Windows 8 on a Mac Using Boot Camp

Update #2: Check out my new post regarding the installation of Windows 8 Consumer Preview which should install even easier than this since it is meant to upgrade existing Windows installations. I have also had total success installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview in Parallels.

Update: Post updated for alternate workaround if the setup.exe file will not run. (Thanks Chris Apland!)

A lot of people have been asking if it is possible to run Windows 8 on Mac hardware through Boot Camp. I can definitely report at this time that it does work. You will need the latest Boot Camp drivers from Apple and a USB mouse with a dedicated right click button.

Once you have installed Windows 8 using Boot Camp, click on the Desktop tile. This will drop you down to the Windows 7 style desktop. From the drive that contains your Boot Camp drivers you are going to need to run setup.exe with compatibility settings for Windows 7. Otherwise, Apple’s installer will detect an unknown version of Windows and fail to install. Right-click on setup.exe and click on “Troubleshoot compatibility”.

After it Detects issues, click on “Troubleshoot program”.

Check off the option that says “The program worked in earlier versions of Windows but won’t install or run now” and click “Next”.

Choose “Windows 7″ and click “Next” to run it with compatibility.

Go through the Boot Camp wizard and reboot when finished. All of your drivers should now work! Don’t forget to go into the Boot Camp Control Panel and turn on Tap to Click and Two finger right-click. Trackpad scrolling does work on the Metro-styled Start screen even though it doesn’t seem like it at first. You actually have to scroll up and down instead of left and right.

What if setup.exe won’t run because it needs Windows 7?

Well, there is a workaround that will probably work. Inside of the Drivers folder inside the WindowsSupport folder are all of the individual driver installers. You can try installing each of these manually and it may work for you. Chris Apland in the comments below had some success with this technique. Unfortunately, you won’t get the Boot Camp Control Panel with this method.

End result:

Windows 8 on a MacBook Pro!

iSight working in Win8 on MacBook Pro!

Enjoy!

Update: Still trying to figure out what is different with the 2011 MacBook Air driver package that is causing this process to not work correctly. I will update the post when we get it worked out.

Update: If you are having trouble with the process, try using the 32-bit version of Windows 8. For some reason this appears to work in cases where the 64-bit version did not. Seems to solve the problem with the 2011 MacBook Air. (Thanks Dewey!)

Anonymous

Will try this when I’m done class, thanks!
- Brent Schooley
  
  No problem! I added pictures just in case it helps haha. Pretty simple.
  - Nazmohammad
    
    Idk which drivers to use during the installation phase. Please help
    - Brent Schooley
      
      You should have a setup.exe
Ytcwin8

When attempting to install Windows 8 via Boot Camp, the Windows installer begins and then stops because it thinks it doesn’t have a driver for the CD ROM. What gives?
- Nazmohammad
  
  Yeah idk which drivers to use.
  - Brent Schooley
    
    In the first screenshot there’s a listing of the directory you get from the drivers download. It contains a file called setup.exe. This is Apple’s Boot Camp installer and it will install all of the drivers for you if you follow the steps in the blog post.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Apland/100000337567666 Chris Apland
      
      @brentschooley:disqus Mac Air 2011 > Bootcamp setup.exe says it requires Windows 7 to run, have we figured out a work around yet?
      - Adrian
        
        I have the same problem, requires Windows 7, even after adding compatibility for W7
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Mickey-Frklic/100000103606715 Mickey Frklic
        
        I too am having the same problem with my MacBook Air 2011.
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Can you send me a direct message on Twitter (@brentschooley) with your email address? I’d like to send you the installer I have to see if it will work for you.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Apland/100000337567666 Chris Apland
        
        I found a work around on my 2011 i7 Air. Navigate to the Drivers folder and depending on your installation x86 or x64 manually go down the list of drivers and install them. So far it seems like audio and everything is working
      - Minoivy
        
        not work x me
      - Brent Schooley
        
        I don’t currently have access to a 2011 MacBook Air. Trying to see if I can get my hands on one today to try and work around this issue, but not sure if I’ll be able to.
- Brent Schooley
  
