Downgrading Windows 8 to Windows 7 in Bootcamp

About a year ago I put a Windows 8 partition on my iMac, reason being it was a lot cheaper then Windows 7 at the time. I've recently purchased Windows 7 and here is my question: If I want to downgrade the Windows 8 to Windows 7, should I completely erase my bootcamp and re-do the entire thing (I have all of my files backed up already) or is there a way to downgrade to Windows 7 within the already created bootcamp? Thanks in advance.

pretty sure the downgrade would be don 100% the way as a downgrade on any other windows8 machine
bootcamp is just
a setup program in osx
a bootloader (this is a boot tool which decide which partition to takeover and boot)
an a zip packet with windows drivers
if you don't remove or resize the partitions windows is 100% sandboxed in terms of the rest of the system
I installed windows7 64bit ultimate under lion
upgraded to mtn lion
upgrade the windows 7 to windows 8 (digital upgrade in the form of an exe file executed from windows to init the install)
upgrade to maverics
upgrade the windows 8 to windows 8.1(digital upgrade in from of getting it from windows app marketplace thingy)
on the same bootcamp partion it's obvious to the bootloader and the osx setup tool that any upgrade was ever done on the windows side

Similar Messages

Re: ATI HD 2600 PRO WINDOWS 7 64 BIT BOOTCAMP DRIVER ERROR

Okay - I *think* I was able to get the modified INF to work properly now - it turns out there were many more instances where changes needed to be made that my original procedure did not address. The updated procedure is below with additional steps added.
Procedure to manually update iMac Radeon HD 2600 PRO video card under Windows 7 (64 bit).
Rationale:
> Boot Camp drivers incorrectly identify the video card my 24" iMac (Dual core; 2.8 GHz - graphics card is shown as a "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT") - this has been a long-standing problem when using my iMac under Boot Camp. There have been reports about how to update the drivers manually by obtaining them from ATI/AMD then installing them.
Background:
> When I was previously running Windows XP, I was able to perform the graphics driver update per the online instructions, without any problems.
> When I updated to Windows 7, 64-bit (because I was updated my Mac OS to 10.7 [Lion] and Windows XP was no longer supported in Boot Camp), I could no longer update the graphic card drivers to the Win7 64-bit version (it was giving an error that the driver was not supported).
> The solution I finally came upon was to modify the installer .INF file that comes with the drivers from AMD. I take no credit for this, except from the fact that I adapted a procedure I found for doing this for graphics cards in notebooks. The original place I found this is here <http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/370695-guide-upda ting-your-ati-drivers-manually.html>.
NOTE & DISCLAIMER: I don't claim to fully understand every step that is going on here, nor if every step is needed. I based this on the procedure referenced in link immediately above and it seems to be working for me (that is, my graphics card driver was updated for Win7, 64-bit just like had been previously under WinXP) - YMMV.
>> This procedure was done with the AMD Radeon™ Desktop Video Card Drivers for "64 bit Windows Vista/Windows 7 "; Version 11.7, posted 2011-07-27 (main page: http://support.amd.com/US/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx)
1. Driver only was downloaded from AMD.
2. Downloaded file was installed to default location: C:\ATI
3. Gather info about the graphics card:
a. Open the Device Manager (Start>Computer [right-click]>Properties)
b. Expand the "Display Adapters" item to reveal the GPU (mine was listed as "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT")
c. Right-click on the GPU and select "Properties"
d. Click the "Details" tab in the Properties window.
e. Click the drop-down under "Property" (top item should say "Device description) - find the item in the list that says "Hardware Ids"
>> There were four values for my card, shown below:
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B&REV_00
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_030000
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_0300
f. Right click on the first value and select "Copy" - paste it into a separate document.
g. Go back and click the drop-down under "Property" - find the item in the list that says "Inf section" (it was far down the list).
h. Copy the value shown there and paste into a separate document; my value read: ati2mtag_M76
4. Modify the INF file from AMD:
a. First thing I did was make a copy of the directory containing the files that were installed in step 2 (located at C:\ATI) - my directory was called "11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd".
b. Go into this path: C:\ATI\Support\11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF
c. Find the INF files (icon is a document with a gear on it), that start with "C7..." and "CH..." (mine were called "C7122569" & "CH122569").
d. Open the "C7..." file (it opens in Notepad).
e. The first thing I did was find and replace all existing instances of "M76" in the INF (I arbitrarily replaced it with the following value "M7a6"). There are a number of existing references to this property type in the original INF.
> I do not know if this is absolutely necessary but I found that it helped me to distinguish what was originally there with what I was modifying.
f. Do a "Find" command for "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" (if you search for a shorter phrase, be aware there are other "2600 PRO" cards in the list).
> The exact line I found was <"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" = ati2mtag_RV630, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9589>
g. Replace that line with the Inf section value and the first Hardware ID value, using the same format as the original line. The new entry I made read (notice that each successive entry has an addition <space> between the end of 'PRO' and the ending double quote):
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" = ati2mtag_M76, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B&REV_00
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO " = ati2mtag_M76, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO " = ati2mtag_M76, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_030000
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO " = ati2mtag_M76, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_0300
h. Next do a find for all instances of "ati2mtag_RV630"; for every instance you will need to replace that value with " ati2mtag_M76".
i. Next do another find for "RV630" and make sure to replace all instances with "M76" (this is to catch the couple of places where it doesn't have the "ati2mtag" prefix)
j. Close the file, saving your changes.
k. Repeat steps 4d - 4i, using the "CH..." file.
> I personally do not think this is needed since I believe the "C7…" INF is for Windows 7 and "CH…" is for Vista, but I modified both anyway.
5. Update the graphics driver using the modified INF files:
a. Go back to the Device Manager and expand the "Display Adapters" item again to show the "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT" GPU
b. Right-click on the GPU and select "Update Driver Software..."
c. In the resulting window, choose "Browse my computer for driver software".
d. I navigated to the "C7..." file along the following path: <C:\ATI\Support\11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF>
e. At this point, I was shown a window that showed "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" twice (that's all that was in the list). I selected the first instance and it moved on.
f. I got a warning that the driver was unsigned, obviously I allowed it to move forward with the installation.
g. The updating proceeded and the screen momentarily went black, twice. After the second time the description in the Device Manager changed to reflect that the GPU was now "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO".
FINAL NOTE: as of right now everything seems to be running properly and I have experienced no problems or graphical glitches. If anyone reading this sees an obvious problem with what I've done, please let me know. I have run benchmarks between this and the standard installed mobility driver and I get about a 10% increase in overall FPS (using the free "NovaBench" app by NovaWave).
< Edited By Host >

