I have an ISO of Windows 7 64-bit, and want to install this via Boot Camp Assistant, with the intent that, once installed, I will upgrade to Windows 10. However, in trying to install Windows 7 on my MBP, I get the message that Boot Camp Assistant can only install Windows 8 or later. Is there any way around this?
OS X El Capitan (10.11)
You could use Oracle's Virtual box to install Windows. This way you can can run windows and os x at the same time.
I bought a copy of parallels. I installed Windows 7 under parallels. It was a pain to get all the proper updates to Windows 7 so that I could update to Windows 10. Microsoft doesn't allow you to use just any old version of Windows 7, but it has to have just the right set of fixes installed. I found some app to check if you have all the right stuff. Works.
I have Windows running under VMWare Fusion already but, because of shared resources, I want to run it as a standalone rather than in a virtual environment, as it should improve performance.
Your Mac year/model determines the versions of Windows you can install. Please see Install Windows 7 and earlier on your Mac using Boot Camp - Apple Support .
Thank you, although frustratingly, I have a 2015 MBP, which is not listed in that link. I'll try out on the assumption it maps to a 2014 version and see how I get on.
You will not be able to install W7 via Bootcamp on a 2015 Mac. The last Macs to support W7 are 2014 models. If you must have W7, you can use Virtualization engines (Fusion, Parallels, VirtualBox) with the limitations that they impose.
There is another option, but it requires quite a bit of elbow grease. If you are comfortable pursuing this path, please see Windows will not boot .
Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp on OS X El Capitan
