Bootcamp without Optical disc drive

***Solution That Worked for ME***

I had a similiar problem where I wanted to install windows on a macbook pro (early 2009) that had a broken optical drive, using a bootable windows 7 USB, but the mac wouldn't recognize the USB because it only checks in the optical drive.

Solution:

1. Download the Windows 7 ISO file here: http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325 /

2. Use Windows 7 USB DVD Download tool (found here http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool to make a bootable windows 7 USB. (this has to be done on an exisiting windows machine, but there are googable solutions to do this process using just a mac)

3. Also transfer a copy of the ISO file to the mac

4. Use Daemon Tools Lite (free, found here: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtLite) to mount the ISO file thats on your mac. (open daemon tools, click quick mount, click the iso file, very easy!) This tricks bootcamp into thinking that a windows 7 install disk is inserted.

5. Run Boot Camp, I chose to skip downloading the drivers and did that separately here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5634 by cliking on the macbook pro model and then the number in the grid to download the boot camp drivers to a separete usb. Once windows was installed, it was easy to open the USB and run bootcamp settup.

**THE TRICK**

6. When the computer restarts after bootcamp finishes, insert the bootable windows 7 USB into the mac when the screen is black, and then hold down the C key as soon as you hear the mac turning on sound. This command tells the mac to boot from USB.

I did not find any discussions of simply pressing the C key to boot from USB in similiar threads, and people just said that you need the disk if your mac has an optical drive. I finally found this trick out here: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533

The windows installation should now be running, and all thats left now is to choose the Bootcamp partition when it asks, and to click on it, click drive options, click format, and then click next to continue on with the installation.

Hope this helps anybody that had the same problem as me, I did a lot of googling!

I discovered the problem, I did not have the gdisk installed correctly ..

The problem now is that the disk is already bootable but does not appear as available when I restart my iMac and hold the option key ..

but you say in steps 8, 9 (N (part 2 boot flag) | N (part 3 boot flag)) to enter "N"..

anyhow, with Y I tried to 2 3 4, but did not change the codes hex nor changed the disk to the bootable "Disk Utility" ...

*The print was made after restarting my imac

Of course I can

1. I downloaded an iso of windows 8.1, mounted it and copied the files to the bootcamp partition. I also made a windows 8.1 usb tool with BCA and copied its contents to the bootcamp partition when the aforementioned trick didn't work.

2. no via BCA

3. yes! 🙂

3. yes 🙂

GJZen wrote:

how can I do this? 5. Use GPT Fdisk to mark the NTFS partition as bootable.

Please see the second set of Gdisk steps in the solved section Windows 7 Vanished after Yosemite update... help? .

Thank you for your kind assistance.

BTW, I was able to successfully:

5. Use GPT Fdisk to mark the NTFS partition as bootable.

6. Power cycle your Mac and hold the Alt Key and select the NTFS partition and test.

But after reboot with Alt/Option key on hold, I can select the NTFS partition it boots to just black screen (with blinking underscore at the upper left corner.

BTW, where do you live? I live in HK.

I'll do what you ask for in a separate discussion. Please go to this link: How to Install Windows via USB with iMac with No Optical Drive

Can you post the Terminal output of

sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0

These are the steps, but we should first check the output from the previous command.

Rebuild MBR to match the new GPT information thus resetting the Hybrid MBR. Use defaults for other questions (like partition codes). The only values that need modifications are the Boot flags and step 10. Accept all other defaults that Gdisk offers. Please see thesample Q&A as an example. These steps can be repeated if you make a mistake before you get to Step 12, otherwise start from Step 1 for these steps. Step 6 has numbers which are typed with a space between the numbers.

1. Sudo gdisk /dev/rdisk0
2. P (Print list of parts)
3. R (Recover)
4. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
5. H (chooses Hybrid)
6. Partitions numbers to be hybridized: 2 3 4
7. Y (Good for GRUB question)
8. N (part 2 boot flag)
9. N (part 3 boot flag)
10. Y (part 4 boot flag make NTFS bootable partition)
11. O (print current Hybrid MBR)
12. W (Write the new MBR)
13. Y (Yes! write the new MBR)
14. Reboot

Here is sample Q&A for this section. Please notice the Press Enter/Return.

Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): Y

Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): Press Enter/Return

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N

Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)

Enter an MBR hex code (default AB): Press Enter/Return

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N

Creating entry for GPT partition #4 (MBR partition #4)

Enter an MBR hex code (default 07): Press Enter/Return

Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): Y

You can only install Windows from an external disk if you have a Mac that didn't come with a SuperDrive: the MacBook Pro with Retina display, the MacBook Air, the Mac mini and the Late 2012 iMac.

If you haven't got one of these computers, you can't install Windows from an external drive. Firmware doesn't allow it, so you will get a no bootable device message if you try to install Windows. The only thing you can do to install Windows in Boot Camp is to get a SuperDrive.

Another option is to get an external optical drive and install Windows in VMware Fusion

An external optical drive is a peripheral that you can connect to a USB or FireWire port and use it to load DVDs onto the iMac.

With an external optical drive, you can't install Windows in Boot Camp, but you can install it in VMware Fusion. It will ask you for the source you want to use to install Windows, so insert a DVD with Windows and choose it to install it

Hey mate,

I know this thread is a bit old but I hate misinformation!

You are able to install windows off a usb key in any mac you choose (regardless if it has an optical drive or not! that's actually irrelevant) The only reason your unable to boot from the key is, you've got to actually make the usb key 'bootable'. (And use a third party boot menu such as refit, which you already have)

From what I'm reading your trying to format the key in a "mac" format and then just simply dropping the iso onto the key. Thats never going to work even on a PC scenario. What you will need is access to someone's windows pc (your friends or work maybe) to make the bootable key using a program like "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool".

Then, and only then will refit see the key as a bootable device.

If you need step by step instructions have a look at this blog

http://www.ksptechnology.com/blog/macbook-install-windows-7-with-boot-camp-witho ut-an-external-dvd-drive/

Hope that help

Update:

I forgot to ask what version of osx you are running, because later version of bootcamp do infact have usb support built in.

Kunu, or anyone else.

I have tried your method as well as MANY others with no avail. I recorded the process because I thought maybe I am doing something wrong?

Let me know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5t5zoi-QC8

I just finished the " Kunu Solution", and it worked flawlessly . It appears to me that the problem is

your flash drive. Your computer is simply not seeing it. Double check that the flash drive is

formatted in fat32. I believe that it will not work if it is NTFS. I would re-download that microsoft

boot tool in case the file was corrupted , and I would try a different flash drive as well in case

there is something physically wrong with the drive.

Also I would think about bumping up the size of the boot partition. I originally set mine at 50 gig.

By the time I loaded up a bunch of my favorite programs the partition was full. There is no way to

make it bigger like you can in Windows with partition magic. So I had to do the entire process

again to changed the partition size to 80 gigs.

When you are done it really works well. So if you boot into windows, it runs fast and well.

Or while in IOS, you can create a virtual drive from boot camp, and run both operating systems at the same

time. It is a bit pokey, even with 8 gigs of ram, but still works ok.

In my case i had a half broken optical drive, but the macbook wouldn't start from the USB Stick(i tried C)

my problem with the disk that it kept "expanding windows files" to eternity

so when you enter windows installation make sure that you have the disc and the USB stick in it, and then click on repair, go into command prompt, open the USB stick, go into the sources directory and there open the setup.exe!

DO NOT OPEN the SETUP.EXE in the base Directory

hope to have helped somebody