look what this guy said:
Hi Guys,
I've spent a few hours over the last week trying to find something that works to update the driver. Using the Mobility Modder from Driverheaven I managed to install the Catalyst 7.8 but not the actual driver - you need to modify the INF for this. The only problem is that I can't be sure what the differences are between the mobility 2600 and the standard-computer 2600. I would like to assume it's just a few settings such as power saving and interal/ external displays.
I tried to modify the INF and used the settings for the standard graphics card. It worked fine, but I put the original Apple driver back on because I didn't want to find out I was overclocking the Graphics CPU accidentally.
After using mobility modder I added this line just after the mobility 2300 graphics card entry:
"ATI MOBILITY RADEON X2600 XT " = ati2mtag_RV630, PCI\VEN1002&DEV9583
If you notice and compare the mobility and standard entries, the mobilities have the same ati2mtag but followed by M-something rather than RV-something.
This appears to direct the INF to the correct setup of the Catalyst software for that card - as I say, I used the settings for the standard 2600 card and it installed ok. I didn't try any games though.
On another note, I'm resisting doing anything further or testing any games until I have the screen issue resolved - after exchanging the naff 20" screen with it's horizontal shading (a dark shade at the top to a light shade at the bottom - very noticeable with darkish solid colours!) I've found my new (more costly!) 24" is having some problems with picture breakup, though so far only in Vista which I installed via Bootcamp.
I wish Apple would get there act together. It's my first Apple and I was expecting great things! So far, I would have had less hassle if I had built my own computer with Vista on and thats saying something!!
Matt
he added the RV630 string. but i tried that with my exact windows xp driver device ids and yes it still completed the installation successfully,but the fps sill stayed the same

How to reinstall Windows 8.1 on Bootcamp?

