Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Level 1

34 points

Boot Camp Assistant "Windows 7 Installer disc could not be found"

I'm attempting to Boot Camp a partition on my MacBook Pro Retina (13", early 2013) and it's not working. I purchased a Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit DVD and i'm accessing it through the optical drive on my desktop iMac. So far so good; MBP shows the disc on its desktop through remote disc sharing. The USB drive with downloaded Windows drivers is in place.

However, Boot Camp Assistant won't recognize the Windows 7 DVD, even though it's right on the desktop (remotely). There is a dialog box and it says "Installer disc could not be found .. wait a few seconds"

And that's it. Nothing further happens.

Help! I hate Windows! Why am I doing this??

Posted on Nov 9, 2014 6:33 PM

31 replies

Lightwave Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 10, 2014 8:06 PM in response to Loner T

OK, one last question. I'm in the process of installing windows and it is asking for the folder with drivers: Bootcamp (C), Wininstall (D) or Boot(X). But no matter what I pick, including the Drivers folder within D, the message says "No signed device drivers were found"

Now what?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Nov 11, 2014 3:49 AM in response to Lightwave

My suggestion is to complete the Windows installation first. By default, if the drivers were downloaded to the USB by Bootcamp Assistant, it should automatically and silently install them during the Windows installation process.

Lightwave Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 11, 2014 4:56 AM in response to Loner T

BCA did install Windows but the drivers installation does not seem automatic. It asks me to point to them and no matter where I point, says it's not there. I wonder if BCA did put the correct drivers on USB, as it appears these are different for different MB models?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Nov 11, 2014 5:30 AM in response to Lightwave

You will need to download Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621 to a USB and install it manually on the Windows side. BCA will download the correct drivers based on your hardware. You can verify what you have on the USB by looking at Bootcamp.xml in the Bootcamp directory on the USB, before you wipe it. Is your USB a USB2 or USB3?

The System Requirements for this version are

System Requirements

MacBook Air (11-inch & 13-inch, Mid 2011)
MacBook Air (11-inch & 13-inch, Mid 2012)
MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch, Mid 2010)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, & 15-inch, Early 2011)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2011)
MacBook Pro (13-inch,15-inch & 17-inch Late 2011)
MacBook Pro (13-inch & 15-inch, Mid 2012)
MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012)
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch and 15-inch, Early 2013)
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
Mac Pro (Mid 2012)
Mac mini (Mid 2011)
Mac mini (Late 2012)
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)
iMac (21.5-inch & 27-inch, Mid 2011)
iMac (21.5-inch & 27-inch, Late 2012)
iMac (21.5-inch) Early 2013
Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, 64 bit

Lightwave Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 12, 2014 6:22 AM in response to Loner T

I have not been able to get past the driver installation stage. Have erased the partition and tried again - neither the set of drivers automatically downloaded by BCA nor the 5621 set (shouldn't they be one and the same?) seem to be located, or there is some other problem.

The USB drive I am using is actually a 32GB SDHC card but I don't see how that could possibly make any difference.

Let me know if you have any further suggestions; otherwise I am seeing a friend later today who is a software engineer and may be able to take a look.

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Nov 12, 2014 6:34 AM in response to Lightwave

Since BC drivers are not installed, there is no SDHC support. You need a USB2 flash drive with .5621 drivers. They should be the same as BCA downloaded ones.

Please look at bootcamp.xml in the Bootcamp folder on the OSX side and look at version information. Here is an example.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<?xml-stylesheet type='text/xml' href='test.xsl'?>

<ProductManufacturer>Apple Inc.</ProductManufacturer>

<ProductVersion>5.1.5640</ProductVersion>

Lightwave Author

Level 1

34 points

Nov 12, 2014 7:35 AM in response to Loner T

Well, I got it running. The problem seems to have been that I hadn't formatted the BC partition properly. I have to say that Apple's 'minimalist' style instructions were really insufficient for the details of this.

Thanks for your help!

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Nov 12, 2014 7:42 AM in response to Lightwave

BCA should format your internal partition to be FAT32, which the Windows Installer converts to NTFS. If you manually create a FAT32 partition, the MBR onto being built can cause problems. Good to see it sorted out.

wildhirt

Level 1

0 points

Jan 26, 2016 10:48 AM in response to Loner T

I'm having very similar problems to Lightwave, but have been unable to resolve them. I have an early 2011 13" MacBook Pro running 10.7.5, with 48GB of free space. I've purchased a Win7 64x ISO from an authorized reseller, burned it to a DVD-R, downloaded the .5621 drivers, installed them at the root level of a 32GB USB2 drive that's been formatted to FAT, and yet BCA 4.0.4 still can't find the installer disk. Any other suggestions?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 26, 2016 6:34 PM in response to wildhirt

1. The USB should only contain the BC drivers, not the Windows Installer.

2. Disconnect the USB after you download the BC drivers.

3. Use only the DVD-R containing the Windows installer in the built-in Optical drive. Do not use an external Optical drive.

wildhirt

Level 1

0 points

Jan 27, 2016 8:40 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks for the suggestions, but I'm still not having any success. I even tried the installation on my wife's MBP using El Cap and BCA 6.0.1, but I keep running into the "installer disc could not be found" error. My only guess at this point is that there's a problem with the ISO itself, though it appears to be normal. This is what I see at the root level when I expand the ISO:

I'm hoping there's something obvious that I've overlooked, but I'm completely stumped at this point.

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jan 27, 2016 11:24 AM in response to wildhirt

1. What is the size of the ISO file? Can you post the MD5sum/SHA1 of the ISO file?

2. Was the USB with BC drivers disconnected before the installation?

3. In OSX, if you insert the DVD-R, does the DVD appear and show files properly? Your screen shot is from the ISO, do you get the same from the DVD? What brand is the DVD?