Detailed walkthrough of Installing Microsoft Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your Mac

Question

This is for anyone wanting the step by step instructions for installing Microsoft Windows 7 or 8 on their Mac. I have the Mid 2010 model iMac with the bluetooth keyboard and touch gesture mouse. If you have similar or just want to know how to do it step by step, please watch my tutorial. Hope it helps.
http://youtu.be/rTPoyElIgZg

Answer 1

My guess, you have not seen the threads and posts about Windows 8 on here before posting.There are no stuck threads and people tend to not look or when they do not find threads that are helpful (try search and "month" means "Aug" not the last 30 days and it is harder now to do searches than it use to be or than just using Google!
Common issues? Trouble just downloading drivers. Burning ISO. Using external USB-DVD or flash installer drive. Lack of internet access!! audio, graphic drivers, graphic switching between Intel and ATI.
Someone wrote a nice guide "How to install Windows on Mac Using Boot Camp" o weeks ago, it was nice, but I CANNOT find it again (I should have bookmarked it and put the link in the quick reference cheat sheet. They seemed to not be aware of the help on the Boot Camp Support page.
Mac 101: Using Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1461
Boot Camp 4.0, OS X Lion: Frequently asked question
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4818
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.7.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Boot_Camp_Install-Setup_10.6.pdf 
create a Windows support software (drivers) CD or USB storage media
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4407
Boot Camp Assistant can burn Windows software (drivers) to a DVD or copy it to a USB storage device, such as a flash drive or hard drive. These are the only media you can use to install Boot Camp software.  https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4569
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.
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
when trying to launch the "Boot Camp Control Panel", but I just stumpled upon a solution.
I created a new Windows user, that was not Administrator. When I logged in Boot Camp updateded something and asked me to restart the computer.
After restarting and logging in with my new user, I could start the "Boot Camp Control Panel" configure tap to click and use F1-F12 as function keys.
Then I changed the new account to Administrator and now the control panel can not be startet again... but my settings remained... only on the new user only though.
============ 
I had problems with windows 7 after the installation using boot camp. The GT 650M was not showing up as the graphics adapter. I fixed the problem by inserting my windows support software CD a second time. I did not let it use auto run.  I went into the Windows 7 directory and then into the Nvidia directory and ran setup.exe. This installed the Nvidia drivers for me. If this works correctly, you will have an Nvidia control panel available to you. I set the resolution to 2880x1800. I also set windows to 200% magnification.
I think what happens is that after you install windows, and then run the windows support CD, the main boot camp setup script seems to stop on the nvidia driver install--everything else installed correctly.
The 2012 MacBook Air suffers from an EFI firmware bug that under Windows blocks turbo mode.
Disable Windows 8’s Adaptive Brightness to Fix Dark Screen Problems
2012 MacBook Air plagued by audio noise with Apple's Thunderbolt display
Intel Windows 8 Graphic Driverhttp://www.guru3d.com/news/intel-whql-graphics-driver-windows-8-download/
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/windows-8-an-installation-walk-through/14768
http://huguesval.com/blog/2012/02/installing-windows-7-on-a-mac-without-superdri ve-with-virtualbox/
I did manage to make the trackpad work. You need to install trackpad++
(http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4967-trackpad-control-module.html), it will enable the trackpad driver on boot camp. After you install the trackpad++, trackpad++ will complain something. ingnore it.  You should be able to enable trackpad. And you can now even uninstall the  trackpad++, the trackpad will sill work. 
brightness, what graphics card are you using? It might be due to the auto adjusting brightness running there. You can go to your power options, edit the one you are using  (Change plan settings >> Change advanced power settings) and look for Batteries >> Enable adaptive brightness and disable the one you are using. After that, the scrollbar for adjusting brightness in power options should work again.
HDMI audio in Windows 7 64 bit 
reinstalled the Intel video drivers and audio worked immediately.
My config:  2011 Mac Mini 2.3, Intel 3000HD video
       .   .       upgrade to 8GB ram
Samsung 8000 series LED TV connected with HDMI
Memorex external BluRay writer(USB only power)
