Dual boot Windows 7 on Mac Mini Server

I have a Mac Mini server (2012) with two 1tb harddrives. One has osx Mavericks installed and I have been using it for the past 5 months. The other is completely empty. I was wondering if i could partition the empty drive and install Windows 7 on it from a disc? will I have to put osx on the empty drive, or can I just boot into windows at startup by holding option? I would like to keep about 800gb of the extra drive to use for extra storage of mac files.
Thanks for any help/suggestions you may have!
Elliot

You would think it would be possible to have one drive for OS X and the other for Windows but this is not (quite) the case. If you want the second drive to be as near as possible dedicated to Windows you need first to install or copy to it OS X including the BootCamp Utility. Run the Boot Camp utility and allocate the minimum amount of space to OS X and all the rest for Windows. Then as normal install Windows.
You could after you have got Windows installed erase the (small) Mac partition.
It is necessary to do it this was as the BootCamp Utility partitions the boot drive (and only the boot drive) in to a special scheme that makes it able to run Windows on a Mac.

Similar Messages

Windows 7 on mac mini server and raid 1

I just purchased a 2011 mac mini server with the hopes of installing windows 7 alongside lion. Then my goal was to have the two drives mirrored. I successfully mirrored the two drives using disk utility and then proceeded to install lion. This all went fine. Imagine my shock when I loaded up bootcamp to see an error message describing it's inability to install windows on a raided system. The thought hadn't even occured to me that this would be an issue.
I have searched through various forums and other places on the internet and haven't found a solution. I am curious if I can get anyone with any experience in this area. Is it possible to have mac and windows installed on a drive... and have that drive mirrored to the second drive... regardless of what os i'm booted into?
Thanks for your help guys

The GUI version of Disk Utility is very limited in what sort of RAID configurations you can create. It will only allow you to have a single partition on the disk and to make a RAID using that.
Boot Camp requires creating additional partitions on the disk and hence it complaining.
There is a commandline version of Disk Utility called diskutility (duh!). It has far more options available. Details for this command can be obtained by typing man diskutility in Terminal.app.
It appears that in theory you might be able to do the following.
Start off with both disks not setup for RAID
Use Boot Camp to create the Windows partition. Repeat this on each disk.
Then in Terminal.app manually convert the boot Mac partition to a RAID using diskutil appleraid enable
Then add the matching partition on the second drive to make it a working mirror using diskutil appleraid add
Then in Terminal.app manually create a RAID for the Windows partition using both drives and use FAT32 as the format using diskutil appleraid create
Then boot and run the Windows installer and tell it to erase the Windows partition as NTFS
I cannot gurantee the above will work and you should obviously have backups if needed. Another option would be to have the Mac partition covered by RAID but not the Windows partition, this would result in three volumes one Mac RAIDed volume, and two other non RAIDed volumes even though you have two physical disks.

Windows 7 and Mac Mini Server not connecting

I'm running a small design studio in Central Asia. For four years we've had a Mac Mini Server (Snow Leopard/Lion), working with three Macs, and two PCs (Windows XP) connecting, sharing files and accessing accounting software without any issues.
Due to Windows XP being discontinued we upgraded the PCs to Windows 7 Ultimate (it was the best that was available legally locally). The Windows machines both continued to connect to the server, although getting it to work initially was harder than with XP.
Our Mac Mini Server showed signs of dying, so this week we purchased a new Mac Mini Server with Mavericks (10.9.3). The macs in the office can see it fine, however the Windows 7 machines are unable to see the server on the network or access using the smb path. They can access the old server using smb, however in the network control panel, the old server is also invisible.
The server has SMB/AFP enabled. The Windows 7 machines are set to recognise networks and supposedly therefore to see others. They are failing to do either. It seems like both MS and Apple changed the way they communicate pretty significantly.
How can I get the Windows 7 machine talking with the new Mac Mini Server?
Thanks for any advice.
Richard

The problem of the machines connecting seems to have solved itself today - with one small tweak to the setup.
I inserted an underscore (_) instead of spaces into the Mac Server name, and although the Windows 7 machines still can't see the server they can now connect using SMB.
I can't believe something so small kept me so flummoxed for so long....