I am trying to reinstall Window 8.1 on Bootcamp after Disk Utility reported that the hard drive it was originally located on was failing and needed to be replaced. I did so. Now when Windows 8.1 installer launches, it thinks I'm doing an upgrade and insists that I "reboot Windows Normally" and then launch the Installer, which is impossible because it's freshly formatted, NEW hard drive.
Here are the steps that I followed:
1) Disk Utility reports that Boot Camp drive is failing and replace it.
2) Remove failing hard disk, replace with new one.
3) Launch Bootcamp Assistant.
4) Download support drives to USB stick.
5) Begin install process using same Windows disk (64-bit FULL VERSION) used previously.
6) Windows Installer asks for Product Key.
7) I enter product key.
8) WIndows asks to agree to license terms.
9) Setup presents ONLY two choices:
Upgrade Installation
Custom Installation
10) I choose Upgrade.
11) Windows Setup reports that Upgrade can only take place from Windows environment, to eject Windows Install disk, and to reboot into Windows "normally." Cannot eject Windows install disk. Click Close box.
12) Windows Installer relaunches.
13) Install process starts over again.
Please note:
1) This is a fully licensed copy of Windows 8.1
2) I am using it on the same Mac as the original installation. Only change is the hard drive.
3) This is not an authentication issue. Windows accepts the Product Key.
4) Parallels is not involved in any way.
I have talked to several Windows support teams. None were helpful and ultimately said this was a Bootcamp/Apple problem
Apple Support was much more helpful but said they'd never encountered this problem before and were flummoxed.
I have reformatted the Bootcamp hard disk several times. At one point I thought the issue might be that the Mac still thinks the original Windows installation exists because I kept the same name for the new hard disk. Renaming and reformatting did not change the behavior.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

I wound up solving, or at least working around my problem. Selecting "Custom Install", instead of Upgrade, took me to a dialog box where Installer could format the Bootcamp drive from scratch. Installation then proceeded as expected. Unfortunately this cost me my partition, but that was better than being stuck in this Upgrade Catch-22. Note that formatting and partitioning this drive within the Boot Camp assistant did not solve my problem.

Cannot install Windows 8.1 with BootCamp on Mavericks

I have a brand spankin' new Late 2013 27" iMac, fully updated, with a 3TB Fusion drive. I have thrice attempted to install Windows 8.1 via BootCamp 5.5, with the 64bit edition DVD on the SuperDrive, and allotting 1TB out of the 3 available. There are no other partitions besides OS X and the BootCamp partition. The Windows installer successfully begins, but each time it cannot locate any partitions to load itself on. The list is just...blank.
I've already scoured the forums here for support, and tried several claimed remedies, such leaving all USB ports clear (except for the SuperDrive) until after install (even removing the flash drive with the Apple support files), and had a long chat with Apple Care today...they said the engineers would get back to me in about a week. I read somewhere that hard drives over 2.2TB may be an issue, but Apple states that Mavericks has no problem with this, leading me to believe maybe Windows 8.1 is still lagging in this department.
To that end, I recall someone, somewhere mentioning how to carefully partition the drive to get around this, and that Windows absolutely, positively, had to be on the 4th partition, including the hidden partitions such as Recovery, Boot OS X, etc. Only problem is that Disk Utility is showing way more hidden partitions than this, and they seem to be unremovable.
Does anybody have a solution/workaround for this, or are both products still too new to have a found a way to play nicely together?

I did it. After fours hours and two hours on the phone with Apple support, I installed Windows 8.1 to my iMac. So, I just wanted to share it with you.
System:
iMac 2013, 27" monitor, 1T fusion drive, wirless keyboard, magic mouse.
Software:
OS X 10.9
Windows 8.1 full version 64bit
(I skipped some steps such as type in software key, choose language, etc.)
1. For my last try, Instead of using Bootcamp assistant to setup partition for Windows, I used disk utility to create an 100G space for Windows with FAT file system and named it BOOTCAMP.
2. Insert Windows CD into the USB super drive.
3. Shutdown iMac.
4. While press and hold the left "option" key, turn on iMac.
5. Select CD/Windows icon to boot.
6. Choose Custom installation
7. Select the partition named BOOTCAMP (I am not sure why it is 200G; I assigned 100G. Well...)
8. Format
And the rest is history. By the way, when Windows restarts during installation, make sure to press and hold the left "option" key to boot up Windows.
I do not know why but I am happy now. As a matter of fact, I am sending this message from Windows 8.1 running on my iMac.
Good luck to you.

