Installing Windows 7 on an iMac without any Apple software

Question

Installing Windows 7 on an iMac without any Apple software

I have been "experimenting" with installing Windows 7 on my mother's iMac (20-inch 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, IIRC) and have managed to get it into a fairly unresponsive state and I'm trying to understand why. In short, the ultimate goal here is to determine how to install Windows 7 on an iMac (starting with a blank hard disk).

A bit of background: Mum (and I) didn't like the Apple OS, so she was happily running Linux (CentOS 6) for a couple of years, but for various reasons she now needs Windows. In the past, I've installed Linux and Windows on just about anything and everything with a CPU, largely without major issues (until now). To clarify, installing Linux was fine on this iMac, only Windows is proving difficult.

One thing that seems to be causing me a lot of trouble is that - as I understand it - it is difficult / impossible to access any of the low-level boot options on an iMac (e.g. the usual UEFI / BIOS stuff). Is this correct, or am I missing a trick?

Another issue I have is that almost all of the information I find online makes the assumption that the Apple OS is installed. This is clearly not the case for me - I did invest in Snow Leopard long ago, but quickly decided it wasn't for me, wiped the hard disk, installed CentOS and released the Snow Leopard installation media into the wilderness.

The current issue that I am stuck on is that the Windows 7 installer refuses to install to the hard disk. It happily creates and formats a primary partition, but then gives the following error:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu.

If I could get access to any of the low-level boot options, then maybe I could investigate this issue. Can anyone offer any tips?

Posted on Aug 11, 2016 4:48 PM

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Answer 1

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

Aug 11, 2016 5:15 PM in response to weetabixharry

Here is the optimum solution to the problem: Buy a Windows computer. They are cheap. A Mac with OS X installed can run Windows using Boot Camp Assistant for a dual boot system. Only then can you obtain the drivers that Windows requires for use with the Apple hardware.

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Answer 2

Aug 11, 2016 5:28 PM in response to theratter

Perhaps I should clarify that what I want to do is install Windows 7 on an iMac. Buying another computer would not appear to solve this problem.

I may be misunderanding your wording, but my understanding is that Windows is an operating system, not a type of computer.

It may be true that a Mac with OS X installed can dual boot, but I don't have OS X installed and I don't want to dual boot.

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Answer 3

theratter

Level 4

3,961 points

Aug 11, 2016 5:40 PM in response to weetabixharry

There are Apple computers that run OS X which you don't like. There are other computers that run Windows - often referred to as Windows computers or PCs. I don't see how this would be considered vague.

You cannot legally install Windows on a plain Mac without OS X. That violates the warranty in the same way as it is illegal to install OS X on non-Apple hardware. Furthermore, if you do install Windows then you will need drivers that enable Windows to communicate with Mac hardware such as sound and networking.

You don't want a Mac and you don't want to run OS X. So why have a Mac when a Windows box is a far better solution. Sell the Mac. Buy a Windows computer - that's a PC that runs Windows. Or return to Linux. Many Linux distros actually have drivers that will work with many Mac models. No OS X required. Ubuntu and Mint are two such distros.

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

136,739 points

Aug 12, 2016 1:22 AM in response to weetabixharry

Actually, there is nothing illegal about installing Windows despite what some claim. It would void the warranty which is different than not being legal. But you should check various Windows forums to see how to do what you want to do, not Apple forums.

Good Luck. 😎

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Answer 5

Aug 12, 2016 1:35 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks very much, dialabrain. Of course it's not illegal and, in my case, I'm not interested in a warranty.

I really like the iMac hardware - it packs a lot of performance into a compact and stylish box. However, I think you're right that the Windows forums will be a better source of help for installing Windows on an iMac; Mac hardware and software seem to be more strongly coupled than I had realised.

Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 6

Aug 12, 2016 2:56 AM in response to weetabixharry

What is the intended use of Windows7? If it is not heavily graphics

oriented, you could run it in a virtual machine. You can install

Virtual Box (https://www.virtualbox.org/) and install Win7 into it.

As a virtual machine, the Win7 computer runs like another app in the

current OS. A full explanation of this concept can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine

This approach solves the whole issue of BIOS, drivers, dual booting, etc.

I have been doing this to run Windows on OS X for many, many years, although

using commercial products (VMWare Fusion, Parallels Desktop).

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Answer 7

Aug 12, 2016 4:26 AM in response to woodmeister50

I think this is probably a step in the wrong direction. Yes, I could reinstall a new Linux distro and use it to run a Windows 7 virtual machine, but this seems a rather indirect (and resource hungry) approach. It would make more sense to just install Windows directly.

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Answer 8

Aug 12, 2016 4:44 AM in response to dialabrain

Thanks dialabrain - the method described in your link is actually very close to what I had tried when I ran into the error described in my original post. However, with a bit more searching through similar Windows forums, I found a recommendation to rebuild the Master Boot Record using the original Apple OS DVD.