Dual booting Windows on my Mac HD

My current HD in my MBP is partitioned into 4 and all of them uses the Journaled file system of OS X. I plan to wipe out one logical drive so that I can dedicate it to a Windows OS (version 7/8). I don't want to boot Windows in a virtualized environment but rather boot up on its own so that I can make use of my MBPs hardware.
I recently tried Boot Camp Assistant but it wouldn't format a single partition because all of them have been supporting OS X's file system.
How do I approach this? Is there some sort of software that will allow me to manipulate the drives and then allow me to painlessly install Windows without the hassle I encountered while using Boot Camp Assistant.
My best bet is to backup all the files I have in my other 3 partitions and then delete them so that I can give way to installing a new partition fit for Windows. I'm still adamant on experimenting because of the dangers I might encounter, say for example I might mess up my Master Boot Record and end up in frustration.
In short, this is dual-boot question - only with the difficulty imposed by Boot Camp, so I'm just looking for other alternatives/solutions on how to approach it

B oot camp only works when there is One Mac formatted partition. So if you have created other partitions on your drive you will have to Remove them first.
Leaving the EFI and the Recovery HD partition are fine.
Open Terminal and type diskutil list then hit the enter key. Post the output from that command.

Connect Windows 2000 to Mac Mini Server

Hi all,
I just got my new mini server and trying to setup the network for local and overseas staffs to access the files in the server. I wonder if anyone can tell me how to setup on Windows 2000 and Windows vista.
We have static IP address and all our macbook pro laptops are running fine, except Windows laptops.
Looking forward to any reply. Thanks a lot.

Servers and server-oriented networks expect substantially more knowledge of the administrator. The Apple servers are among the easiest I've encountered, but they're still (far) more involved than running a client box.
You need local DNS services. Mac OS X Server expects that.
You need a server-grade firewall. With TC, you have a home-user widget with port-forwarding. A server-grade firewall typically offers programmable pass-through, (for this case) VPN end-point and various other features depending on your current and planned usage. Anti-malware and anti-spam and other defenses can be available. Free (open-source) and commercial firewall options exist.
You need a business-class tier of service with your ISP, as a residential tier can and variously will be blocked by the ISP.
Everything that's not behind a firewall or a VPN will be directly attacked. The servers I administer get attacked quite frequently, as do the external firewalls. Getting breached stinks.
My usual approach here would be a VPN from the remote box into your server-grade Firewall (which also handles NAT and some other issues), and (via the VPN) the remote client (Windows or Mac or Linux or whatever) then appears to be directly connected to your local LAN.
Reading material [private (on-LAN) DNS services|http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/1436], [public (external) DNS services|http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/1594], [firewalls and networking|http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/275], and most definitely read the [Apple Documentation|http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/resources/documentation.html].
And while no offense is intended, it's going to be fastest to call in somebody to set this up, and as an escalation path for your organization. You probably have a business to run and customers to deal with, and networks and network security and VPN setup and such aren't something you probably want to spend your own time on; they're something you can out-source.

Event Photography & Mac Mini (Server)

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to accomplish the following with the Mac Mini Server?
I photograph sporting events & for the few times where I have to shoot on spec, I need a system whereby I can take the photos & load them onto a computer, do a couple of quick edits (mostly cropping) and then get the photos in front of the client.
With the dual hard drives on the Mac Mini Server, could I load my originals on one drive and then export the smaller file/cropped photos to the second hard drive where clients can view them from either iPads (tethered to the table!) or from other computers?
I'd like to place some viewing software on the second drive and sort the folders based on team & time of game (ie team a vs team b @9am) as this will make it easier for parents to find the photos. Parents find the folder & open the pics ... still not sure what software will work best but I'll figure that out later
OR .... can I accomplish the same thing with a MBP and place the software/photos into a public/share folder and have parents access the photos on their viewing stations?
I'd rather not go the PC and the wireless 3G option might be the most convenient option as I could load all the photos directly to my website and have the galleries ready for parents ... however upload times are about 5mb/sec and when I have hundreds of photos to upload ... well, the data plan is pretty much shot. As a result, I'm looking for more of a wi-fi or hardwired solution.
Hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me ... I just don't have much experience in this area & could really use some help.
Thanks for your time.
Take care,
Brent