HOWTO: install Windows 7 RC in BootCamp via XP using Parallels 4.0 in SL

I know, the subject sounds pretty complicated, but don’t worry: the process of doing it is even worse.
Basically the main idea was to be able to use the same BootCamp partition of WinXP to upgrade to Win7, using the win7 .iso image to install it (I was simply to lazy to go to a shop and buy a rewritable DVD). Still, during my days <!> of tests and investigations few things came out. This can be useful even if one wants just to create a Win7 Parallels virtual machine from an already present BootCamp installation, make a Windows installation using BootCamp or for general knowledge. So let’s start.
*GOLDEN RULE*:
Disable (or even better, uninstall) any 3rd party NTFS package like Paragon NTFS (beta) NTFS-3G, NTFSmount or else. This caused me many problems since it seemed that Parallels and those packages were conflicting on the NTFS ownership of the BootCamp partition. Don't forget to reboot after that.
*INITIAL SETUP*:
Have Parallels 4.0 cleanly installed
Partition your hard disk with Boot Camp Assistant. Reserve at least 15GB for Windows. This will create a 2nd FAT32 partition called “BOOTCAMP”
Insert a WinXP SP2 install CD/DVD in the DVD drive
Go back to Boot Camp Assistant and click “restart”
*INSTALLING WINDOWS XP:*
The system will reboot from the WinXP install disk
Let the installer do its job (loading drivers)
The screen to chose on which partition to install Windows would appear.
Here is the first trick. Boot Camp Assistant actually created 2 more partitions. An empty one of about 100 MB, and the FAT32 one. RESIST from the temptation of deleting the FAT32 partition to then format the available disk space as NTFS or to convert it into NTFS. Instead SELECT the FAT32 partition. This will take us to a next screen were will be able to format it. Select “Format as NTFS” and go. It may be better to use the FULL format, but I’m not sure it’s necessary.
Not doing as above will produce at a certain point the infamous
“hal.dll missing or corrupted message”.
which I can assure you is very much frustrating since we get it only at the end of the installation.
The installation will then continue. Follow all steps as required until you have a full Windows XP installation.
Reboot and press the Option key (alt). Select the Windows partition to check that WinXP is actually cleanly installed. No need to install BootCamp device drivers at this point.
*CREATE THE PARALLELS WINDOWS XP VIRTUAL MACHINE (VM).*
Reboot as OSX.
Check in Finder or Disk Utility that the NTFS partition is present and readable.
Start Parallels Desktop
Go to File/New Virtual Machine and follow the steps to create a Windows XP virtual machine.
Choose custom setting to tell Parallels to use the BootCamp partition
Once the VM file will be create Parallels will start the BootCamp Configurator (a 4 steps very long process) to “convert” the BootCamp partition into a VM.
At the end it will install the Parallels tools as well
Let the WinXP VM start
Shut WinXP down and close its VM window
*UPGRADE THE WINXP PARTITION TO WIN7*
Here is the second trick, and this has been a pretty nasty one. Actually the Parallels BootCamp configurator seems to mess up with the BootCamp partition when creating a Win7 VM. Parallels when trying to access the BootCamp partition during the process of creating the new Win7 VM reports a message:
“A disk configuration error has occurred. Make sure that you have read/write permissions for the disk”
Even being able to pass after that error, and having Win7 installation starting, Win7 may report
Error code ox80070057
When trying to access/format the BootCamp partition.
The solution to these problems appears to be in the BootCamp Configurator, as I’ve found in the Parallels forum:
<a class="jive-link-external-small" href="http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=31190&page=3">http://forum.pa rallels.com/showthread.php?t=31190&page=3
Open the Terminal application and type:
sudo mv /Library/Parallels/Parallels\ Service.app/Contents/MacOS/BootcampConfigurator /Library/Parallels/Parallels\ Service.app/Contents/MacOS/BootcampConfigurator.old
Now the environment should be ready. So follow these steps:
Create a new Win7 VM in Parallels (File/New Virtual Machine)
Use as DVD drive the Win7 RC installation image. This will automatically select a Windows 7 environment in Parallels
Change the boot order having the CD/DVD-ROM first and Hard Disk 1 second
Use the BootCamp partition as VM and create it
The VM will start loading the Win7 installer. Select your local setting, a screen to chose the partition will appear, select the NTFS partition (BootCamp with WinXP on it). The installer will move the old WinXP files in C:\WINDOWS.old and continue with the installation.
Once the installation is complete do the following:
Start Windows 7 in Parallels to check that it is functional
Install Parallels Tools if you like
Shutdown the VM.
Shutdown OSX.
Press the power button and hold Option key at the chime sound
Boot from the Windows disk
Windows 7 should start booting. Don’t worry if it will take a long time. Personally it takes to me something like 30 s. with the blinking cursor before to see the graphical Windows 7 screen
Insert the Snow Leopard install DVD.
Open the Bootcamp folder and Double click on setup.exe to install the BootCamp device drivers.
If it says that your computer is not compatible do as follow:
Locate the Command Prompt app in the Start/All Programs/Accessories menu
Right click on it and start it as administrator
At the DOS prompt:
Select your DVD drive (D: or whatever)
Type
cd \BootCamp3.0\Drivers\Apple
Execute BootCamp.msi or BootCamp64.msi depending if your Win7 installation is 32 or 64 bits (yes, it works in EFI32 Macs as well. Not like SL K64 apparently).
You will be required to reboot.
Restart Windows 7 and enjoy!
PS: This is not intended to be a tutorial about the best way of installing Windows 7 in a Mac. I know a much easier solution is to burn a DVD and do the installation from it using BootCamp assistant. Still doing so one may (will?) face some of the problems described above. It’s just a description about how the Windows 7 installation can be done in the hard way, with hints about common problems installing Windows with BootCamp and the loading it into Parallels. I hope it will be useful for anyone. I just wished there was a similar tutorial when I started this mess!!

