Installing windows on a macbook air with no superdrive

I have a macbook air, install discs for windows vista and windows 7 (upgrade only), and no superdrive. I can't run bootcamp since I don't have the superdrive, and I've tried putting ISO's / IMG's on a hard drive (bootcamp work around) but nothing has seemed to work. Can I insert the install disks into a friends mac and use air drop to somehow cause my computer to think the install disk is inside it? How would I go about this if this would work?

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
You have some problems:
1. You need an external optical drive to install Windows on your computer. You can't use the optical drive of another PC or Mac.
2. Boot Camp, on Lion, only supports Windows 7, and you can only install the full version legally. The upgrade edition works, but it's not legal.
Also, if you have a ISO file with Windows 7, you can use it to create a USB drive with Windows to install Windows from it, instead of buying an external optical drive. To install Windows from a USB drive, open Boot Camp Assistant, tick the option to create a Windows 7 USB drive and follow the steps

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How do you install Windows 7 on Macbook Air with a Windows 7 ISO image?

Macbook Airs have no optical drives, and I can't buy one. I do, however, have the Windows 7 ISO image. And I also have access to a Windows 7 PC. I found an article on CNET on installing from a Flash Drive, but that requires the CD. I also have a hard drive (120GB) and Flash USB (4GB), if they could help. Please help me as many programs I am familiar with are only windows-based. I am tried using open-source software like Wineskin Winery and WineBottler, but to no avail, I always end up confused with them.Please help me.

Acius wrote:
Crjohnson, I think you can really help me!
Okay, how do you use Wine? I don't want to install lots of software like MacPorts, just want the minimal software. So there are many things like Wine, WineBottler, and Wineskin Winery. What do I use for what? For example, I want to turn a windows game (Age of Empires 2 for example) into a full Mac App. How would I go about this?
I tried researching but it is so in-depth with terminal commands and all(i dont want to risk ruining my computer)
What is crossover? Is it another wine app?
Oh, and I tried Winery Wineskin...why doesn't it work? It keeps installing random things like Gecko, or Mono, but in the end, it doesn't work. Do I need the windows app's executable, or the window's apps's installation executable??
What are engines, and how many do I need to create? I think the best thing for me is to learn wine, because installing windows with bootcamp isn't worth the effort, I think, with me having only a few apps i need to run.
As for learning mac apps only, well, Windows apps dominate the market with most of applications being made for windows, especially games, with 90% market. So for some apps, there just isn't a mac version available, or if there is, it's costly. (Which you already know I can't buy things)
You probably cannot afford to buy Crossover either. It is designed for user friendliness though, but of course Wine cannot run everything.
Yes you have to learn some things to use Wineskin. Normally on Gecko and Mono prompt, just cancel them. Gecko is needed if you have a program using mshtml (its basically a replacement for Internet Explorer for programs that use parts of it). Mono is a replacement for .NET if your program requires that. You do not want to install them if you don't need them as they will just waste space. You can always refresh the wrapper later on and get the same prompts if you find out you need them later.
You can copy the full installed version of a game inside the Wineskin wrapper and try to set it up that way, but its usually easier to just run the installer and install it inside the wrapper just like you'd install it in Windows.
An Engine is something you download... its basically a specific Wine build made for a Wineskin wrapper.
If you do not want to learn Wineskin enough to get in and port your programs yourself, you can often find other people who have done so (at least with games).
Check out sites like PaulTheTall.com who has tons of Wineskin wrappers already made and ready to go for many games... you just download the wrapper, install the game you want in it using the normal Installer, then its ready to go. Many you'll need to manually update yourself to Wineskin 2.5.8 though since all the older versions broke ok the OS X 10.8.2 and 10.7.5 update, and Paul hasn't gotten to all of them yet since he has hundreds (including AoE 2 i think).
There is also Portingteam.com which has tons of pre-made wrappers for games (Including Cider hacks from official games).
If your talking about non-Game apps though, you can normally find an alternative... many of which are free.

