OSX: Bootcamp Windows install with a USB pen

[Alexceptional]

This is a query on behalf of a friend of mine. He owns a Macbook Pro with a defective DVD drive and wants to install Windows on it as a dual boot.

To do this OSX has a program called "Bootcamp" which creates the second partition and installes Windows on to it, however it only wants to look for a Windows disk in the DVD drive which is broken. He has a copy of Windows on a USB pen, but we can't get bootcamp to "see" it.

We also tried simply booting the system from the drive (works fine on a PC) but we couldn't find the correct bios key combination for selecting the boot device, Macbooks are weird.

I'm not very familiar with Macs personally so I wondered if there is anybody on here who is.

[Lorem-Ipsum]

I thought you just held the c key while booting to select a boot device.

I'm not really a mac guy. I just had to help someone put linux on their mac.

EDIT: apparently its the option key: http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/askcore/WindowsLiveWriter/YesyouCANrunWindowsonyourMac_823E/clip_image002_thumb.jpg

But the mac's EFI must have the drivers for your USB stick, so you may have to try a few different USB sticks before you find one that works.

[Terbinator]

Find a Windows PC:
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/12/-the-usb-flash-drive.ars

[Alexceptional]

I thought you just held the c key while booting to select a boot device.

I'm not really a mac guy. I just had to help someone put linux on their mac.

EDIT: apparently its the option key:
image

But the mac's EFI must have the drivers for your USB stick, so you may have to try a few different USB sticks before you find one that works.

Ok, I'll pass that on. What is EFI? OSX can pick up the drive perfectly fine, it's just booting from it that is the issue.


Find a Windows PC:
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/12/-the-usb-flash-drive.ars

Yup already done that part. Reading the OP is useful.

[iGoD ReLeNtLeS]

could you not use a 'virtual disk drive' like that of magic disk. There must be something for OSX that does the same, then just get a windows image?

[Alexceptional]

could you not use a 'virtual disk drive' like that of magic disk. There must be something for OSX that does the same, then just get a windows image?

The system reboots once bootcamp finds the windows disk so that wouldn't work as the virtual drive would unmount as soon as OSX shut down :(

If there was a way for a USB FDD/HDD to appear to an OS as an optical drive with a disk in it (rather than simply a bootable removable storage) that would probably work.

[Gav]

Know anyone with an external USB DVD drive?

[Lorem-Ipsum]

Ok, I'll pass that on. What is EFI? OSX can pick up the drive perfectly fine, it's just booting from it that is the issue.


EFI is what Mac has instead of BIOS. PC's coming out in 2011 may well have UEFI instead of BIOS. BIOS is old tech.

[iGoD ReLeNtLeS]

The system reboots once bootcamp finds the windows disk so that wouldn't work as the virtual drive would unmount as soon as OSX shut down :(

If there was a way for a USB FDD/HDD to appear to an OS as an optical drive with a disk in it (rather than simply a bootable removable storage) that would probably work.

ah i see

i thought it installed windows from within OSX