Running 'Only' Windows on a Mac

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The IT department at the University I work for has said that Mac OS's less than 10.7 are no longer supported by Apple and need to be upgraded or removed. Since the computers I want to keep are OS 10.5 and 10.6, I decided to load BootCamp and install Windows 7 32bit. They are still saying that the old Mac OS is still there and blah blah ... So my question is, can I delete the old OS and just keep the Bootcamp partition? Will it still run?

Thanks Much!
 
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Yes, you can, but it may be best to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows from scratch so you can use all the drive space for Windows. I'll post links to a discussion that gives some tips and things to be aware of. I would highly recommend keeping a bootable installation of OS X on an external drive though. Use an external drive that supports Firewire if possible for the best performance.
Can you run ONLY Windows on a Mac? - Super User
MacRumors Forums - View Single Post - Macbook remove OSX keep windows 7
 

bobtomay

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Or, if both your Macs are Intel, you can order one copy of Lion from Apple for $20 and upgrade both - link.
 
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Thanks for both answers! I believe I'm going to wipe clean and install. Seems easy enough. Both computers are currently connected to lab equipment that requires Windows to run, so no real need for the Mac OS. Thanks again!
 
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I was under the impression that a Mac will search the whole drive for an OSX install before trying to boot a Windows OS, thereby making Windows slow to boot.
Have I been misled?
 
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I would think it would be easier to sell the Mac and get a PC if all you want is Windows.
 
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So I tried the doing this by booting to the Windows 7 DVD. It opens the setup routine fine, but the trackpad and keyboard don't work once into the Windows setup. I even tried using a wireless mouse and keyboard. Still no joy. This is a brand new MacBook Air. Do I still need to do something to update EFI emulation like with the older Macs?
 

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You need drivers! You should have ran bootcamp and got the drivers first.

Can I ask why on a brand new Air you would want to ditch OSX?
 
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You need drivers! You should have ran bootcamp and got the drivers first.

Can I ask why on a brand new Air you would want to ditch OSX?

I have them on a thumb drive. But this is the first screen in setup where you pick the setup language and so on. How do you load drivers before setup even starts?

Wifey needs a new lightweight laptop. She's a strict Windows user. Currently the MacBook Air is (IMO) the best lightweight hardware on the market and I got a very good deal on this one. She will never use the Mac side, so there's no sense in wasting space on a very tiny (128GB) hard drive.
 
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Can you plugin a mouse to use? I've installed Windows 7 on five Macs now. Be sure and install the Bootcamp 5.x for the 64 bit. Also, I had to drag Bootcamp to the Windows desktop, open in Windows explorer and start the installation from there. It's not in front of me now and don't remember which file to double click. It would not start from where it was suppose to. Hope that helps a bit.
 
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I've gone ahead and started using the normal Bootcamp procedure and it's working. It appears that the issue is with the Windows install DVD not supporting USB3. Both USB ports on the MacBook Air are USB3 and the Windows install program has only USB2 drivers, so the keyboard and trackpad won't work. I tried a wireless mouse and keyboard, but they also didn't work. She will only use this laptop for email and surfing and light Word editing anyway, so the 80GB of SSD space should be fine.
 
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I've set up Windows on a dozen Macs at least and never had an issue until now. But I think this is the first Mac I've owned that has only USB3 ports. I got through the Windows setup to the point where it's asking me for username and machine name and now the keyboard won't work again. What a pain in the ***.
 
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This is from the thread you linked.

Did you read the other threads on this Macbook Air forum? Did you try what Apple support found regarding having the USB stick for the support software on the left USB port (this means to download the support software on this side too) and the superdrive in the right?

And it worked! Just like a normal Bootcamp install. Originally I had the thumb drive on the right and the Superdrive on the left and had all those issues. I guess it's only weird if it doesn't work.

Thanks again for that link.
 

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