Windows 8.1 install fails on new 2013 Retina MacBook

I'm fortunate enough to have an MSDN subscription that allows me to download .iso images of most Microsoft products.

Thank you so much! Solved my problem! Everyone try maskedferret's instructions and see if they help you with this issue as well.

After sucsessfully installing Windows 8 N professional on my late 2013 MBP, 15 i'm stuck. With bootcamp 5.1. My trackpad/keyboard/ports dont respond. Therefore i cannot install the drivers for them... Catch-22 basically.

Has anyone experiensed the same?

On the Late 2013 MBP models the trackpad, keyboard and usb ports are all connected to the USB 3.0 controler. You must have somehow disabled or removed the drivers for it. Unfortunately I am not sure what to sugest. Have you tried booting in Windows safe mode. Windows 8 does have basic USB 3 drivers as part of the OS.

On Windows 7 (that lacks USB 3 support natively) you would be out of luck.

Use a usb2 stick

Using a USB2 stick on a USB3 port will still not work if there is no USB3 drivers

Yes it will since there are native usb2 drivers in the windows installer, it recognizes the port as a generic usb2 port. I've installed w7 and w8 on many 'frozen' machines by reverting to an older usb2 stick.

If you don't believe me, how do you explain the many many successful installs by others of w7 and w8 on rMBP with usb3 ports?

Unless you're suggesting that the previous poster somehow made his USB ports inoperable, well then, we're just stating the obvious since nothing we can do now will work until he fixes his USB issue.

I have successfuly installed windows 7 and windows 8 on my late 2013 MBP. That has nothing to do with USB2 or USB3 support.

Plugging in a USB2 device into a USB3 port does not suddently make the USB3 port a USB2 port. USB 3 ports are backward compatible to USB2 but they are still USB3 ports and need USB 3 drivers.

Windows 8 has native support for USB3.

The part that you are not taking into account here is that when you create an install USB drive with bootcamp. bootcamp copies drivers into the Windows Pre-Install enviroment, and these drivers become available to the OS during the install process of windows 7 or windows 8.

That is how you can instal windows 7 (that does not have USB3 native) on these new machines.

Separately,

YES "Jecke" seems to somehow removed the Apple USB 3 drivers from his instalation of Windows. Since the drivers he had had replaced the native drivers of windows 8 he lost contact with the USB controler all together.

My sugestion is that he boots windows in safe mode. That should bring back the native USB3 drivers and allow him to re install the Apple USB 3 drivers.

JC Bond please see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5638121?tstart=0

Jecke see that link and try a usb2 flash drive

when 95% complete install windows then faild to setup windows 8 in my macbook pro 13 retina late 2013.. pls help me all

Message was edited by: forhadmac

"Windows could not prepare the computer to boot into the next phase of the installation. To install Windows, restart the installation." this problem in my macbook pro 13 retina 2013 when windows 8.1 install 90% up..pls help me

After all this string, wasted a full day and 2x 60 mile round trips to Apple Store, and purchase of Win 8.1

... from a senior advisor just now "Windows 8.1 Pro is not currently supported by Boot Camp".

I had replicated most of the problems highlighted here on a MacBook Pro Retina 15" late 2013 - now out of the box last week.

Maybe Apple would keep more friends if it was simply upfront, so others did not repeat my experience which appears to have been shared across the globe for in excess of 6 months?

Off to get refund.... what a waste of time...

both forhad and tocker create separate posts, there are easy fixes here