Can I install Windows on my Mac without Boot Camp Assistant?

I was wondering if this was possible, or does Boot Camp Assistant format the hard drive in such a way that makes it possible for Windows to be installed, or can I just create a new partition myself and format it and install Windows without having to touch Boot Camp Assistant?

Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak2, Vista, or Windows 7. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, Vista Ultimate, or Windows 7. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not as fully developed for the Mac as Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system. See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion. Boot Camp is only available with Leopard or Snow Leopard. Except for Crossover and a couple of similar alternatives like DarWine you must have a valid installer disc for Windows.
You must also have an internal optical drive for installing Windows. Windows cannot be installed from an external optical drive.

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HT5628 i was installing windows 8 on mac by boot camp and after i put the windows code and choose the partition i formatted the boot camp sector it said windows can not install on this sector because it is gpt

i was installing windows 8 on mac by boot camp and after i put the windows code and choose the partition i formatted the boot camp sector it said windows can not install on this sector because it is gpt

Reinstalling Mavericks depends on several factors:
if you erased your recovery partition
what OS originally came on your Mac.
I'll assume you don't have a backup available that you made before your mishap, because you didn't mention it.
That's really the take home message here: have a backup!
If you still have your recovery partition:
boot into the recovery partition (command R at restart)
use the recovery partition to reinstall Mavericks. see: OS X: About OS X Recovery
if you do not still have your recovery partition, then it depends on whether your Mac originally came with installer disks or not.
If it originally came with installer disks, you would boot from the installer disks, erase your HD, and then reinstall the OS that is on the installer disks, and then upgrade as necessary until you get to Mavericks.
If your mac did not originally come with installer disks, but you managed to erase your recovery partition, then you can try to boot into internet recovery (option-command-R at restart), and use internet recovery to erase your HD and reinstall the OS that originally came with your computer, and then upgrade to Mavericks if you need to. See: Hands on with Mountain Lion's OS X Recovery and Internet Recovery | Macworld
(the reference refers to ML but it applies just as well to Mavericks).

If I install Windows on my Mac using Boot Camp, will I be able to use a Windows Keyboard instead of the Keyboard that came with my Mac?

If I install Windows on my Mac using Boot Camp, will I be able to use a Windows Keyboard instead of the Keyboard that came with my Mac?

yeah I use a windows keyboard both in OS X and in windows on my imac I pref the split ms type of keyboard over the tiny apple keyboard and I pref the razor mouse so those are my main input sources in both yosemite and windows8.1

Install Windows XP in Leopard WITHOUT Boot Camp - No More Disk Error

For those of you having problems installing Windows XP in Boot Camp because of the formatting screen never showing up and then the system restarting with the dreaded:
Press any key to boot from CD .....
Disk Error
Press any key to restart
I too spent many frustrating hours trying to find a solution that worked. I searched these threads, tried many of the solutions suggested here and elsewhere, including recreating the Windows CD without a specific file, using the FreeDOS boot CD (couldn't ever get it to work, though I understand some people have had success), Reinstalling Leopard and trying again, dancing around the laptop with incense three times counter clockwise while chanting the name of my childhood pet... etc.
I FOUND A NEW SOLUTION!!!! A much easier solution!!!!
For anyone who is having this problem and is planning to run virtualization software.
(Something that let's you run Windows from inside Leopard)
SKIP BOOT CAMP ALTOGETHER!!!
USE VMware Fusion to install Windows.
I decided to try a different approach entirely and did a completely fresh install of Leopard (not sure if that was necessary or not but with everything else I had been trying I wanted to clean it up anyhow) and then installed the 30 day trial version of Fusion w/ the unlock key VMware emailed me.
I entered my information and Windows product key into Fusion's "Easy Install" Interface, clicked install, and about 30 minutes later I was browsing around in XP.
I HIGHLY recommend this option for anyone having difficulty with the formatting screen not showing up. I have a Bachelors Degree in Information Systems and still spent the better part of 2 days working on this boot camp problem, including numerous hours with the higher tier of apple's tech support. I suspect that those of us having this problem may have an OEM or systembuilder copy of XP... but that is for Apple to deal with - not me, I have better things to do with my time.
If you are planning to run Windows from within Leopard anyhow, just buy Fusion and to **** with the hassle.
You can go to VMware's website and get a 30 day evaluation copy to see if this will work for you before you decide if you want to purchase it, they will email you the unlock key.
Best of luck, hope this saves someone some time!