Yes it is, follow the Boot Camp Instructions here

Is it possible to create a Windows 7 Partition via Bootcamp while having an internal RAID 0 Setup ?

Is it possible to create a Windows 7 Partition via Bootcamp while having an internal RAID 0 Setup ?

Yes, just not on the RAID. Boot Camp Assistant will only partition a single drive containing OS X. You cannot partition a RAID array.

USB gaming mouse unrecognized by Windows 7 Pro (via BootCamp)

Hey,
I bought a Zowie EC1 Gaming USB mouse. But when I plug it into my MacBook Pro 15" running Windows 7 Pro (via BootCamp), then the mousewheel flashes blue shortly for 1 second or so, and the driver installation process starts. After awhile it says hardware unsuccesfully installed. And when I re-plug the mouse in the same USB port it says unrecognized.
I think maybe it's just some buggy drivers? Anybody experienced something similar with other mice maybe? Or know how I solve this problem.
Kind regards,
Simon

I looked around on the web and read a bit about your Zowie EC1. It's a very nice mouse that I need to put on my Christmas list
But it seems that it should be recognized by Windows as a normal USB mouse and install generic drivers. I have a couple of questions:
1) Are there any Windows Updates for your hardware waiting to be installed?
2) Do you have all the Apple Boot Camp drivers installed? Apple just released 3.3 if you're not on Lion (which is 4.0)

Hi, I've been trying for days to download Windows support software via Bootcamp assistant, but it always failed with message 'Can't install Windows Support Software because it is not currently available from the Software update server.' Any advice welcome

Hi,
I've been trying for days to download Windows support software via Bootcamp assistant but it always fails with message 'Can't install windows software because it is not currently available from the software update server.'
Anyone else had problems or success with this?
Thanks in advance.

9thdoc wrote:
I'm getting a similar but distinct error message in snow leopard: Download could not continue. "The windows support software is not available" and have no original snow leopard instal disc with me.
Your issue is completely different. You are running Snow Leopard. There is no download for Windows Support software for Snow Leopard, hence the error you see. Snow Leopard Windows Support software is on the Snow Leopard installation disk.
You need the Snow Leopard installation disk or a replacement for it.

ATI HD 2600 PRO WINDOWS 7 64 BIT BOOTCAMP DRIVER ERROR

as with the windows xp bootcamp insatllation my grahics card the ATI RADEON PRO HD 2600 shows up under device manager as the Ati MOBILITY 2600 XT, this is NOT correct and wasnt correct when i had windows xp installed via bootcamp but the online trick/fix worked by installing the newer updated drivers for the ATI RADEON HD 2600 PRO by manually pointing the installer to the newly download drivers for xp and once that was done my card read correctly under the device manegr in xp and my performance was quadrupled !!!! however since i have now installed Windows 7 64 bit,the same problem appears agin but when i download the correct 64 bit windows 7 drivers form the ati site and even the dedicated bootcamp windows 7 64 bit drivers nad attempt to point the installer to them the error appears "This driver does not appear to work with this version of windows" so basically the old xp bootcamp fix doesnt work with windows 7 64 bit with bootcamp running. There has got to be an easy workaround or fix for this! Tons of windows 7 64 bit bootcamp users are experienceing this install error and without the driver being installed and updating the card to what it truly is and NOT THE MOBILITY VERSION THAT IS BEING DETECTED, we can all run games like before in xp with way better performace. until then we are all screwed and are forced to run the updated drivers for the mobility XT card. PLEASE PLEASE HELP US IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING. look around on the apple bootcamp forums and you will see a bunch of people complaining about the same thing with no solution for over 2 years. i have sent an email to AMD formerly ATI requesting assistance but i am sur ethey will just blow me off. this is a very easy problem that could be fixed by a tech savy person. WHoever can fix this problem at least for me personally,i will gladly sned you at least $100 via paypal for your hard work and time. without this being fixed i have no choice but to buy anothermac with a better graphics card since the imac i have is not upgradeable beyond RAM. Like i said this was the same problem with windows xp in bootcamp before i installed lion. the fix worked. i dont want to hear that the card is NOT a true hd 2600 PRO whn i know it is and have succesfully used the driver hack before with awesome results. it is NOT a mobility card whatsoever. it is an ATI RADEON 2600 HD with 256 megs of VRAM,not the best but still ok to run even the latest pc games with bootcamp. Please please help me! Thank you very much in adfvance for reading this!

