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Hey Guys,

Well, I've put it off for a while now but I guess it's time to try Windows 7 RC1. Thing is, I'm a total n00b at this. I checked Apple's website and it doesn't say anything about supporting Win 7 64-bit. Will Windoze 7 64-bit work on a unibody mac? Or do you have to get the 32-bit version?? Also, what steps need to be done and in what order? Boot Camp Assistant first? Is there an ISO Burner I should get or use?

Yes 64-bit will work. I have Vista on a MacBook pro -- version immediately before the unibody. Since Win 7 is basically Vista SE, I suspect that it will not be a problem. Depending on how much you plan to use it, a simpler idea might be to use VirtualBox or Parallels so that you can run it from within OS X. I am in a pilot group at work to examine using a single hardware platform regardless of OS...so I actually have nothing but Vista Business on the laptop. Vista recognizes EFI so, I need Bootcamp for drivers only -- so Vista is markedly faster to boot than say XP on a Macbook.

But if you just want to play around with Win 7, I would recommend using a VM. Then you don't have to mess around with partitions or anything else.

Virtualbox is a free download as well.

They artificially block Boot Camp drivers from installing on 64-bit OSes if they determine that the Mac isn't worthy, but you can dig around in folders on the Leopard DVD within Windows and install them manually.

I have Windows 7 32-bit installed and the drivers worked fine.

derFunkenstein wrote:

They artificially block Boot Camp drivers from installing on 64-bit OSes if they determine that the Mac isn't worthy, but you can dig around in folders on the Leopard DVD within Windows and install them manually.

You can also download them from Apple.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/a ... sta64.html

No, when you run the Boot Camp driver installer, it says "x64 is not supported on this system". The item you linked is an update that requires a retail Leopard DVD, and if you have a 10.5.6 build or later, you already have 2.1. Downloading that from Apple will give you a rather disappointing surprise.

Better hurry. Noticed in the Shortbread that the download will end tomorrow. (if it's true)
http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/17442

My main plan is to get a unibody 13" macbook "pro" next month (late next month, after Snow Leopard rolls out), and install the 64-bit Win7 RC using Boot Camp.

since it's a "pro" ignore everything I wrote about x64 not working, it should probably be supported. It should just install right off the DVD, which should have 10.5.6 or 10.5.7, and since you're getting newer hardware than what's supported by the Boot Camp 2.1 update, you shouldn't need to do anything other than that.

I upgraded my Macbook 2,1 (i945 chipset) from Vista 64 to 7 64 last week. Most stuff works OK, except the eject key on the keyboard no longer works, and when resuming from sleep the laptop screen's backlight stays just barely above "off" and I have to reboot to make it usable again (I have an external monitor plugged in). The built-in camera works now, which it didn't with Vista (no drivers from Apple).

Okay so I downloaded the Windows 7 RC 64-bit file. It's in .iso format. Do I just simply burn this onto a DVD using the Finder? (Doing so right now) Or is there some sort of app that specializes in .iso stuff?

Okay guys the way I did it didn't work:

1) get the file 7100.0.090421-1700fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culxfrer_en_dvd.iso

2) burned file to DVD.

3) Ran Bootcamp Assistant on friend's 13" MacBook "pro"

4) Partitioned disk. Boot Camp Assistant asks that you put in a WinXp or Win Vista disk... inserting burned DVD.

5) FAIL. Boot Camp Assistant did not detect the installation disk.

Okay, so I double-clicked the .iso file and what appears to be a bootable windows volume mounts onto the deskop. I copied the contents of that volume and burned THAT onto a DVD. Only after inserting THAT dvd, I get...

5) FAIL. Boot Camp Assistant did not detect the installation disk.

What am I doing wrong? Do I turn off the Macbook and hold a button down or something?

Did you burn the iso to disc so that it's a file on the disc, or did you burn the iso so that it creates a true installation disc? I don't mean to be rude, but your wording leads me to believe that you might have done that.

On the Mac side, I like a free utility called ImageBurner.

FireGryphon wrote:

Did you burn the iso to disc so that it's a file on the disc, or did you burn the iso so that it creates a true installation disc? I don't mean to be rude, but your wording leads me to believe that you might have done that.

Not rude at all, I'm a n00b.

Yeah the first thing I tried was directly burning the FILE onto a disk. Didn't work.

Then I opened the contents of the .iso and burned those contents onto a disk. Didn't work.

What am I doing wrong?

bthylafh wrote:

On the Mac side, I like a free utility called ImageBurner.

So far, this solution seemed to have worked, or at least gotten me past step 4.

Edit: FAIL. Windows 7 requires that it be installed on an NTFS format drive, but Boot Camp assistant made the 32GB into FAT32

Is there a way to make an NTFS volume in OS X? Disk Utility doesn't support making an NTFS partition.

You can re-format as NTFS in the Windows 7 installer

derFunkenstein wrote:

You can re-format as NTFS in the Windows 7 installer

Okay. Can you be more specific? Is it under the "Repair" option?? Sorry I'm such a n00b.

I don't recall the option, but on the screen where you see your partitions, there's something like an advanced link, or something. It un-locks a bunch of other previously-hidden options, including Format. It's after you pick Custom install instead of Upgrade install. Been too long since I installed, sorry.

derFunkenstein wrote:

I don't recall the option, but on the screen where you see your partitions, there's something like an advanced link, or something. It un-locks a bunch of other previously-hidden options, including Format. It's after you pick Custom install instead of Upgrade install. Been too long since I installed, sorry.

Yup. Found this right as you posted. Thanks yo!