For what it's worth, I've used the OEM version (copper disk), Select version (bulk license), and an NFR (partner program) version of XP Pro with SP2 and they all worked. On my MacBook Pro's I use boot camp to split the disk in two, reboot using the Windows CD, and pick the partition to format it.
Apple states that you need a full version of Windows, and the OEM versions are slightly different from the commercial versions, but both should work. On my Mac Pro, I created a 3-disk OS X RAID-0, and left the 4th disk alone. I rebooted with the Windows CD and installed Windows to the 4th disk without Bootcamp at all. Once Windows was installed, I used the Leopard disk to install the Bootcamp drivers. The Mac side has no Bootcamp installation but I can still choose between the volumes by holding down the option key at boot time or by setting the startup volume in the OS X Startup disk preference pane.
The solution to use virtualization, unfortunately, will not work for many situations where graphics are involved. Most current major products, such as AutoCAD, 3dsMax, and so forth, will not run properly or at all without specific DirectX 9 or OpenGL support. To date both Parallels and VMWare do not completely support DirectX or OpenGL.

I have a Mac Book Pro A1226 - can i install Windows 7 on this via boot camp

I have a Mac Book Pro (A1226 -late 2007) and I want to run Windows 7 Ultimate on it via Boot camp. I am currently running Mac OS X 10.6.8 with Boot camp 3.0. For some reason I can't seem to install Windows 7 through Boot camp. Can I even install it on this computer? Would I be able to run Windows 7 on this computer if I purchased Parallels instead.
Thanks

You should try asking in the Boot Camp forum where the Boot Camp gurus hang out. Your issue has been discussed there many times.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Installing Windows On Multiple Macs With Boot Camp?

I have an iMac, White MacBook, MacBook Pro (Late 2006) and very soon I should be getting a Unibody MacBook Pro. My question is, I plan on buying Windows 7 for Boot Camp, and I was wondering if the install limit applies even with Boot Camp. I read that Windows only installs on one computer at a time, and I was curious that if with Boot Camp, it still holds true. Any help would be appreciated.

For now, Windows 7 is free RC download. And there are hints in the EULA that a Family Pack could be in the offering.
I usually buy System Builder, and you can buy Vista SP1 with $9.95 or free upgrade to 7 - retail, Ultimate to Ultimate.

Cannot install Windows 7 32-bit using Boot Camp

I have one of the new iMacs (late 2012) and I can't install Windows 7 32-bit using Boot Camp. Whenever I try to being the installation using the Boot Camp Assistant, I always get the following message: "Need 64-bit Windows installation USB drive or DVD. Boot Camp only supports 64-bit Windows installation on this platform. Please use an USB drive or DVD which contains 64-bit Windows". I have successfully installed 32-bit Windows on my Macbook Pro that is running the same version of Mac OS X and Boot Camp, but I don't know why on this new iMac it doesn't allow me to. Apple's documentation states that I should be able to install either 32-bit and 64-bit without any problem, but this is not the case here. I can't find anything about this problem/error on the Internet either. HELP!!!

AidenT wrote:
Yes, circumstances do change but if Apple is, as they claim to be, serious about seamlessly migrating what is still a large and dominant market share of users from Windows, supporting 32 bit versions is not a nice to have, but a must have.
I don't see why users have to make excuses when there is a clear shortfall of what is promised.
In other discussions, there is talk of an opportunity for Apple to make a significant impact, as Windows 8 has deviated so much from the comfort zone of traditional Windows users. But to make that change, Macs have to support what is still a primarily 32 bit environment in the installed base.
As for the use of VMs, I had a tough time migrating out of Parallels 6 after an upgrade to Mountain Lion broke compatibility so IMHO it is not a long term solution unless you are happy to hand out $50 every 2-3 years just to support the same functionality.
Use Virtual Box, it's free.
32 bit may have a reasonable user base but it's going away fast, if you must use 32 bit Windows and won't use a VM your choice is limited.
Buy a PC, or buy an older Mac.
The rest of your post is speculative and I won't go there.

Install Windows XP 64-bit on Boot Camp.

Can I install Windows XP 64-bit on Boot Camp (Tiger)? Where can i find all the driver for 64-bit? Thank you.

Hi Amen,
XP 64-bit was never supported by Apple.
Therefor you are left to find the needed drivers all by yourself and for Apple-specific hardware you won't find any drivers at all.
Use the System Profiler in OS X to determine what hardware is in your Mac and then go to the websites for these hardware manufacturers to see/find drivers for XP 64-bit.
Personally I am not sure if all this hassle is worth the outcome.
Regards
Stefan

I was wondering can i install windows on my mac when i have downloaded windows form the internet and do not have a C.D.??

I was wondering can i install windows on my mac when i have downloaded windows form the internet and do not have a C.D.??
Because when i get to the part in Boot Camp Assistant that says Start Windows Installation it says u need a disc... is there no other way??

Get the physical copy (disk) this will enable you to reinstall when (not if ) it messes up.
Make sure to purchase acopy that is compatible with your OSX

Can you use Windows 7 to partition a Boot Camp created drive (not just a PC partition on a Mac drive) into multiple PC partitions?

