Windows 7 on a Mac (again)

At the end of October, I posted about running Windows 7 natively on an Intel-based Mac and installing the Boot Camp drivers. Numerous commenters found that what I described did not work for them. Since my system was working, I haven’t had to reinstall the Boot Camp drivers, but with the availability of a new build of Windows 7 and the reinstallation that it requires, I’ve had to repeat the Boot Camp installation.

First of all, the method described in my October post continues to work for me. Perhaps I didn’t describe it in enough detail, so I’ll try again. Before I get started, don’t expect support or responses from me about this. It works on my MacBook Pro (version 3,1) with Windows 7 Build 7000 and Boot Camp drivers from the Leopard installation disk. If it doesn’t work for you, I can’t help. I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t have time. Sorry.

What you need:

1. Boot Camp partition on your Mac with enough space to install Windows 7.
2. Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) installation disk.
3. Windows 7 installation disk.
4. Patched Bootcamp.msi file.

Procedure:

1. Insert the Windows 7 installation disk and reboot your Mac holding down the Option key.
2. Select the Windows 7 installation disk as the boot device.
3. Follow the Windows 7 installation instructions.
   Important Note 1: if you’re using a laptop, you may want to have an external USB keyboard and mouse handy since not all of the internal laptop keys will work properly until you have installed the Boot Camp drivers. Build 7000 seems to be better in this regard than the previous version I used.
   Important Note 2: Every time your machine reboots during the installation process, you will need to hold down the Option key and select the appropriate boot device. Once installation is underway, the appropriate boot device is not the Windows 7 installation media – it is your Boot camp partition.
4. Windows 7 should now be installed. If you look at Device Manager, you’ll see that the only thing that doesn’t have a driver is the iSight camera. Don’t be fooled. There are many more drivers needed before you have a fully functional Mac running Windows 7.
5. If you’re connected to the Internet, Windows Update should do its thing. One of the items it will install will be new nVidia drivers (at least for my MacBook Pro). Since Boot Camp will replace these drivers with its own, and you’ll need to reinstall the newer driver later, there’s no harm in not letting Windows Update do its thing at this stage.
6. Eject the Windows 7 installation disk by opening the Computer folder and right clicking on the DVD drive (this is where the external mouse is needed). You can then select the Eject option.
   
7. Insert your Leopard installation disk and dismiss auto installation.
8. Create a bootcamp directory somewhere on your hard drive. I picked c:\bootcamp since it is as good a place as any.
9. Copy all of the Leopard installation DVD to this bootcamp directory that you just created. What you’re actually doing is just copying the Boot Camp files – not Leopard itself since those files are not accessible within Windows. You should have copied 401MB of stuff.
10. Locate the BootCamp.msi file. It should be in c:\bootcamp\Drivers\Apple. If it isn’t, you’ve done something wrong. This is the file that needs to be patched. You could download a patched version here, or you can follow the instructions at the top of this post and do it yourself. Either way, you’ll end up with a BootCamp.msi that will treat any version of Windows above Vista as Vista and install Vista drivers.
11. Copy this BootCamp.msi over the one in c:\bootcamp\Drivers\Apple. It is 2.65MB in size (the same as the original, not surprising since we searched and replaced a single character a few times).
12. Go into c:\bootcamp and kickoff the setup.exe program to install Boot Camp.
13. If you had installed the video driver offered up by Windows Update, Boot Camp will complain that it couldn’t update the driver. You can ignore this error.
14. Reboot and enjoy the splendidly low resolution setting that has been bestowed upon you. You can set the correct one in the Display options in Control Panel.
15. Eventually, Windows Update will offer you the updated nVidia driver (if appropriate).
16. You should now have a fully functioning set of Boot Camp drivers, which means that the keyboard including hardware control keys work, the trackpad has right click functionality, iSight works, etc.
17. On my MBP, Windows thinks that the sound driver works, but no sound actually comes out. If you install the one from the RealTek site, you should be in business. You want the one called Vista Driver(32/64 bits) Driver only (Executable file). The one I installed is version R2.31.

To show you that this works for me, here’s a screen shot showing the brightness being adjusted using one of the hardware keys and the Boot Camp system tray icon.

Here’s what is shown in Device Manager:

Comments

[Joe]

Hi, thanks for this solutions... but in me, don't work.

I have a Macbook Aluminium, and same think with error 2229.

I know you don't have time for specific help, but, in this one you can Try, is just Macbook Aluminium, with that solution, you may help a loooot of peole.

Thanks

[david]

Joe - the Boot Camp drivers for the new aluminium MacBooks are undoubtedly different to the ones for the original MacBook, MacBook Pro and iMac. I bet if you tried to install the Boot Camp drivers from the same vintage Leopard installation disk as the one I have, you would have a system that isn't fully functional.
I suggest you read the earlier post http://techiemusings.typepad.com/techie_musings/2008/10/running-windows-7-pdc-build-on-a-mac-with-boot-camp.html and edit the BootCamp.msi file that is in the Boot Camp directory on the installation media you have.

[bonanza]

hey,
i did it exactly the way your described it here...but i used bootcamp 2.1 so i needed to patch my own .MSI. So i could install the drivers but unfournunately the Keyboard and Trackpad etc does not work.
Any ideas for this problem?
thanks in advance"

[Marv]

I have a mid 07 Mac Pro (2 Dual core Xeons)
I followed all your instructions exactly, and had complete success.
Win 7 with all Boot Camp mods is now happily running on my Mac.

Thanks

[Albi]

I'm still same with 2229. =_=;

[Sebastian]

Hi, I edited the BootCamp.msi like mentioned and it installed fine on windows 7 beta 1 on my macbook air. However the Trackpad and Keyboard do not work in windows 7 ( no FN key functionality, not right click option with the trackpad! ) Resolution, sound, wlan and brightness are perfect.

[Wouter]

Thanks for the help ..... Although for the non US there is something else to do...
For the installer to work, the region settings need to be US. And while it is easier not to change them during install. You can also after installing set them to the US for installing the bootcamp drivers. Afterwards you can put them on whatever you like or live.