The speed difference from using the drives in that manner would not be that huge. I would prefer that you mirror the drives, so that you have another source of redundancy for those pictures you just shot, that have not yet been archived. This will help protect these valuable pictures before you get back to your studio.
I would create a web gallery of the pictures in question and put them in a folder on your the Mini that you setup to be accessible via web sharing.
Use a wireless router at these events, to setup a wireless network just for your exhibit purposes. Keep the network unlocked to make it easy for your clients to connect. Name the network "Photos Only" so that it's clear to people that the network does not provide internet access.
Then give the clients the IP address of your Mac, which they will enter into their mobile browser. (IP address found in network control panel)

Dual boot windows mac mini

I got a Mac mini and in general I'm happy with it but found out that there's some software I use regularly that is just much better on Windows. They barely support OS X although technically they do. So I would like to dual boot Windows as it seems like this is supported and not crazy.
I followed the bootcamp and some guides I found via Google. I have the mac mini 2014 with 8 gig ram and 1 terabyte of space. I have dual monitors setup and a logitech mouse and a logitech gaming keyboard G110 - both USB. (I also own a wireless apple keyboard which I occasionally use with my iPad). My first problem was a DOS screen telling me I can't boot up on the specified disk but I did get some help off Google telling me to hold down option while booting (this should be in the guides ;p) but it was easy to fix.. however I'm stumped on what's happening now.
When I click the Windows partition, it starts booting up Windows 7 Premium 64 bit setup and all looks good. Then a screen pops up asking me what language/region I am. The default is United states (perfect). On this screen my keyboard and mouse are useless. Or it's frozen. I think the former. I think the computer just can't recognize them. And I cannot figure out a way around this. If anyone can - please help I will be very thankful.
I've tried booting up using the Windows 7 DVD I own and an ISO installed on a USB flash drive per the Bootcamp installer. Results are the same.

Use Boot Camp!! Sounds like you have the install disc. Make sure you completely erase a USB 2.0 Thumb Drive format it as one MS DOS Master Boot Record partition. Download Drivers to it. I checked this box in boot camp only.
Having install disc and driver thumb drive ready. Insert Windows install disc and plug in Thumb drive.
Open Boot Camp uncheck first 2 boxes. Continue
Size the BOOTCAMP partion you want it to be by sliding the bar. Or split your HD is an option.
After that is complete. You will be asked where to install. Select BOOTCAMP partition
Click Drive Options (advanced). Click Format. Click OK. All goes well you click Next and it will format as NTFS
Follow instructions to to install, set up and configure Windows.
GO TO APPLE SUPPORT no where else. PRINT BOOT CAMP Installation & Setup Guide. It is in my binder with my Windows 7 Professional Disc. You'll need this, I'm afraid, to have on hand. When Windows is up and going, Antivirus 1st, Install Windows express updates only. Do not update Apple drivers for Windows. Running Windows 7 Pro on my Mac Mini since I bought it in August. Use it for those outdated programs I can't run on Mac or Windows 8. Love it.
GET THE MANUAL Please. Have fun with it.
Oh, try left clicking your USB Mouse to make it work. If not use keyboard strokes. i.e. I a ccept the license agreement (note that the a is underlined. hit "a" on the keyboard to check box.