Can you use Windows 7 to partition a Boot Camp created dedicated PC drive (not just a PC partition on a Mac drive) into multiple PC partitions?

Can you download this utility, it is a close equivalent of the gpt command, but has more features? (It is more than likely that Windows took over and converted this to an MBR disk).
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gptfdisk/
Once you have it installed you run it as follows. You can execute using either /dev/disk1 or /dev/rdisk1 as the parameter.
type gdisk
gdisk is /usr/sbin/gdisk
sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
Password:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 0.8.9
Warning: Devices opened with shared lock will not have their
partition table automatically reloaded!
Partition table scan:
MBR: hybrid
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: present
Found valid GPT with hybrid MBR; using GPT.
Command (? for help): p
Disk /dev/disk0: 1954210120 sectors, 931.8 GiB
Logical sector size: 512 bytes
Disk identifier (GUID): 6ED0C429-00D1-4759-B50E-04B6FB80D0E3
Partition table holds up to 128 entries
First usable sector is 34, last usable sector is 1954210086
Partitions will be aligned on 8-sector boundaries
Total free space is 1293 sectors (646.5 KiB)
Number Start (sector)    End (sector) Size       Code Name
   1              40          409639   200.0 MiB   EF00 EFI System Partition
   2          409640      1452940543   692.6 GiB   AF00 Customer
   3      1452940544      1454210079   619.9 MiB   AB00 Recovery HD
   4      1454211072      1954209791   238.4 GiB   0700 BOOTCAMP
Command (? for help): q

I have an iMac with mountain lion 10.8.3 with boot camp 5.0.2 .i installed windows 7 -64 bit with boot camp but the boot camp didn't install drivers for windows please guide me for trouble shooting .

i have an iMac with mountain lion 10.8.3 with boot camp 5.0.2 .i installed windows 7 -64 bit with boot camp but the boot camp didn't install drivers for windows please guide me for trouble shooting .

Kappy wrote:
Boot Camp doesn't install the drivers. You have the drivers on a separate USB device if you followed directions. Once in Windows connect the USB drive with the driver software. It should startup automatically and install the drivers.
You don't even need to do that. As downloading the drivers from within Boot Camp Assistant can be unreliable, it is better to get the package directly from here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1638
Copy the .zip file to a USB flash drive or burn it to a DVD in OS X. Install Windows as normal, insert the flash drive/DVD in Windows, copy the .zip file to the hard drive, extract it, then run the setup executable.

HT1338 I have been trying to install window 7 operating system through booth camp assistant, i will finish all the stages for windows to complete installation it will hook at that stage please i need help.

I have been trying to install window 7 operating system through booth camp assistant, i will finish all the stages for window to complete installation it will hook. the installation cannot be able to complete and i really install windows on it, please i need an assistance on how to go about it.

Right now I have 6 different systems installed. Windows XP, 7, and 8 plus Linux Mint, Commodore, and OS X Snow Leopard (for old times sake), all running on Mountain Lion.
I recommend reading the user manual as it greatly helps getting through the steps, however an intuitive person should pick it up fairly easily.
Thanks to BobTheFisherman for the link.
There are other ways to get Windows on a Mac but I'm a big fan of open-source software.
Give it a try. You might like it or it may not be your cup of tea.

I want to use Windows on my Mac, but Boot Camp doesn't work (Mac OS X 10.7.3)

Everyone knows that w/ Boot Camp you can use Windows on Mac, but I can't.

common issues:
downloading the drivers with Boot Camp Assistant
Not reading the guide from in Boot Camp Assistant
Wanting to use XP (not supported)
Not enough disk space
Space is too fragmented - and people don't know or understand the error or how to even backup and then erase and restore (very basic part of prevention and use of computers).
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
Installation Guide Instructions for all features and settings.
Boot Camp 4.0 FAQ Get answers to commonly asked Boot Camp questions.
Windows 7 FAQ Answers to commonly asked Windows 7 questions.

Há uma maneira de instalar o windows 8 no mac usando boot camp com eficiencia? dizem que os drivers nao rodam

há uma maneira de instalar o windows 8 no mac usando boot camp com eficiencia? dizem que os drivers nao rodam

dizem que os drivers do windows 8 nao rodam direito no mac

I am having problems with downloading Windows Support Software by using Boot Camp Assistant. Is there somewhere else I can download from?

I am having problems with downloading Windows Support Software by using Boot Camp Assistant. Is there somewhere else I can download from?

No. There is no other location. Be patient. Read the posts in the Bootcamp Forum. There are hundreds of posts about your issue and what to do. https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Can I install Windows on my Mac without Boot Camp Assistant?

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