Cannot get restart with Boot Camp Windows 7 install

Question

Cannot get restart with Boot Camp Windows 7 install

I am wanting to install Windows 7 on my MacBook Air 13" Early 2014, el Capitan. I need windows 7 to work with one application I have for windows which is the only reason I need windows in the first place.

I created iso image, and placed 16GB USB Drive in place. I run Boot Camp, and it takes me through each step, and it gets to a window that says I need to download Windows 7 support drivers. I click on the button to go to the website, and I have downloaded

Support Software 5.1.5640

, and placed the uncompressed files on a separate thumb drive in a different USB slot.

This window does not have a "continue" button. It only has "cancel" and "open website".

According to the link How to install Windows using Boot Camp - Apple Support I should get a system restart, which doesn't happen.

Supposedly at step 4 "When you complete the assistant, your Mac restarts to the Windows installer. When you're asked where you want to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition, then click Format."

But this never happens.

When I check "About this Mac" I do not see a windows partition on the hard drive.

I have tried to restart holding "option" but the system doesn't complete a boot, and hangs, and I have to hard reset my computer.

I feel like I am in a state of limbo. What should I do next?

Brian

MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1), 120 GB available

Posted on Nov 15, 2015 6:06 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 15, 2015 6:27 AM in response to Brian Bowman1

I tried to option reboot into the windows USB again, and got farther. I got to the part asking what language to install, and to click "next", but neither the trackpad nor keystrokes were recognized

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Answer 2

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 9:41 AM in response to Brian Bowman1

Incomplete documentation on Apple website. Your BCA-created USB contains the BC6/W10 drivers, which will not work. Connect your BCA-create USB with BC6 drivers, open the .5640 zip file, and copy and replace $WinPEDriver$ on the USB from the .5640 bundle folder. Repeat the same with the Bootcamp folder. Once you have done these two steps...

Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support

How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support

and now try booting from the updated USB installer. If your keyboard/mouse still do not work, you are using a USB3 flash drive which does not work, find a USB2 flash drive and repeat the entire process, including the driver replacement steps noted in this post.

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Answer 3

Nov 15, 2015 9:47 AM in response to Loner T

OK. It makes sense, except the BCA created USB doesn't contain a folder $WinPEDriver$. Do you mean the folder, or the contents of the folder?

I have the .5640 bundle, and I have the $WinPEDriver$ folder unpacked, but I don't see what to replace on my BCA created USB. There are 13.1 GB of files on the USB drive, so it seems like the copy was complete.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 9:56 AM in response to Brian Bowman1

1. Copy the entire $WinPEDriver$ folder from .5640 to the root of the USB. If there is one already on the USB, it will be overwritten.

2. Copy the Bootcamp folder from .5640 to the exact same location on the USB, and let it overwrite the W10 version.

3. Boot from the USB and test.

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Answer 5

Nov 15, 2015 11:42 AM in response to Loner T

Ok... So copied $WinPEDriver$ to root of boot USB. Coped Bootcamp folder over. There was not a bootcamp folder to replace, just a "BOOT" folder

So this is what I have in the root directory of my BCA created USB. names without an extension are folders.

$WinPEDriver$

autorun.inf

boot

BootCamp

bootmgr

bootmgr.efi

efi

setup.exe

sources

support

upgrade

Rebooted to the USB Boot drive.

Got to the same point in the process, where it is asking for a language, but keyboard and trackpad are not responsive.

Any other thoughts. I do appreciate the help so far

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 11:56 AM in response to Brian Bowman1

Please copy .5640 AutoUnattend.xml to the root of the Usb otherwise WinPE will not work.

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Answer 7

Nov 15, 2015 12:42 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks again. I should be close, right? Either that, or it is not possible...

So this is my root directory now, and I still get to the screen to start installing windows (choose language) like before, and I can't use the keyboard or trackpad.

Any other thoughts? I'm wondering if I need to remove "Boot" folder?

Brian

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Answer 8

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 5:46 PM in response to Brian Bowman1

Did you run SMC and NVRAM Reset before the installation attempt?

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Answer 9

Nov 15, 2015 2:12 PM in response to Loner T

Of course not. Just did. Was filled with excitement. Same result.

So I guess I need to find a USB3 flashdrive? Any way to tell with ones I have at home, other than just re-trying them?

Brian

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Answer 10

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 2:44 PM in response to Brian Bowman1

1. Is your current drive a USB 3 flash drive?

2. Does it show under Alt/option when the Mac Reboots?

3. What is the Usb brand?

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Answer 11

Nov 15, 2015 2:51 PM in response to Loner T

The MacAir has a USB 3.0 BUS. I have a sandisk cruiser USB, which I believe is a 2.0 (says "version: 2.0) in system report.

I am hoping to get one while running errands tonight, and will let you know...

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Answer 12

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 4:24 PM in response to Brian Bowman1

1. To check the USB2 vs USB3, please see the following...

2. Before you invest in a new USB drive, can you connect it to your Mac and run the following commands?

diskutil list

sudo fdisk /dev/diskN (where N points to the USB from the previous command). Enter your password when prompted.

3. W10 installation uses EFI, W7 does not. This is an example W7 USB structure.

On some Macs, it will look like...

A BC drivers-only USB looks like (and this is model-dependent).

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Answer 13

Nov 15, 2015 6:03 PM in response to Loner T

Thanks. I do appreciate the time you are giving to help:

1) I have confirmed it is a USB 2.0

2)

Here is the output in terminal.

Brians-MacBook-Air:~ Brian$ diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD 250.1 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.1 MB disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD +249.8 GB disk1

Logical Volume on disk0s2

CC14FC98-BE78-419C-A9E8-9602DD7A6219

Unlocked Encrypted

/dev/disk3 (external, physical):

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: FDisk_partition_scheme *16.0 GB disk3

1: DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL 16.0 GB disk3s1

Brians-MacBook-Air:~ Brian$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk3

Disk: /dev/disk3 geometry: 1948/255/63 [31301631 sectors]

Signature: 0xAA55

Starting Ending

#: id cyl hd sec - cyl hd sec [ start - size]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*1: 0B 1023 254 63 - 1023 254 63 [ 2 - 31301629] Win95 FAT-32

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

3)

Drive architecture looks like the 2nd option given above. I had to move "Boot" out of "microsoft" under "EFI" and place it next to it. Here are my folder architectures as above.

And for BC

I found a USB 3 drive, and am going to go ahead and use it. Although first I am going to try a system restart with the slight folder rearrangement. I have run disk utility on the USB drive and it is ok.

Brian

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Answer 14

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Nov 15, 2015 6:11 PM in response to Brian Bowman1

Please check if the USB shows up as a selection using Alt/Option.

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Answer 15

Nov 15, 2015 6:20 PM in response to Brian Bowman1

Yes. It does show when I boot under alt/option. I can choose it, and it starts to load windows, and stalls at the screen that requires user input as the keyboard and trackpad do not respond.

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