Of course, I don't have any of the Apple installation media, but I do have a very old Ultimate Boot CD lying around which had the tools I needed. I used one of the free FDISK derivatives to rebuild the MBR (and had already been using PLOP boot manager to get the iMac to boot from USB) and suddenly Windows 7 installed without a hitch.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

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Answer 9

lkrupp

Level 7

23,869 points

Aug 12, 2016 12:07 PM in response to weetabixharry

One of the issues you face in trying to install Windows on a Mac without any Apple software is drivers. Standard Windows drivers don't work or at all well with Apple hardware. That's why the Bootcamp application provides Apple customized drivers for the hardware. The only way I know of to install Windows on a Mac is to install OS X, use Bootcamp to create the Windows partition, install Windows, delete the OS X partition, resize the Windows partition and then install the Windows drivers from the driver install disc Bootcamp created for you.

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Answer 10

Aug 12, 2016 1:52 PM in response to lkrupp

Yeah, I've read other people warning that Apple make life unusually difficult when it comes to Windows drivers... but I'm sort of wondering what's the worst that can happen. My (currently vague) understanding is that I'll be able to download "Boot Camp Support Software" from the Apple website, which contains all the necessary Windows drivers.

If it's not as easy as that, then I would hope that I'll be able to get video, sound and (wired) network up and running okay using generic drivers and I could probably live without much of the rest. (In my case, I don't need wifi, camera or microphone... or any other peripherals I don't know about). The thing that could be more annoying is performance throttling - I have read that Apple disable a bunch of hardware features (such as AHCI) under Windows. The cynics say this is to create the illusion that OS X is better than it really is, but who knows - there may be semi-legitimate reasons for doing this.

I'll have a look at driver issues later this evening (UK time) and will post back with what I find.

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Answer 11

dialabrain

Level 10

136,739 points

Aug 12, 2016 2:06 PM in response to weetabixharry

weetabixharry wrote:

The thing that could be more annoying is performance throttling - I have read that Apple disable a bunch of hardware features (such as AHCI) under Windows. The cynics say this is to create the illusion that OS X is better than it really is, but who knows - there may be semi-legitimate reasons for doing this.

Seriously? Do you actually think Apple would bother worrying about the very few people who might decide to install Windows on a used Mac so they would enable "performance throttling"?

Maybe I shouldn't have tried to help with this.

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Answer 12

lkrupp

Level 7

23,869 points

Aug 12, 2016 2:21 PM in response to weetabixharry

Well let's get down to the basics here. Apple hardware is not PC OEM hardware. Apple did not design Macs to run Windows like a Dell or HP. It's why third party graphics card makers had Windows models and Apple models with different firmware. The ability to run Windows on Apple's hardware was purely a coincidence when they moved to Intel processors. Early hobbyists were the first to cobble together a working plan for installing Windows on Macs. Apple joined the game when they developed Bootcamp. It's not a perfect solution because of hardware differences other than the CPU.

Not to start an argument but the question arises. If you don't like Apple's operating system then what's with the Apple hardware? A standard PC would be a much better solution. You are sort of trying to use a Ford transmission on a Chevrolet engine. It might work but there will be problems.

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Answer 13

Aug 12, 2016 2:40 PM in response to dialabrain

I have no idea - I haven't seen any evidence either way. Like I said, I find the suggestion cynical, but I guess people will always be more suspicious of a hardware vendor that is perceived to offer poor support for an operating system that competes with its own.

I can understand both sides of the argument. If I were a software developer at Apple, I don't think I would want to be on the "Windows drivers" team. I'm pretty sure you'd get frequent wedgies from all the other coders.

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Answer 14

lkrupp

Level 7

23,869 points

Aug 12, 2016 2:45 PM in response to weetabixharry

Bottom line. Apple hardware is not PC hardware. Apple is not intentionally "making life unusually difficult" about instilling Windows on an iMac. The two were never intended to be compatible. Macs to this day are not Windows Certified hardware. Microsoft does not offer support for Windows on Apple hardware. What is becoming clear is that you think the hardware is identical. It is not. You think Apple is preventing you from doing what you want. They are not.

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Answer 15

dialabrain

Level 10

136,739 points

Aug 12, 2016 2:46 PM in response to weetabixharry

First of all, Apple is a hardware company, Microsoft is a software company. Second, Apple offers a way their users can use Windows on Apple hardware. Why would they penalize those users? It'a an added bonus. It makes no sense to cripple it. And for what it's worth, I run Windows 7 and Windows 10 Insider Preview as virtual machines on one of my iMacs. Which do you think runs, better faster, the VMs or my Asus laptop running Windows 10?

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