  Which Mac?
  - Stio_Naz
    
    Brent I have a MacBook pro 13.3 June 2009. Intel 2.53 ghz 4gb ram 256 gb hdd and nvidia 9400m
    - Stio_Naz
      
      I’m not sure which drivers to use when installing windows 8 :/
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Will help when I get home.
      - Stio_Naz
        
        Thank you
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Are you running Snow Leopard or Lion for your Mac?
      - Stio_Naz
        
        Lion. It asked me to manually install each driver during “gathering information”
      - Nazmohammad
        
        Okay I figures it out. The only reason ur getting DVD driver issue during installation is because you didn’t burn it right or your download has some missing files. I recommend redownloading windows 8 and burning it on a new disc.
- Ytcwin8
  
  Solved this problem. Had a bad DVD. Re-burned and am off and win-blowing.
http://profiles.google.com/dan2552 Daniel Green

This didn’t work with my Macbook Air (latest gen). It keeps saying it needs Windows 7 regardless of what compatibility mode OS I put
- http://twitter.com/Dan2552 Daniel Green
  
  Could I be having extra problems because I did the install without running bootcamp on the Mac side? (I just held C at bootup to boot from CD and installed straight)
  - Brent Schooley
    
    I honestly don’t think so. This seems like a driver version difference. My guess is your boot camp drivers are either newer or older than the ones I used. I’ll be able to check that in about a half an hour.
    - http://www.gabrielvisser.com Gabriel Visser
      
      Any idea yet? Could you maybe provide your own MBP drivers for us to use?
    - http://twitter.com/Dan2552 Daniel Green
      
      Just to confirm, i’ve deleted the partition and retried completely using boot camp from Mac. The drivers I’m trying to use are the ones that boot camp downloads to “prepare a usb drive” so should definitely be the latest because they were downloaded on the fly.
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Can you send me a direct message on Twitter (@brentschooley) with your email? I want to send you the setup.exe I have to see if it makes a difference.
- Brent Schooley
  
  Will have to check driver versions when I get home.
- http://www.gabrielvisser.com Gabriel Visser
  
  I have the exact same thing on my Air.
Dewey

I burned the iso of windows 8 to a disc but the bootcamp installer won’t recognize it, any suggestions?
- Brent Schooley
  
  Do you have the latest version of Boot Camp? Are you on Snow Leopard or Lion? Usually people can at least get to the point where Windows starts installing so this is a new one to me.
  - Dewey
    
    I do have the latest version of Bootcamp and am running Lion. I messed up and burnt the iso directly to a dvd without going the disk utility method. Now that I have burnt the iso correctly, when starting to install I get a black screen that says “Select CD-Rom Boot Type”. Ive read a bit online about this and seems the work around is quite complicated. What am I doing wrong? Seems like I’m running into every problem possible. Did you get the 64 or 32 version of Windows 8? Thanks for your reply as well.
    - Brent Schooley
      
      Hmm, 64-bit with Dev tools.
      - Dewey
        
        Any suggestions on the “select CD-rom boot type”? Thanks again.
      - Brent Schooley
        
        I know this is a BIOS vs. EFI issue but I’m not really sure how to work around it for a Boot Camp installation. I would maybe try one of the other ISO files to see if it changes your results. Given the amount of response to this post I may need to try a few more configurations myself.
      - Dewey
        
        I went to the 32 bit and that worked for me, must be something in the 64 build that my computer/bootcamp didn’t like.
      - Brent Schooley
        
        You installed 32-bit Win8 and then the Boot Camp setup worked?
      - Dewey
        
        Correct
      - Samuelranjit
        
        Is the 2 finger right click working with the track pad?
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Yes it works.
Asqwrd

Does the hotkeys work like volume button and brightness buttons?
- Brent Schooley
  
  Yes the keys all work!
http://twitter.com/snudurupati Sreeram

I have a latest gen iMac with sandy bridge i5, this is the first time ever I was installing windows on a Mac, followed all the boot camp instructions and Win 8 32-bit installed just fine, best part I didn’t have a USB mouse/keyboard handy and my bluetooth keyboard and trackpad work just fine even during installation.
- Brent Schooley
  
  Glad you had success so far! I’ll be posting more Win 8 how-to type things soon too if it helps.
  - http://twitter.com/snudurupati Sreeram
    
