My Mid 2011 iMac and External DVD Drives

[Midoiri]

Hello Friends!

Today I've come to ask about a topic I wasn't sure where to post. Wasn't sure if I should post it here or in the Hardware section. I hope I'm posting in the right place.
So, after having some trouble with my Ethernet Port on my Bootcamp partition, I tried to re-install the drivers that the Bootcamp App itself would give me, so that Windows would stop having problems with the Ethernet port.

The drivers gave me a BSOD and from then on I was unable to restart Windows. This is the important part: My SuperDrive can't read discs anymore. So: I attempted to create bootable USB drives from different sources. Other Windows devices, several software options and I even found a neat video that let me alter a .plist file for Bootcamp that would give me the option to create the Bootable drive that posterior Macs use. The ones that have no DVD drive. Nothing worked. After messing up something else (which was entirely my fault) I decided to delete the entire partition and give Bootcamp a clean installation, and here's where I come to you:

I was originally running OS X Lion, and a 4.0 version of Bootcamp, but I've upgraded to Yosemite and a 5.1 version of Bootcamp. I hope the new drives won't give me a BSOD, but even if they do, being able to use a bootle Windows disc/disk would just let me repair the system. However, the computer just won't give me the option to re-install Windows via USB. The computer just won't recognise a bootable USB Windows drive, so I can't install or repair via that.
I haven't tried altering the .plist Bootcamp file again, and not sure if I even wanted to do that, and I was leaning towards one of two options:

1.- Take my Mac to a support center and just repair the SuperDrive
2.- Buy a Samsung/LG/Whatever external DVD drive, use it via USB and use my Windows DVD from there

However, I've come here before taking action because I've read stuff online about these SuperDrive Macs. Some really nice people helped me pick the right RAM to buy when I wanted to upgrade a couple months ago, and now I come to you asking two things:

1.- Is there any other way in which I could install Windows with a bootable USB?
2.- Can I even use a 3rd Party or even an external SuperDrive on this computer and will it work for sure? Or being a Mac with a built-in SuperDrive prevent me from using other external DVD drives

The second one is the big one for me. If not possible, well... I'll just take this baby to the repairing house and be done with it.

Thanks everyone for reading, and have a great day!

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

1.- Is there any other way in which I could install Windows with a bootable USB?

2.- Can I even use a 3rd Party or even an external SuperDrive on this computer and will it work for sure? Or being a Mac with a built-in SuperDrive prevent me from using other external DVD drives

1. There are work arounds available to install Windows via USB on a Mac that has a built in optical drive. You'll need to do some extensive searching though as there are various methods; some work, some do not.

2. An external optical drive will not work as it will not be "seen" by Windows and the firmware on your Mac will not allow it to be used to install Windows anyway.

My recommendation: Unless you absolutely need to run Windows in dual boot mode using Boot Camp, it may be easier to use virtual software. (Parallels, Fusion, or the free VirtualBox)