Mac Mini Server Boot Camp Windows 8.1 White Screen Issue

Hello Apple Peeps!
I have a Mac Mini Server 2012 which I have had for around 6 months. I use it quite a lot mainly for Music Production on the OS X side and Graphic Design on the Windows side.
I recently decided to factory restore it as I wanted to spring clean it and reorganise the way some of my apps were installed. The way I had it set up was it was running OS X on one SSD and Windows 8.1 (installed using Boot Camp) on the other SSD. The way I went about the factory restore was I first used disk utility to erase/format the Windows SSD to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and then went about the factory restore of OS X onto the other SSD as normal (following instructions from the Apple website).
The issue I am having now is that my newly installed Windows 8.1 (used solely on a single SSD) is hanging on a white screen for quite a long time before the Windows splash screen shows up, where before when I would boot or restart into Windows there was no white screen and it would go straight into the Windows splash screen and load to the desktop very quickly.
So my question is...
Why do I get this prolonged white screen before the Windows 8.1 splash screen appears? How can I get rid of it? It was certainly not present on my previous installation. Can anyone advise me what the computer is doing during this time so that I can do some further research into a solution.
What I have tried already....
1) PRAM & SMC reset.
2) Setting the startup disk to Boot Camp in both OS X and Windows 8.1.
3) Reinstalling Windows 8.1 through Boot Camp.
MAC MINI SERVER (LATE 2012), 2.6GHZ QUAD CORE I7, 16GB RAM, 2 x 256GB SSD, OS X 10.10.2, Windows 8.1 (Retail), Boot Camp Assistant (5.1.3), Covered By AppleCare.
I would really appreciate some help with this ;-)

I have right clicked on each SSD in Device Manager and selected the option 'Properties' from the drop down menu, which brings me to this window...
I'm not sure where I can find Device Attributes, I have clicked on each of the tabs in the window above, as far as I can see none of them mention AHCI enabled or anything similar. Thanks for all of your responses by the way...much appreciated!

Mac Mini Server (Late 2009) - Won't boot from Windows USB/DVD

Hello all,
I have a Late 2009 Mac Mini Server (Macmini 3,1) with OS X Lion.
I have created a Bootcamp Windows Partition on one the 500GB Disk using Bootcamp 4.0.
After the partition is created, I have tried installing Windows 7 using the Bootable USB method as well as using the CD Drive from the attached SuperDrive.
But all I encounter is either the blinking cursor or after the "Starting Windows" logo, a BSOD.
Any tips/help on how to proceed?
Thanks in advance.

Cattus,
Thanks for the reply.
I did use BC to create the USB stick. I also tried to create the USB on a WIndows Machine (just in case). But still can't boot from USB. What's the WIndows Utility you mentioned?
Also, according to the this LINK, The firmware for Macmini 3,1 should be MM31.0081.B06 (EFI 1.2).
However, the BOOT ROM info on my mac mini says MM31.00AD.B00 and I can't seem to update the EFI Firmware. I get a message "This computer does not need this update" when I try to run the MacminiEFIupdate.pkg

Installing Windows 7 on a mac mini server

I just purchased recently a mac mini server. Obviously, the server does not have a disc drive to install media. I would like to install Windows 7 on my mini in a dual boot configuration. I already had bootcamp set up the partitions, but i can't get it to install windows. I've tried making a USB flash drive from my windows disc, and I've also tried remote sharing from another laptop I have, but no luck on either account. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get this working?

Option 1: Get a USB "Super Drive" and use it to install windoze.
Option 2: Use Parallels Desktop to run windoze.
Option 3: Wait for someone who knows more than I do to tell you how to do it using magic.

Mac mini server has no boot camp so...???

