, the Keyboard and Mouse are not recognised (such as the restart half-way through installation of Windows 7). External, USB Keyboards and Mice are not recognised either.


So it seems like some firmware glitch perhaps where Bootcamp assistant is setting something when changing the startup disk that otherwise doesn't get set. Most likely this relates to the Haswell chipset in the new MB Air.

87 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 13, 2013 8:25 AM in response to Codeus

It turns out this isn't a freeze, but rather the Keyboard and Mouse are unresponsive in the Windows Installer.


It seems when initially re-booting in to the Windows Installer process *DIRECTLY* from BootCamp assistant, the Keyboard and Mouse DO work, however after any subsequent restart, the Keyboard and Mouse are not recognised (such as the restart half-way through installation of Windows 7). External, USB Keyboards and Mice are not recognised either.


So it seems like some firmware glitch perhaps where Bootcamp assistant is setting something when changing the startup disk that otherwise doesn't get set. Most likely this relates to the Haswell chipset in the new MB Air.

Jun 14, 2013 12:42 AM in response to khsaechao

I spoke to Apple support about this and they had me create a new administrator user account, remove and recreate the bootcamp partition and strangely it worked using Windows 8 Pro (previously I was having the same issue in 7 & 8).


I don't see why it would work as my existing user account was only a couple of days old and nothing had been imported or migrated, nonetheless, it did solve my issue.


The other suggestion he made was to do an SMC reset which I had already done: -


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964


HTH

Jun 14, 2013 8:31 PM in response to Geof Corb

I installed Parallels and created a virtual machine for my Boot Camp partition-- which had been the plan all along, though I would still like to be able to boot natively into Windows when I need to. In any case, I was able to get the machine up and running through Parallels. I still have no mouse and keyboard when I boot directly to Windows.

Jun 14, 2013 8:44 PM in response to Codeus

Ok, i had the same problem so i ended up recreating the Windows 7 boot stick in Boot Camp again as i noticed the original WIndows 7 boot stick i created didnt appear to have the "Windows Support" files loaded onto it. Anyway, after running the WIndows install again my Mac keyboard and external Keyboard and mouse were all working again during the instillation stage.


Hope this helps you.

Jun 14, 2013 9:56 PM in response to stihl88

weird... ok so i followed your instructions and it's installing now. Thanks Stihl88


Here's what I did.


- Put a copy of windows 64 bit iso on desktop

- Ran bootcamp wizard and selected create boot disk and download latest software (not sure exact wording but you get the idea)

- Ran bootcamp wizard again and only selected downloaded latest software

- Ran bootcamp wizard again and choose install windows


Now it's finishing install of windows...

Jun 15, 2013 5:01 PM in response to Codeus

Nice work khsaechao!


After three failed attempts at installing through an external DVD drive, I also found this post.


As stated above, when you find your keyboard, trackpad, or even a USB keyboard won't work during your Windows install (I was installing Win7Pro)


1. Through bootcamp, remove the failed windows install

2. Create your boot stick, install disk

3. Restart boot camp and only select "Download latest drivers"

4. Restart boot camp and only select the last Install Windows option


After that, sit back and relax.


Thanks a bundle!

MacBook Air 2013 Windows 7 freezes during installation

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