Boot Camp Problems

Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
First off, I'm running on a imac 9,1 10.6.8.
I'm a bit worried that I just jumped into bootcamp without proper knowledge, but whatever's done is done, so oh well. I am having problems downloading windows 7 (which is on an external DVD, and I'm getting mixed info about whether that is acceptable). Anyway, when prompted whether I wanted to download the windows support software, I said yes, but it said that it wasn't available, so I selected the option saying that I had the startup disk (I'm thinking that I was supposed to put the startup disk in at that point, but I didn't). Then I selected 100 GB of data for windows, and fell asleep while it was partitioning. When I woke up the computer was off, and when I turned it on it was obvious that the storage had been partitioned as I only have 8 GB of data left on the mac, but when I open bootcamp installer It takes me back to the beginning. At apple support it says that when this happens you should simply select "Start the windows installer", but I don't see that anywhere. If anyone could tell me what I did wrong and what I can do to fix it, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 

Slydude

Well-known member
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Nov 15, 2009
Messages
17,596
Reaction score
1,072
Points
113
Location
North Louisiana, USA
Your Mac's Specs
M1 MacMini 16 GB - Ventura, iPhone 14 Pro Max, 2015 iMac 16 GB Monterey
Don't quite have an answer for your question but I need some additional clarification on something. When you say "I only have 8 GB of data left on the mac"] do you mean that you only have 8 GB of free space on your Mac's boot drive? If so that is going to be a problem at some point OS X generally likes more space than that for its swap files.
 
OP
B
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I actually have 12.9 GB left, but that's still not a lot. Do you know if resetting my computer will give me back the partitioned memory so that I can try again? I feel like that's my only option at this point.
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
Run the Boot Camp assistant again. Only this time, tell it to remove the Boot Camp partition. That will restore the hard drive space back to OS X. You need to start over. I'm somewhat confused over what you're trying to do with installing Windows 7? Do you have a genuine Windows 7 DVD or a downloaded disk image from Microsoft?

Also, since you're running Snow Leopard on your iMac and it's an older machine you do not need the Windows Support software from Apple. That's why you received the message that it's not available. All the drivers that you need are on your Snow Leopard DVD. Be sure you read and understand all the instructions for installing Windows before proceeding again.
 
OP
B
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I'm having trouble finding how to remove the partition. Boot camp assistant open to a window prompting to either print the installation instructions, or continue. After pressing continue, I am prompted to either download the windows software or continue seeing as I have the installation disk. If I try to select either I am given a prompt saying that I lack the necessary storage to create a partition. I don't see an option to remove the partition anywhere. It's almost as if it doesn't recognize that I ever created the partition, but I'm sure that I have because the storage that I've partitioned is gone.

Also, I'm using a disk with windows 7 on it, and I saw somewhere that that will not work, is that true?
 

chscag

Well-known member
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
65,248
Reaction score
1,833
Points
113
Location
Keller, Texas
Your Mac's Specs
2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
The Boot Camp assistant should also have an option to remove the partition that you already created. I don't why it isn't showing you that. However, you can remove the partition with Disk Utility but it means booting the machine with your Snow Leopard DVD. It also means that you will wipe out all your data and have to reinstall. If you want to do that and start over, post back and we'll walk you through it. And no, it's not a good idea to upgrade to Lion right now.
 
OP
B
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Points
1
I wiped my computer and started over, and this time it worked. However, there are some issues with the sound, keyboard and camera. I'm pretty sure that the keyboard and camera are because of the fact that I cant seem to find the windows support software on the snow leopard disk, but I'm not sure about the lack of audio. I downloaded a package with "late 2009 model imac drivers for windows" from apple, so I'll see if that helps.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top