Reinstall Windows 7 on 2011 iMac w/ Superdrive?

Question

Reinstall Windows 7 on 2011 iMac w/ Superdrive?

I have a mid-2011 iMac with a Superdrive. I've been running it using Yosemite and a Windows 7 in a dual-boot mode. The Windows 7 side has gradually become unstable to the point where I need to reinstall Windows 7.

I've searched here and read the instructions at Apple. None of the stuff I found explicitly addresses my question: can I simply boot from the Windows 7 installer DVD and reinstall Windows 7 over the old installation?

The instructions at Apple are oriented to a new installation. I tried using BCA 5.1.4, and the only options it gives me are "download the latest Windows support software from Apple" and "Remove Windows 7 or later version." I did the former; the latter seems to be intended for completely removing the Windows 7 partition, which I don't think is necessary. I just want to format the Windows 7 side and reinstall, and to be direct I'm not even sure I need to reformat.

Thanks in advance for any helpful guidance/comments.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 29, 2015 6:29 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 29, 2015 6:42 PM in response to Zippy The Pinhead

Your iMac may have AMD driver issues. Boot Camp: iMac displays a black screen during installation of Windows 7 - Apple Support . The article refers to 2009-2010 iMacs, but other iMacs with AMD GPUs are also impacted.

Boot into Windows, insert your W7 DVD, and when it comes up, run the Installation. It will save your current Windows to Windows.old. You can also format the partition, if necessary and run a clean install.

Please post back if you run into any issues.

Reply

Answer 2

Jul 29, 2015 6:56 PM in response to Loner T

I really appreciate the quick reply.

It may not be germane, but to promote longevity of the reinstalled W7, I'm thinking to reformat that side using the Disk Utility app. The final problem I experienced with my old W7 install was starting up and receiving "BOOTMGR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart." I ran the repair tool off the W7 DVD, and now I can see my Bootcamp partition on the Yosemite side (at first I could not), but many of my files and one entire user profile simply vanished.

Fortunately I had a sense that W7 was on its last legs, so I have a very recent copy of my Documents folder on an external HDD and backups on my NAS.

For peace of mind, I'd like to do a totally clean install; if you concur, I would appreciate knowing.

Reply

Answer 3

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 29, 2015 6:59 PM in response to Zippy The Pinhead

Please do not use Disk Utility to manipulate the BC/Windows partition. DU does not understand the Hybrid MBR used to bridge the OSX and Windows partitioning scheme. It can cause more grief and pain. If you want to resize the partition size, then better method is to remove and install using BCA, but not by the method I have previously noted.

Reply

Answer 4

Jul 29, 2015 7:19 PM in response to Loner T

I have no interest in resizing the partition; I just need to get W7 reinstalled and functional as soon as possible.

Reply

Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 29, 2015 7:29 PM in response to Zippy The Pinhead

If that is the case, please try the steps outlined (running W7 installer from booted Windows) and post back if you encounter any issues.

If during the 4-5 reboots, you see a 'device not found' or 'no boot device', retry it and use the Alt key during the reboot to select the DVD again.

This will work if the iMac has a fully functional built-in Optical drive. On Macs with built-in SuperDrives, external SuperDrives can cause problems.

Reply

Answer 6

Jul 29, 2015 9:10 PM in response to Loner T

Very appreciative of the advice. The reinstall, just using the W7 DVD, appears to have gone off without a hitch. I should mention that I did have a USB drive with the latest drivers downloaded on it inserted in the machine during the install process, and I gather the installer used them, though I am not 100% certain. The last time I did this was 2011, so my recall of the process is not clear. Many, many thanks for the quick replies.

Reply

Answer 7

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 30, 2015 1:26 AM in response to Zippy The Pinhead

Glad to see it work. 🙂

Please make sure you have a backup of OSX and Windows using separate appropriately-formatted external disks as a baseline for future recovery.

If the USB has a folder called $WinPEDriver$ and there are directories for specific hardware in it, the installer will use them to set up the environment, if necessary. This is usually to support hardware which may not have built-in drivers when the Installer was released. Broadcom BT or Intel Display drivers are typically used.

Reply

Answer 8

Jul 30, 2015 9:33 PM in response to Loner T

For the record, if any future searcher stumbles on this thread, I did have backups in place for both sides. The repository of both backups-- the OS X backup and the Windows 7 Backup-- is a Synology NAS. For the OS X side, I use Time Machine, and for the Windows 7 side, the Synology NAS comes with software called Data Replicator that allows *data* (not the whole Windows system) to be backed up. So while I did lose some files with the Windows 7 crash, I still have the vast majority of my important files, and that really softened the blow.

The best part about using this NAS is that I can back up all the computers I need to on this one device, and the two drives inside it are basically mirrored.

Reply

Answer 9

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Jul 31, 2015 3:53 AM in response to Zippy The Pinhead

I currently use Time Capsules, but am considering switching to the Synology. The TCs come with a built-in backup server, which a NAS does not, but the advantage is it backs up diverse OSes, unlike a TC which will only backup OS X (not even iOS - hint hint Apple for a new product).

Reply