Below is what I had to do to work around this issue - I've been running with the modified graphics drivers for over a week now, including running some games under Windows 7. Apologies if this is too basic, but I figured I would write it out step-by-step for anyone who needed the background, rationale, plus instructions:
Procedure to manually update iMac Radeon HD 2600 PRO video card under Windows 7 (64 bit).
Rationale:
> Boot Camp drivers incorrectly identify the video card my 24" iMac (24-inch Mid 2007 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - the graphics card is shown as a "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT") - this has been a long-standing problem when using my iMac under Boot Camp. You can find procedures online about how to update the drivers manually by obtaining them from AMD then installing them.
Background:
> When I was previously running Windows XP, I was able to perform the graphics driver update per the online instructions, without any problems.
> When I updated to Windows 7, 64-bit (because I updated my Mac OS to 10.7 [Lion] and Windows XP was no longer supported in Boot Camp), I could no longer update the graphic card drivers to the Win7 64-bit version (it was giving an error that the driver was not supported) using the same procedure.
> The solution I finally came upon was to modify the INF file that comes with the drivers from AMD. I take no credit for this, except for the fact that I adapted a procedure I found for doing this for graphics cards in notebooks. The original place I found this is here <http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/370695-guide-upda ting-your-ati-drivers-manually.html>.
NOTE & DISCLAIMER: This is the first time I have done something like this, so I don't claim to fully understand every step that is going on here, nor if every step is needed. I based this on the procedure referenced in link immediately above and it seems to be working for me (that is, my graphics card driver was ultimately updated for Win7, 64-bit just like had been previously under WinXP) - YMMV.
>> This procedure was done with the AMD Radeon™ Desktop Video Card Drivers for "64 bit Windows Vista/Windows 7 "; Version 11.7, posted 2011-07-27 (main page: http://support.amd.com/US/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx)
1. Driver only was downloaded from AMD.
2. Downloaded file was installed to default location: C:\ATI
3. Gather info about the graphics card:
3a. Open the Device Manager (Start>Computer [right-click]>Properties)
3b. Expand the "Display Adapters" item to reveal the GPU (mine was listed as "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT", same as it was under XP)
3c. Right-click on the GPU and select "Properties"
3d. Click the "Details" tab in the Properties window.
3e. Click the drop-down under "Property" (top item should say "Device description) - find the item in the list that says "Hardware Ids"
>> There were four values for my card, shown below:
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B&REV_00
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_030000
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&CC_0300
3f. Right click on the first value and select "Copy" - paste it into a separate document. I actually copied all these items and pasted them into a separate text document, but only ended up using the first one.
3g. Go back and click the drop-down under "Property" - find the item in the list that says "Inf section" (it was far down the list).
3h. Copy the value shown there and paste into a separate document; my value read: ati2mtag_M76
4. Modify the INF file from AMD:
4a. First thing I did was make a backup copy of the directory containing the files that were installed in step 2 (located at C:\ATI) - my directory was called "11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd".
4b. Go into this path: C:\ATI\Support\11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF
4c. Find the INF files (icon is a document with a gear on it), that start with "C7..." and "CH..." (mine were called "C7122569" & "CH122569").
4d. Open the "C7..." file (it opens in Notepad). Go down to the section called "[ATI.Mfg.NTamd64.6.1]".
4e. Do a "Find" command for "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" (if you search for a shorter phrase, be aware there are other "2600 PRO" cards in the list).
>> The exact line I found was <"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" = ati2mtag_RV630, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9589>
4f. Replace that line with the Inf section value and the first Hardware ID value, using the same format as the orginal line.
>> The new entry I made read:
"ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" = ati2mtag_M76, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9583&SUBSYS_0083106B&REV_00
4g. Close the file, saving your changes.
4h. Repeat steps 4d - 4g, using the "CH..." file.
5. Updating the graphics driver using the modified INF files:
5a. Go back to the Device Manager and expand the "Display Adapters" item again to show the "ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT" GPU
5b. Right-click on the GPU and select "Update Driver Software..."
5c. In the resulting window, choose "Browse my computer for driver software".
5d. I navigated to the "C7..." file along the following path: <C:\ATI\Support\11-7_vista64_win7_64_dd\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF>
5e. At this point, I was shown a window that showed "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO" twice (that's all that was in the list). I selected the first instance and it moved on.
5f. I got a warning that the driver was unsigned, obviously I allowed it to move forward with the installation.
5g. The updating proceeded and the screen momentarily went black, twice. After the second time the description in the Device Manager changed to reflect that the GPU was now "ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO".
FINAL NOTE: as of right now everything seems to be running properly and I have experienced no problems or graphical glitches. If anyone reading this sees an obvious problem with what I've done, please let me know.

