# Can't install Win 7 Pro on 21.5" iMac



## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

I have just bought an iMac running Snow Leopard 10.6 and according to the user guide I can install Win 7 Pro using bootcamp. I can partition my HD ok but when I try to format the new partition the only windows format option I am offered is FAT 32. When I try to install Win 7 I get an error stating the drive must be formatted using NTFS. Is there any way round this?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

How are you trying to format it, with the Mac or with the Windows 7 installer?


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

I have only done it with the mac, I didn't get far enough into win 7 to do it from there.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

?? How can you not get far enough in the Windows 7 installer? Try doing this:

Delete the partition with Boot Camp and quit.
Launch Boot camp, and use it to create a partition, but do not format it with Boot Camp or Disk Utility.
Stick in the Windows 7 install DVD.
Let Boot Camp reboot your Mac.
The Mac should boot from the Windows 7 DVD.
Accept the terms of the EULA.
Select custom install.
When you get to the disk selection step, it may see the whole drive and that there are partitions. Click once on the partition that you want to install Windows on, it'll be the one that is the same size that you set apart in Boot Camp, and then click on Drive Options/advanced.
If all the partitions are again listed, then select the one you want again and click on New if it's listed as Unallocated space, or Format if it sees some kind of formatting there.
Click on Next and continue with the Windows installation.

Now I'm going off of my memory, as I installed Windows 7 Pro back in December on my Macbook. I had no problems, and it runs great. I also find a great way to boot into Windows 7, if you don't need to boot into it a lot. I just leave my Mac to default to OS X. Then on the rare chance I need to boot into Windows, I just select restart from the Apple menu and then hold down the option key when I hear the bong, and select Windows from the boot menu. When I'm done with Windows, I select hibernate from the menu, which then writes the RAM to the hard drive and shuts down. When I push the power button, it boots to OS X. Now when I go back to Windows, it loads faster as it isn't doing a full boot. Doing a restart in Windows does a full Windows shutdown, but it'll boot back into OS X. Sleep in Windows works just like sleep in OS X, when you wake it, it'll go back to Windows. I just wish OS X had a hibernate, then I wouldn't have to wait for it load and open my programs again, as they'd still be open.


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

Thank you so much for this information, I will try to get it installed later today and will post back.


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

Thanks for your help, what you suggested worked fine, I got Win 7 and Bootcamp installed ok on a separate partition no problem. In fact I installed it all twice and each time, even after setting my startup preferences in Bootcamp, only OS x would boot and if I held down the option key at startup I was not offered a choice of OS and the grey slider showed up and I had to log in again using safe mode. I have now deleted the windows partition and reverted to OS X only. After all, at the end of the day the reason I got a Mac in the first place was because I was utterly p***ed off with microsoft windows. All it means is I now have a heap of m/s software to sell.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

That's really odd that it didn't work. As soon as you got to the Windows desktop when the installer was done, did you install the Boot Camp drivers?


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

I installed the Bootcamp drivers from the Mac OS X installation disk and ran Apple update. As you say, it's odd, all should have been fine. Maybe I just have a Mac that doesn't like Windows.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

It is weird, almost as if Boot Camp didn't correctly register with the firmware that Windows was out there. So, but I don't have an answer for this one. Have you checked the Apple forums to see if others had the same problem?


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

Have trawled through the Apple forums without success, I am not too worried about it just at the moment. I will try again in the near future and if I find the solution I will post on here. Thanks for your efforts.


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## whitehawk625 (May 24, 2005)

:redface:Win 7 now up and running ok. I had one of those DOH! moments. Once you catch on that the option key is the "alt" key and not the "shift" key, booting up is quite straightforward. The phrase DIC*HEAD comes readily to mind. Many thanks for all your help.


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