Hi/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png
I bought the mac mini server and super drive thinking I got the most storage in one box. But bought to run windows 7, and server version does not have boot camp. Someone suggested I get the regular version of OS, not server, but it won't let me install it, i think because it's already older version than one installed. And when rebooting to install, it just hangs. Maybe because it's installing off the usb superdrive? Also thought maybe I could find boot camp on that disc to run, via usb super drive, but I have no idea where or how to look. I want to keep mac os on, but need windows for work apps. I am from "windows" world, so I'm sure there is a way to do it that I'm missing. Thanks for any kind assistance
Greg

You might want to take a look at the open source rEFIt boot loader:
http://refit.sourceforge.net/
You may be able to use it to set up a dual boot Windows/ OS X system, but you could have driver issues without the Boot Camp files.

I am having keyboard problems when trying to boot up an OS (bootcamp on Mac Mini Server)

I recently tried using bootcamp on my new Mac Mini Server.
I uploaded a windows ISO Image perfectly the way it asked, Windows 7, I followed the correct steps, euqally divided one of the hard drives, and I was ready to actually set up the new Windows section of my computer. During this booting session, my dog came in the room with her ball and knocked the computer plug out of the socket. Now when I turn on the mac, the fan still works, the same Macintosh sound comes up, the screen turns that usual very bright gray, but it stays on that gray. After a minute or two, the screen turns black, with a blinking underline, as if it were confused to choose which operating system it has to boot.
My problem here is that I use a wireless keyboard (not by Apple) -- and I suppose that bluetooth syncronizes with the OS and not the computer system itself -- so my keyboard commands do not get recognized in order for me to navigate into Windows 7 or OS X Mountain Lion. I tried solving this problem by purchasing a brand-new USB keyboard (since Mac Mini Servers do not have the PS/2 entrance). I guess this new USB keyboard didn't work, I imagine, either because the USB slots on the machine are not recognized by the computer's internal system, only by the Operating Sysytems (which I hope isn't true), or that the mac had never used that USB Keyboard and wasn't going to be capable of using it until it had installed the necessary drivers, but without the OS running that would become impossible.
So my question is: Is there a way that I can connect a keyboard to the mac so I can continue installing my alternate Operating System? Is it maybe another problem all together?

It is starting to sound more like Bootcamp failed to install properly.
Have a look at > Boot Camp 5: Frequently asked questions
then perhaps > Failed bootcamp instlation - Google Search

I just purchased the Mac Mini Server with the intention of replacing Lion Server with Lion for the first hard drive while installing Windows 7 thru Bootcamp on the second hard drive. Is it possible for me to do this? Thanks.

I just purchased the Mac Mini Server with the intention of replacing Lion Server with Lion for the first hard drive while installing Windows 7 thru Bootcamp on the second hard drive. Is it possible for me to do this? Thanks.

I would use Parallels or VMWare and use the second drive to hold the virtual machine. That way the VM only uses the space that it needs and you can still use the remainder of the drive for other things, not to mention that you would not need to reboot to run windows.
Also Time Machine does not back up a boot camp partition.

Mac Mini Server (2010) & Windows Server 2008

Hi,
Would it be possible to boot, install and run Windows Server 2008 on the Mac Mini Server, replacing Snow Leopard Server OS? I assume I need the SuperDrive or similar DVD drive to realize this scenario.
Regards,
sb

Seems possible although I would say one needs some care to ensure that the cooling systems operate as needed.

How do I connect a PC running Windows 7 Enterprise to the Mac Mini Server?

Hello!
I have a brand new iMac 27" with a PC partition on it. The PC side runs on Windows 7 Enterprise. My husband has a PC with Windows XP on it.
The brand new Mac Mini Server works fine for our macs, but the PCs are unable to connect. How do I get the PCs to see and connect to the Mini Mac Server?
Bente Mc

Just an idea for you. There is an entire Apple Discussion forum dedicated to Boot Camp and Windows.
Whereas, not everyone here with an Intel iMac has installed, tried to install or has experience with BC & Windows, everyone there has or at least has an interest. You may attract help more quickly there.
The Forums are at the bottom of the main Apple Discussions page under Windows Compatible Technology. Here is a link;
Bluetooth, Networking, Airport and Wi-Fi
Dah•veed

Dual boot Windows 7 on Mac Mini Server

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for