Hi, I'm unable to use my speaker when I'm using Mac OS. However, I'm able to do so for Windows 7 OS on Bootcamp. Can anyone please advise on how to rectify this problem? I would greatly appreciate your help, thank you.

Hi, I'm unable to use my speaker when I'm using Mac OS, which means I'm unable to unmute, decrease or increase the volume. However, I'm able to do so for Windows 7 OS on Bootcamp. Can anyone please advise on how to rectify this problem? I would greatly appreciate your help, thank you.

Hi Zac, sorry to hear about your troubles, but that's why us other users are here to try to help in these instances.
Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this connection drop happens.

Missing drivers for Windows 7 Professional with BootCamp.

I have a brand new MB Pro with 13" Retina, late 2013, 250 GB SS-disk, 8 GB RAM.
I need a partition with Windows 7 Professional, and I have an ISO with Norwegian Windows 7, service pack 1.
I run the BootCamp assistant to partition my HDD and to generate the USB-disk with Windows and the necessary drivers.
When i try to install Windows the Windows installer asks for a driver for the DVD-drive. I get a message that it cannot find a driver file and tells me to provide one. There is no DVD so that is correct. There is no way I can skip this part, and I must stop the intallation. I have not been able to trace down any dummy-drivers.
I have also tried to do this procedure with a USB-Superdrive attatched, but that did not help.

I am sorry, but this does not help me. I have tried. Or should I unpack all files to the top-level? I kept the folder structure.
I have downloaded the contents and it looks just like my Windows installation USB-disk that Boot Camp generates.
My problem is that when I am in the process of installing Windows, the installer stops because it does not find a driver for the CD/DVD-drive. I have chosen Language, and the next thing that happens is an error message. I can not complete the installation.
The error-message is something like this:
"Missing driver for CD/DVD station. ...
If the Windows installation medium is in the CD/DVD-station you may safely remove it before this step."
I have used the same iso-image to install a virtual machine using Virtual Box, so I think the image is OK. I need a dual-boot to avoid timing loss.

I have loaded windows 8.1 via bootcamp on my macbook air 11 inch how can i adjust font size etc

I have loaded windows 8.1 via bootcamp on my macbook air 11 inch how can i adjust font size. I have to do a lot of work in office 2013 and it is very very difficult to see the screen.
Thank you

Microsoft store will provide a download manager (.exe) using your Product Key, which needs to be run on a PC. This manager will then let you download an ISO image to a USB and/or DVD.

Running windows 8.1 through bootcamp

Hi guys, ive been having some issues with running windows 8.1 on bootcamp and i'd really appreciate some help.
I'm using a 13" Macbook Pro with retina display and, because of the lack of a disk drive, i had to use a usb drive to install windows. I had some trouble retrieving the iso file and so ended up starting the installation process on a pc and choosing the option to install through usb drive to get the usb set up (i'm not sure if this has any relevance but i figured it wouldn't hurt to mention that i didn't use the method of preparing the usb drive though bootcamp with the iso file). The process afterward went smoothly enough until bootcamp reset my computer and restarted using the "Windows" driver. When my computer had completely rebooted i was me with "non-syster error" and a prompt telling me to press any key which was unresponsive. I restarted my computer while holding option and instead chose "efi boot." This brought me to the windows setup but the window was extremely small (also not sure if this has any relevance). I continued with the setup and was met with another problem when I had to choose the drive/partition. I chose drive 0 partition 4:Bootcamp but it didn't allow me to continue. I chose the "more details" option and it said that it needed to be formatted to ntfs. However, when i was back to the mac os after giving up, i checked disk utility and the drive was formatted with ntfs. So i'm sort of out of ideas, i've seen and read about other methods but, i case they are mentioned here, i dont have access to windows seven and i would like to avoid using other programs. I would appreciate if someone would let me know if there is a way to solve this problem and what that is, or let me know if there is no way so that i dont have to keep looking and just wait for apple to solve whatever issues botcamp has.
Thanks for any response
Also, i'm not sure if this matters but, when asked in bootcamp what size i wanted the windows driver to be, i chose the minimum (20 GB).

thanks, that was exactly what i was looking for, i just wanted to know whether or not i should bother trying to get it installed now or just wait. Do you, by any chance know around what time 8.1 will be supported? If not, thanks anyway, and youve been a big help. no more hours of confusion and searching for possible solutions.