For Windows 7 install, I tried installing with the 64 bit DVD but this failed as documented elsewhere.
Instead, setup with USB drive, follow instructions available in bootcamp
After partitioning drive with boot camp and reboot, install Windows 7 with install wizard.
When asked whether to allow automatic updates say 'no', then complete installation and run boot camp tools for Windows.
Because the network driver gets installed prior to the Intel video driver, Windows will install the Windows Update Intel video driver which breaks HDMI audio.
When auto updates are off, the Intel video driver that is correct gets installed last.  HDMI audio works with this driver.
Apple should install the Intel video driver first and it would solve this problem.
I now have full blown 3D BluRay support on the MacMini with TruHD audio, fantastic!
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3408749
Boot Camp: FireWire devices may affect Windows 7 responsiveness if connected to an Apple Thunderbolt display
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4190Products Affected
Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch), Boot Camp, Windows 7
Symptoms -
When using Boot Camp and Microsoft Windows 7, FireWire (IEEE 1394) devices may affect system responsiveness if they are connected to the FireWire port of an Apple Thunderbolt display.
MacBook Pro audio sound fixhttp://realitypod.com/2010/07/macbook-pro-no-sound-in-windows-7-final-fix/
bluetooth connection is incredibly unreliable/intermittent when in Windows (I run Windows 7 64-bit and Boot Camp 4.0, and got both devices connected without any trouble via Bluetooth).
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4079148
After much testing, I have found the cause of lagging/jumpiness on the Bluetooth Magic Mouse and Magic TrackPad in Boot Camp. Hopefully this will help others:
The drivers for the Broadcom 802.11n Wireless Adapter have a setting called "Bluetooth Collaboration" that is Disabled by default. Enabling this option removes the problem instantly. My Magic Trackpad now works flawlessly, even if I stand 6 metres from the machine. It now works just as well as under Mac OS. The setting can be found under:
Control Panel > Device Manager > Network Adapters > Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (right click and choose "Properties".
Under the "Advanced" tab, highlight the setting named "Bluetooth Collaboration", then change it to Enable. Then click OK.
I narrowed the problem down to the wireless card by disabling ALL startup services and processes for Windows, then re-enabling one by one.
As soon as I enabled the Windows Wireless Service, the problem came back.
Similarly, disabling the Wireless Card inside the Network and Sharing Center (or Device Manager) removes the problem.
This led me to believe it must be a driver issue with the wireless card, since the problem didn't occur with the Magic TrackPad under Mac OS, or on my mother's Windows 7 64-bit computer.
So when I went into the Driver Properties to check for an update, I found this setting about Bluetooth Collaboration.
All Apple notebooks use the Broadcom card (and have done for years), so this driver is installed for almost anybody using Boot Camp on an Apple notebook. I'd assume this problem would affect anybody using Boot Camp + wifi + a Bluetooth device.
Wireless Connection problem using windows in a Mac.
Re: Connection problem using windows in a Mac. 
May 4, 2012 10:08 PM (in response to Chris9393)
Windows 8 to manage your mobile broadband use for you
By Peter Bright
Windows 8 will contain built-in support for mobile broadband devices and smarter use of metered Internet connections, as detailed in the lastest post on Microsoft's Building Windows 8 blog.
Most 3G mobile broadband connections are subject to usage limits, and keeping track of data usage at the moment normally means running an application from the mobile operator, or even checking on their website. Windows 8 will have its own usage counters so that users can keep track of how much data they've burned through over the current billing cycle.
Windows 8's faster Wi-Fi connectivity, with hot spots being found and connected to in under a second, and its new support for Wi-Fi hotspots that use authentication portals. Instead of having to open a browser to enter a username and password, it will be possible to type credentials directly into Windows itself.
How to view error message:
From Control Panel-> Admin. Tools-> Event Viewer-> Windows logs:
Check Application and System Folders for Red highlit messages. Note that you can right-click clear these log folders.
Memtest
This is a step by step guide with audio and video to explain how to use memtest to see if your memory is defect:
Another thing to add is that some errors will not be found on the first pass, best to do at least 3 passes.
http://www2.corsair.com/training/how_to_memtest/
Memory that "seems" to work in OS X (Lion, ML and earlier) but fails and does show errors with Windows and shows up in memtest - so don't trust your RAM just because it seems okay.