Solution to install Windows 7 on Macbook Air MID-2013 after 3 weeks of test, make with ISO image a usb key 2.0, It works!

Solution to install Windows 7 on Macbook Air MID-2013 after 3 weeks of test, make with ISO image a usb key 2.0, It works!

1. Select Partition4: Bootcamp. You should see advanced Options.
2. Click Format and convert the partition to NTFS.
3. Click Next.
Reference - http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf
See Page 6.

Is it safe to install windows 7 in macbook air which just have 128gb of memory with vmware?

is it safe to install windows 7 in macbook air which just have 128gb of memory with vmware?

You need the USB SuperDrive or an USB disk to install Windows on the computer

Install Windows 8 on macbook pro with external dvd drive

My superdrive have broken, anyone have experience installing windows 8 on macbook pro with external dvd drive?
Last night, I tried but end of with black screen.

Bguzryanto wrote:
the main point is 'anyone have exprerince install windows 8 with external dvd drive on macbook pro'
Purchase new superdrive, takes 2-3 weeks for shipping at my city.
It can't be done. If your computer has an internal optical drive, working or not, that is the drive you must use. Only computers such as the Macbook Pro Retina/Macbook Air that have no internal optical drive can install Windows from an external drive.

I accidentally erased mac os 10.6 while installing windows 7 on macbook air, how do I install back to mac?, I accidentally erased mac os 10.6 while installing windows 7 on macbook air, how do I install back to mac?

I accidentally erased mac os 10.6 while installing windows 7 on macbook air, how do I install back to mac?, I accidentally erased mac os 10.6 while installing windows 7 on macbook air, how do I install back to mac?

Use the Flash Drive that came with your computer it has Snow Leopard installed on it. If you lost it or cannot find it then call Apple and they will replace it for you, I don't know how much they will charge.
BTW when installing MS Windows please follow the directions whether you are using Boot Camp or a vitualialization solution (Parallels, Fusion, etc.) had you done this you would not have had any issues.

I accidentally erased OS X while installing windows 7 on MacBook Air, how do I install back to OS X?

HELP!!!! I accidentally erased OS X while installing windows 7 on MacBook Air, how do I install back to OS X?

Use the Flash Drive that came with your computer it has Snow Leopard installed on it. If you lost it or cannot find it then call Apple and they will replace it for you, I don't know how much they will charge.
BTW when installing MS Windows please follow the directions whether you are using Boot Camp or a vitualialization solution (Parallels, Fusion, etc.) had you done this you would not have had any issues.

How to install Windows 8 on Macbook pro with retina display ?

Hi - How to install Windows 8 on Macbook pro with retina display ?
I am pretty new to the apple world. Tried doing it through bootcamp but did not success.
I am not interested to install it through Parallels or Fusion. Plz guide.
Thanks !

OK, use Windows 8 in Bootcamp. Be aware that there are no Bootcamp drivers for Windows 8 yet. So you may experiance not only delays but display problems, freezing, crashes and other problems.
Here is the Bootcamp forum. Make sure you read all the posts from people experiencing Windows 8 problems with Bootcamp. https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

How to completely remove mac os and install windows 7 on macbook pro with retina display 15 inch

how to completely remove mac os and install windows 7 on macbook pro with retina display 15 inch

There's not much sense in purchasing a Mac to run only Windows on it. Keep in mind that drivers for Windows are a secondary concern for Apple. While Windows will typicall run fine, things like power managment are not optimized under Windows (you'll get less time on battery while running Windows). You will also not be able to install firmware updates. Firmware updates might be necessary whether you run Windows or OS X as they are updates to the code in your hardware and are not OS-specific. You must be running OS X in order to install a firmware update. You can do this even if you boot off of an external drive with OS X installed on it. At the very least, you should keep just a small partition for OS X on your internal drive.

How to install windows 7 on macbook air 13" 2014

I try to install windows 7 on macbook air 13" 2014, OS X Yosemite, i used flash 16GB and windows 7 image iso. but i got this error. please help me to fix this.
Thank you so much.