Macbook Pro (Late 2008) - Windows 7 64-bit, Bootcamp 3.1 - Wireless Issue

Hi Everyone,
I have a Macbook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) model with Snow Leopard and Windows 7 64-bit dual boot. I have done a search and cannot find any reference to this problem on my hardware.
I have had no issues in Windows 7 when using Bootcamp v3.0. In the last week I have upgraded to Bootcamp v3.1. (completed twice, rolled back in between to prove that the issues was related to the Apple Update)
After I update to v3.1, I have issues with my wireless network. The network cannot resolve the name for any internet address. I can connect to wireless networks (tried multiple networks), all the DHCP settings seem to be retrieved correctly (Gateway, DNS etc) and I can ping local and machines outside my network without an issue provided I use the IP address. (Skype works - which uses direct IPs rather than names I have found over time)
As soon as I use a name for a destination for Web traffic, Mail, pinging (any application), my Macbook Pro cannot resolve the address and just bombs out.
If I connect to a wired network, the machine works perfectly and name resolution on that interface works. If I rollback (using Windows 7 rollback capability) to before the v3.1 Bootcamp is installed, the wireless networking also works perfectly.
I noticed this in the support area at apple:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3196
But this refers to wireless issues in Bootcamp drivers prior to v3.1 and on 13 inch Macbook. Wonder if this is a similar issue or related?
Anyone else seen this or point me in the direction of a fix?
Thanks,
Thommo

I'm looking into running Windows 7 64bit on the exact same MBP you have, so I'm curious as to whether or not you've found a solution yet outside of the forums.
Do you think it might be that the bootcamp 3.1 update is only for Windows 7 32bit and not for the 64bit version?

Problem installing Windows 7 64bit using bootcamp

Hello all,
I am sorry to ask a question that has probably been asked many time. It almost three days that I am browsing all possible forum but I have not been able to find the solution to this particular problem.
I am trying to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on a 27" iMac (late 2009) with Mountain Lion operating system. So, let's start from the beginning. I have used BootCamp assistant to partition my hard drive following all the possible official instructions on how to install Windows using Bootcamp. The Bootcamp Assistant successfully partitions my drive, the computer restarts automatically and the windows 7 installation starts correctly using the inserted DVD. The windows installation goes on perfectly, the computer restarts a couple of times but after the last restart I see the "Windows starting" window than my screen goes black and nothing happens anymore.
After some research I found some instruction on hoe to download the Windows drivers on a USB key and I followed all the steps suggest her . The problem is that I can't even get to the point where I can install my drive from the USB because I have never been able to actually complete the Windows installation. I tried rebooting the the Boot Manager but my Mac does not see my USB drive (Sony 8gb).
Can someone please help me? This issue is driving me nuts and I really need to urgently use Windows.
Many thanks to all for the help, in advance

The Mountain Lion Windows Support drivers are available from within Boot Camp Assistant as a download. Start Boot Camp Assistant and select the option to download the Windows Support Software. Follow the instructions for saving the downloaded support software. When you boot into Windows make sure the device containing the drivers is inserted into a usb port and your Windows dvd is not in the computer. Windows will boot from your installed Windows on your hard drive and it will install the support software from the usb tick.
You should visit the Boot Camp forum where installing Windows and the Windows Support Software is explained in hundreds of posts.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp
And here is the Boot Camp help files in case you were unable to find them.
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/

How can I get a better driver for my 1394b Hostcontroller in my Macbook pro 2010 to solve the problem, that it is too slow under Windows 7 installed with bootcamp ?

How can I get a better driver for my 1394b Hostcontroller in my Macbook pro 2010 to solve the problem, that it is too slow under Windows 7 installed with bootcamp ?
WIndows can't find a better one than the installed LSI Conformed 1394 Hostcontroller

Read and follow the Bootcamp Installation instructions that you were offered to view when you ran Bootcamp Assistant.
Run Bootcamp Assistant again and select the option to download the Bootcamp Support software. Follow the instructions. Then boot into Windows and install the Windows Support software you downloaded and saved.

Downgrading Windows 8 to Windows 7 in Bootcamp

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for