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Level 1

9 points

How to get Windows 8.1 on Mid 2010 MBP?

I have been looking and looking for a way to take the physical CD that comes with the windows software and download windows 8.1 to my 13-Inch, Mid 2010 MBP through BootCamp. Is there another way or a different way to load windows 8.1 onto my computer?

I am running OS X Yosemite, Version 10.10.3

Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Startup Disk: Macintosh HD

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce320M 256 MB

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 18, 2015 7:20 PM

41 replies

NickNack27 Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 19, 2015 9:01 PM in response to Loner T

It did not prompt me to set up a log in and password. Just restarted and this is what I have to choose from. Do I click the EFI Boot?

NickNack27 Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 19, 2015 9:44 PM in response to NickNack27

I went with the Windows Hard Drive first and it seemed to go through a finish install and OSX popped back up upon completion. So I restarted, held the alt key again and it brought back up the picture above and I clicked Windows once more. It then took me through the process of setting up an account and password. Once it completed it restarted on its own and loaded OSX once more. I then restarted the computer once more and clicked the check mark to open with windows once it came back online and it took me back to OSX. I then restarted, held the alt key and clicked on the Windows hard drive once again and it appears to be working taking me through even more setups.

It is now running great, Windows 8.1 is completely installed.

Is there a way to easily flip back and forth between OSX and Windows instead of having to restart and hold the alt key and select the disk manually?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 20, 2015 4:42 AM in response to NickNack27

1. Using System requirements to install Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp - Apple Support, please install the W7 64-bit drivers.

2. There are 4-5 reboots that are required for Windows to complete installation. In your specific case, these have/had to be manually completed, choosing the internal HD after the initial installation each time, so the installation would pick up from where it left off prior to reboot. This is typically done by setting the NVRAM boot arguments, but the manual installation cannot do that.

3. If BC drivers are installed properly then you can use Boot Camp: Set the default operating system.

4. Please take a back up of OS X and Windows. If you plan to use Windows Update, I suggest staying away from Windows driver updates.

NickNack27 Author

Level 1

9 points

Apr 20, 2015 6:24 PM in response to Loner T

So for #1, I need to download this? Boot Camp Support Software 4.0.4033 even though I already have 5.1.4?

For #2, I went through that process above and it appears that Windows is running great now.

For #3, is this basically for whenever the Mac starts this designates which side it starts up with?

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Apr 20, 2015 6:30 PM in response to NickNack27

Bootcamp 5.1.4 is the version of Bootcamp Assistant. It is not the same as the version of BC drivers. The link I posted has the BC drivers.

Jul 2, 2015 10:48 PM in response to Loner T

Hi Loner T,

This set of instructions has been the best thing I have found so far when trying to get Windows 8.1 onto my MBP Mid 2010 model.

I have followed the instructions you gave up until inserting my boot disk and power cycle restarting however when I restart my machine holding 'alt' I only get the option of picking my original Mac HD, there is no 'Windows' or EFO Boot option. Are you able to offer some help?

My partition shows up in disk utility although I did notice that when I checked the info it wasn't bootable. The below is an output of a sudo fdisk /dev/disk0.

Thank is advance.