How can I access Bootcamp from windows 10 to change OS back to OSX?

Question

Level 1

0 points

How can I access Bootcamp from windows 10 to change OS back to OSX?

Hey,

I have an 8 core Mac Pro from 2008 (3,1 I think) - I've recently had to upgrade to windows 10 (from windows 7) for the secondary OS, happy to say most of it seems to be working. Only one problem however, I can't find bootcamp anywhere and I need this to select the boot operating system. I use an Nvidia card which isn't compatible with the apple BIOS so I don't get the loading sequence where I can choose my OS. I've also tried to install bootcamp but as expected it says its not compatible with windows 10. How can I get bootcamp back or is there some other option to select the boot OS?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

MacPro 8 Core, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Aug 10, 2015 1:10 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

John Lockwood

Level 6

13,685 points

Aug 10, 2015 2:30 AM in response to K-Jack222

If you had installed Boot Camp drivers before upgrading they and the utility might have still been there after upgrading. Which Nvidia card do you have? It might be feasible to 'flash' it to have Mac firmware.

Your current best option is to hold down the X key on your keyboard when you turn the Mac on. Even if you can't see what is happening this key is supposed to force a Boot Camp configured Mac to boot from the first OS X volume it can find - normally on the same drive.

See Startup key combinations for Mac - Apple Support

Reply

Answer 2

K-Jack222 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2015 3:39 AM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks for the response John,

Yes bootcamp was previously installed and working for Windows 7, but I can't find the app after the upgrade to windows 10. Previously it was in the control panel and now its not in the 'Settings' window (which I presume is the new control panel for W10). I've tried searching for it in settings window and in the main search box as well with no joy 😟 - It seems to have been purged!

The 'x' key shortcut is useful, I'll give that a try and see if it works.

My Nvidia card is 660ti - I've not looked into flashing it yet, but I might try that as well.

Reply

Answer 3

K-Jack222 Author

Level 1

0 points

Aug 10, 2015 6:29 AM in response to John Lockwood

Hi John,

Unfortunately holding down the X key did not work. It still boots straight to windows. Any other ideas?

Cheers,

Reply

Answer 4

Aug 10, 2015 7:15 AM in response to K-Jack222

You could try holding down Command-Option-P-R all at the same time when you turn on the Mac, this will reset the Parameter RAM (PRAM) and one of the settings that gets reset is the boot drive selection so this may reset it to the default Macintosh HD drive.

If you have the older classic Mac Pro and more than one internal hard disk you could remove the one containing the Boot Camp volume and it should then boot from any other bootable drive i.e. Mac one. If you have another Mac then you could use FireWire Target Disk mode, connect your Mac Pro to the other Mac and then use the other Mac to install a copy of OS X on to another drive in the Mac Pro.

Do you have the original Mac video card which will let you see what is happening during the boot process? You could then as standard hold down the Option key to select what drive to boot from. Most people who upgrade their video cards keep the original one just for this situation unless they have already flashed the new video card.

Reply

Answer 5

lllaass

Level 10

210,411 points

Aug 10, 2015 7:16 AM in response to K-Jack222

This

System requirements to install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support

says that the 2008 Mac Pro (3.1) does not support Win 8 (7 is the highest). Thus, it is likely that the 2009 Mac Pro does not support Win 10

Reply

Answer 6

Knieff

Level 1

0 points

Nov 6, 2015 10:05 AM in response to K-Jack222

In Windows 10 open "Cortana" also known as the "search" feature.

Search "Control Panel".

Within "Control Panel" there is a search feature at the top right.

Search "Bootcamp".

It should show up there as "Boot Camp Control Panel".

I hope this helps.

Reply

Answer 7

K-Jack222 Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 9, 2015 11:59 AM in response to Knieff

Thanks Knieff,

I tried this when I installed windows 10 a few months back and bootcamp was not there in the Control Panel. I concluded that since I'm on a 3.1 version mac (early 2008) my bootcamp is out of date and I would need to wait for apple to release a new one that support my mac. Can you confirm if this is incorrect?

Cheers,

Reply