Is the USB devices a USB2 or USB3 device? Please run Disk Utility Repair. In some cases, re-installing OS X (which does not modify your files) also addresses this issue.

Installing windows 7 on MacBook Air 2013

How to install windows 7 on Macbook Air 2013.

How to install Windows on Mac: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+to+install+Windows+on+Mac

How to install Elements 12 on MacBook Air with no DVD drive? [was:URGANT HELP NEEDED!]

I have a MacBook Air, with no CD drive. I just purchased 'Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 & Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 Premiere', from the 'Best Buy' store. I asked for help before I purchased the product, to make sure I did not need a CD drive to download 'Photoshop' to my MacBook Air, the lady told me I did not need a CD drive for it to download. I come home to download it, to find that there are no instructions for online downloading or downloading without a CD drive. I have tried calling customer service and doing research on the computer for help and I can not find any answers what so ever. I really need help with this, as I have deleted all of my photos and videos on my MacBook Air to free up enough space for 'Photoshop' to fit on my laptop. Please help AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, thanks!
-Savanna Follari

Download the trial version from the Adobe website
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop_elements&loc=en
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=premiere_elements&loc=en
Install
Enter your serial number when prompted

HT3986 how to install windows 7 in macbook air

what step by step procedures in installing windows 7 in macbook?

There is a support page (for Boot Camp, but also for every other group)
http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp FAQ, How-To, Install Guide, Support articles.
change the last /______ for other product pages (Lion, macbookair, etc)

Cannot install Windows 8 on MacBook Air

I am trying to install Win 8.1 Pro with Boot Camp on a 13 inch MacBook Air (early 2014) with 4G RAM and 256G storage. The machine is a new purchase and the OS was upgraded from Mavericks to Yosemite before attempting to use Boot Camp.
I have made a number of attempts at this using both a USB/ISO and DVD in an external drive (non-Apple). All attempts fail at the same point where Windows setup attempts to install on the BOOTCAMP drive. The message is “Windows cannot be installed to this hard disk space. Windows must be installed to a partition formatted to NTFS.” There are 4 hard disks listed
Drive 0 partition 1:EFI   200 MB    173 MB freeSystem
Drive 0 partition 2        53.4GB      0.0MB free Primary
Drive 0 partition 3         619MB       0.0MB free Primary
Drive 0 partition 4:Bootcamp 179.5GB     179.5GB free Primary
On returning to OSX after this the Air works fine and Disk Utility has a Macintosh HD (57GB) and Bootcamp (format is MS-DOS FAT32) (192.7GB).
I have tried the following:
1. Ensuring that there was only one external device attached ie the USB created by Boot camp
2. Swapping the USB port ie have used both USB ports
3. Trying to install Win from a DVD
4. Different partition sizes
I am at a loss as to what to do next. Any suggestions welcome.
Bernard

1. Select Partition4: Bootcamp. You should see advanced Options.
2. Click Format and convert the partition to NTFS.
3. Click Next.
Reference - http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf
See Page 6.

Bootcamp hangs when installing Windows 7 on Macbook Air

I purchased a new Macbook air less than 1 month ago. 256GB SSD drive, maximum RAM. It's running OS X Lion (10.7.1). I plugged in a USB DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse.
When trying to install Windows 7 64-bit Bootcamp Assistant creates the partition, creates the windows driver disk, then reboots to install windows from my retail version of Windows 7 Home Premium (DVD.) It hangs with the progress bar about 10% of the way across. The message "windows is loading files" is displayed. I waited a full 45 minutes but nothing changed. Help!

Look at your SSD. See if there is an issue, firmware update, etc.
not all SSDs work - some work in one OS and not the other, the Mac 2011s have been known to have issues with their SATA3 cable interface and chipset.
Apple and Intel and others have all issued fimrware updates.
In some cases people have just sent back their MBP because they were such problem, and that just running Mac OS, not even Windows.

Installing windows on a macbook air with no superdrive

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