Unable to install Windows 7 on Macbook Pro (mid2014)

Question

I have been trying unsuccessfully to install  Windows 7 using Bootcamp on a Macbook Pro  15" Retina display (mid 2014)I have made a usb stick with  Windows 7 and drivers using bootcamp, and was able to partition a 50gb windows drive on the 500gb SSD drive in the Macbook.Windows Setup seems to boot normally, and I get to the part where I am supposed to select and format the  Bootcamp partition.  I select format, but when I select Next after I format the Bootcamp partition,  Windows Setup tells me it was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. I can&#x27;t go any further.  I also noticed that the partition Name  BOOTCAMP disappeared when I formatted  the boot camp partition (partition 4).  I just run the bootcamp assistant and delete the windows partition, but I would like to install a Windows version.   Perhaps Windows 7 is not compatible with this macbook and I need to install Windows 8.1

golf king · Answer

Hi Dukie,               My name is Steve ( in the UK ) and I glad ( in a certain way ) not to be the only who has had this problem, a real pain.Managed to get things to happen but took some real effort. What I ended up doing was delete Bootcamp, the n re-start in Recovery, erased the Mac OS, then re-installed it, a Pain I know, then tried BC again, it worked, well on one Mac, but now I have a even better issue ( so I hope someone out there reads this and can help both of us ? ), On another  iMac, I get all the way to having installed W7, all works - This is before I do any updates and install the BC Drivers, Keyboard works, Mouse works, even by wire or Bluetooth, Then install everything, re-start, you can even see the Red light on the mouse, then ......... F all.I lose all connection vis KB &amp; M, zero not a bloody thing, W7 even sees the Bluetooth mouse, but zero.I tried this several time and still zero, so if you or anyone else has any ideas i&#x27;m all ears .Hope you get it sortedSteve

Loner T · Answer

The Mac is confused between two different methods of installation, legacy BIOS (aka Hybrid MBR) vs newer EFI. W7 should not be installed using EFI, because of the lack of full compliance.Can you post the output of the following Terminal commands?diskutil listdiskutil cs listsudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0sudo fdisk /dev/disk0The "sudo" commands will prompt for your password, and it will not be echoed back. You may also see a warning about improper use of "sudo" and potential data loss due to "abuse" of the command.

dukie BC · Answer

Here is the output copied from Terminal. The first time that I tried to use Bootcamp, I lost 50gb when it failed, so I used Carbon Copy drive to restore my missing info.  I may try to delete it all, and recover then use time machine to reset everything back to original.MacBook-Pro:~ John$ diskutil list/dev/disk0   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.3 GB   disk0   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            499.3 GB   disk0s2   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             784.2 MB   disk0s3MacBook-Pro:~ John$ diskutil cs listNo CoreStorage logical volume groups foundMacBook-Pro:~ John$ sudo gpt -vv -r show /dev/disk0gpt show: /dev/disk0: mediasize&#x3D;500277790720; sectorsize&#x3D;512; blocks&#x3D;977105060gpt show: /dev/disk0: PMBR at sector 0gpt show: /dev/disk0: Pri GPT at sector 1gpt show: /dev/disk0: Sec GPT at sector 977105059      start       size  index  contents          0          1         PMBR          1          1         Pri GPT header          2         32         Pri GPT table         34          6                  40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B     409640  975163704      2  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC  975573344    1531680      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC  977105024          3           977105027         32         Sec GPT table  977105059          1         Sec GPT headerMacBook-Pro:~ John$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0Disk: /dev/disk0 geometry: 60821/255/63 [977105060 sectors]Signature: 0xAA55         Starting       Ending #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -  977105059] &lt;Unknown ID&gt; 2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused       3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused       4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused

Loner T · Answer

You currently do not have a BC/Windows partition.Windows Setup tells me it was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. I can&#x27;t go any further.This message indicates an EFI boot. If you use the Alt/Option key to interrupt the Installer and select EFI boot instead, EFI boot of W7 requires a GUID Partition Table (aka GPT)-only disk. This also splits the BOOTCAMP partition into an MSR (Microsoft System Reserved) partition (128MB) and the remainder as NTFS (type MS Data). This is what the Installer is complaining about.If you do not get any warnings about your Mac not supporting W7, you can install it. Please retry BCA, and if it fails, before your delete/cleanup you partitions, post the output of the same four commands. This will help establish what BCA wants the installer to use.You may also want to reset SMC Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support, before you attempt Windows installation again.