Dual boot Mountain Lion & Win7? Revert to Boot Camp 4?

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Level 1

6 points

Dual boot Mountain Lion & Win7? Revert to Boot Camp 4?

I just upgraded my early 2009 Mac Mini with a big SSD and Mountain Lion (from Snow Leopard) with the intention of dual booting with Windows 7 64bit. When I attempt the Boot Camp process, I first get a pop-up box during the Windows software download telling me I have to use Windows 7, I have to click "continue" and it keeps going, then when it gets to the install portion, it reads my Windows 7 64bit OEM disc, and then tells me i have to use Windows 8, which I then have to click OK to get out of, and then there is nothing else for me to do but exit out.

From what I have read, the Boot Camp 5 as installed on my machine will not work with Windows 7 at all, is that correct? If so, is there any way I can revert to Boot Camp 4? I have tried this in a couple ways and have so far not found a way to do it. I don't have a copy of Windows 8, and have no desire to use it anyway.

I still have the original 120GB HDD in the machine still, I had intended to use it for general temp storage and to format in exFAT to transfer between the two OSes when I need to, but if it will fix the problem I suppose i could install Windows on that physical drive, I have not tried to see if this will work yet, though I am unsure why it would not work on an SSD and subsequently work on an HDD in the same machine.

Thank you for any advice.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5), 240GB SDD & 160GB HDD

Posted on Dec 20, 2015 8:14 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Dec 20, 2015 8:53 PM in response to VincentBrick

From Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support,

Mac mini

Mac model	Windows 7 64-bit	Windows 7 32-bit	Windows Vista 64-bit	Windows Vista 32-bit	Windows XP 32-bit
Mac mini (Late 2009)	-	4	-	DVD	DVD
Mac mini (Early 2009)	-	4	-	DVD	DVD

do not support W7 64-bit using Bootcamp, despite the Intel C2Duo being a 64-bit CPU. Please also see http://www.everymac.com/mac-answers/windows-on-mac-faq/windows-xp-vista-7-32-bit -64-bit-boot-camp-support-intel-macs.htm… . You may be able to install W7 64-bit, but will have driver issues.

BC Assistant and BC drivers are two different entities and do not need be on the same version. You can manually download the BC drivers by clicking on links which point to Boot Camp Support Software 4.0.4033.

Post Date: Mar 14, 2013

File Size: 601.76

System Requirements

MacBook (13-inch, Late 2006)
MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2007)
MacBook (13-inch, Late 2007)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2008)
MacBook (13-inch, Late 2008)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009 & Mid 2009)
MacBook (13-inch, Late 2009) *
MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2010) *
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2008)
MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2008 & Mid 2009)
MacBook Air (11-inch & 13-inch, Late 2010) *
MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch, Core 2 Duo)
MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch, 2.2 & 2.4GHz)
MacBook Pro (15-inch & 17-inch, Early 2008) *
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) *
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009 & Mid 2009) *
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2009) *
MacBook Pro (13-inch and 15-inch, Mid 2009) *
MacBook Pro (13-inch,15-inch, and 17-inch, Mid 2010)
MacBook Pro (13-in, 15-inch, and 17-inch, Early 2011 & Late 2011)
Mac Pro (Mid 2006)
Mac Pro (Early 2008) *
Mac Pro (Early 2009)
Mac Pro (Early 2007)
Mac Pro (Mid 2010)
Mac Pro (15-inch and 17-inch, 2.2 & 2.4GHz)
Mac mini (Mid 2007)
Mac mini (Early 2009 & Late 2009)
Mac mini (Mid 2010) *
iMac (17-inch, Late 2006)
iMac (20-inch, Late 2006)
iMac (24-inch, Late 2006)
iMac (20-inch & 24-inch, Mid 2007)
iMac (20-inch & 24-inch, Early 2008)
iMac (20-inch, Early 2009 & Mid 2009)
iMac (21.5-inch & 27-inch, Late 2009) *
iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) *
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) *
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)
iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011 & Late 2011)
iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

all these drivers support Windows 7, 32 bit

* drivers that support Windows 7, 32 and 64 bit

OEM 64-bit disks are unlikely to work. You need a retail W7 32-bit disk.

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Answer 2

VincentBrick Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 20, 2015 10:02 PM in response to Loner T

Wait, so its not supposed to be supported at all? I saw that chart, but that can't be true, it ran just fine when I did it in Snow Leopard, it was very easy and i am typically not very good with computers. The only issues I ever had with it were only indicative that i did not allocate a large enough Windows partition.

So BC Assistant and the drivers are different, which do I need to change for it to allow me to install Windows 7 like I did with Snow Leopard? That website you linked to supports that I can do this, it just seems that now under Mountain Lion I have to fool something in OS X into letting me do it. It would help if I had a fundamental understanding of how Boot Camp and the whole Windows drivers things works, I still don't understand beyond the partition creation aspect, if anyone has any links to stuff that can explain that to me in layman's terms that would be awesome.

The only reason I bought a bigger drive and more RAM was so I would have more space for my Windows partition and I would hate to have to buy another newer computer after just spending a bunch on upgrades for this Mini. Thanks.

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Answer 3

VincentBrick Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 20, 2015 10:18 PM in response to Loner T

So the stuff I put on the USB drive, that is only for Windows to use once installed, right?

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Dec 21, 2015 4:57 AM in response to VincentBrick

1. Download and save the 4.0.4033 drivers to a USB2 flash drive (USB3 will not work).

2. The EveryMac article has the details of Apple supporting the 64-bit initially (Snow Leopard) and then retracting the support later (Mountain Lion).

3. You do not really need BC Assistant to install Windows, if you do not want to. It is a convenient tool.

4. Is your W7 64-bit Installer media tied to a PC that you had bought (OEM version) or is it a retail version disc?

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Answer 5

VincentBrick Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 22, 2015 10:32 PM in response to VincentBrick

I am very embarrassed to report that this was all a result of me hastily grabbing a Windows XP disc off the shelf and not Windows 7. I messed with this for days before I ejected the disc and finally realized what I had done. I am very sorry for wasting everyone's time, please consider this issue solved, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit is now running perfectly.

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Answer 6

Loner T

Level 9

59,471 points

Dec 23, 2015 6:19 AM in response to VincentBrick

Please back up OS X, Windows and create a Windows System Restore point for future recovery.

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