Location of bootcamp drivers within windows partition

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Level 1

6 points

Location of bootcamp drivers within windows partition

So I just bought a new MB 12", upgraded to High Sierra then I proceeded to win10 installation via Bootcamp. I prepared the w10 installation iso file, Fired up bootcamp assistant, got everything downloaded, and things seem to be moving along. Then after the w10 installation, I noticed 'part' of the splash screen for bootcamp driver but nothing appeared to be running/installing. So I re-started the w10, hoping the bootcamp setup would kick in, but sadly no. Now I have w10 installed but hardly any driver loaded, INCLUDING wifi so no net access.

I would imagine the bootcamp driver setup program would run off related files saved on my windows partition so would appreciate if someone can point out the location?

If I go back to HighSierra, I can download the bootcamp driver/setup program again but I can ONLY save it on the MacOS partition which I canNOT access from windows and no, I don't have any USB-C flash drive for this purpose. I guess I'll have to get one if I cannot find the bootcamp driver on my win partition...

Thanks in advance for help & pointers.

MacBook, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4), early 2016

Posted on May 7, 2018 8:00 AM

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Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

May 8, 2018 10:53 AM in response to alecela

For some models (2015 and later), BC drivers are stored on the OSXRESERVED partition.

alecela wrote:

However, I'm still curious, when the bootcamp finished installing windows, I recalled that it would automatically launch and install the drivers. So is it wrong to expect the bootcamp driver being saved somewhere on the windows partition?

No, that is the normal expected behavior. In case they are not available, can you use a USB2 Flash drive to Download the BC drivers from Apple?

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Answer 2

alecela Author

Level 1

6 points

May 8, 2018 7:22 AM in response to Loner T

Thanks Loner T! Sadly Paragon NTFS doesn't seem to work, when I tried to verify the NTFS partition, it cited bad file descriptor error hence couldn't mount it.

However, I'm still curious, when the bootcamp finished installing windows, I recalled that it would automatically launch and install the drivers. So is it wrong to expect the bootcamp driver being saved somewhere on the windows partition?

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Answer 3

alecela Author

Level 1

6 points

May 9, 2018 9:40 AM in response to Loner T

Tx but I don't see that partition... In any case, I deleted the partition and re-installed again. Funny enough, this time bootcamp did start properly and installed the drivers. So gives me a little bit more time to shop for a nice usb-c hub. Thanks anyway for the help and pointer.

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Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

May 7, 2018 1:50 PM in response to alecela

You can download Paragon NTFS for Mac trial, get read-write access to the NTFS partition, copy the Drivers directory after expanding the DMG, to a known location on the NTFS side, switch to Windows and run setup.exe from the Bootcamp folder within this known directory. If it works, you can uninstall Paragon NTFS.

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Location of bootcamp drivers within windows partition

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