    Awesome! Thanks!!
SavedByTechnology

Running Lion on a mid-2009 13″ MBP. Ran Boot Camp Assistant which partitioned 20GB for Windows, downloaded the latest BC drivers and inserted the W8 DVD. During W8 setup, it said the partition was not NTFS formatted. Clicked on the partitioned and reformatted during W8 setup, and got the BSOD sad face. Where did I go wrong?
- SavedByTechnology
  
  I should clarify, the BSOD sad face appeared at about 55% through the W8 setup.
  - Brent Schooley
    
    That’s odd to me that you got SFOD (Sad Face of Death) at that point. You did exactly what you have to do to get it done and I think you even have the same machine I did this on initially. I would format and give it another shot.
    - SavedByTechnology
      
      I’m going to try installing with a thumb drive instead. I’m on my 3rd ‘SuperDrive’, and I get the feeling perhaps this one has problems too.
      - Anonymous
        
        I’m running exactly into this same issue, Everything is working fine, except it gets HOT!! once something intensive is running.
        
        Then occasionally it will hang frozen and I’ll have to shut it down manually. Would you happen to have the x64 version?
        I wondered if 32 bits may give different results,
        
        I also have a missing driver: “Microsoft device association root enumerator”
        :(
        I been trying to look for a solution for a while now. Let me know if you find something that works please.
      - Brent Schooley
        
        Hmm I did notice that it gets pretty warm from time to time. I wonder if 32 bit would kick that driver into action.
    - SavedByTechnology
      
      Looks like everything is working, but did you notice your MBP running extremely HOT??? I’m wondering if W8 is still a CPU hog. I also can’t seem to find how to shut down properly.
Master Shael

on my 2011 MBA 13″ I actually have screwed up visuals, I get the screen divided in two (in landscape) and the exact same thing mirrored below – so I can never see the bottom half of the screen. The intelHD drivers won’t install either – says “This computer does not meet minimum requirements….”

Also I can’t do compatibility mode.. when I try and click ” Run Program” nothing happens..
anyone else?
- Anonymous
  
  try changing the screen res, the comps at my school do this all the time and that usually fixes it.
Wes Lazara

going to load it on my 2010 mba shortly and see how it goes (running Lion)…
Samuelranjit

These bootcamp drivers drivers worked for me

http://theundyingtruth.com/

MBA 11″ 2011
Anonymous

I’m trying to do a fresh install of the 64 bit version from a Boot Camp created USB stick on a 2011 i7 Mini. After I format the partition in the Windows installer, I get an error that tells me Windows 8 can’t be installed because it can’t find the partition map or something. Something similar happened when I installed Windows 7, but after multiple restarts and reformats it finally decided to work.

Any thoughts?
John M.

Still having issues with 32 and 64 bit editions of windows 8 on my MacBook Air Mid 2011
Jtking

Does the wifi work on a 2011 MBP?
- Brent Schooley
  
  It should, yes.
http://www.facebook.com/josh.hamer Josh Hamer

Does the BootCamp driver package include a working video driver? The main issue I had with the install I did (without trying to intall the Windows compatible BootCamp software) was a lack of a true video driver (and thus hardware acceleration).
- Brent Schooley
  
  Yes it will and I recommend you install the 32-bit version of Win8 if you had any difficulty do far.
  - http://www.facebook.com/josh.hamer Josh Hamer
    
    Alright I will do just that – thanks!
http://www.facebook.com/jj.freezer Jj Ng

will 64-bit W8 run on MBP 13″ core i5, hd3000, 320gb, 4gb?
- Brent Schooley
  
  It should, however I am recommending everyone install 32-bit as it seems to have the most success rate across the hardware lineup.
http://www.facebook.com/mark.scandura Mark Scandura

can’t seem to get the drivers for intel GMA 950 graphics in my black macbook. isight will not install either. there is another unkown device but can’t figure out what it is lol, uninstalled, went back to my win 7 for now
- Brent Schooley
  
  Did you install 32 or 64-bit?
- TobiasTheViking
  
  I found a driver that worked on intels website.
Garrett Rhodes

If you install windows 7×64 and use double driver you can backup the drivers but the bluetooth does not work for the 2011 Macbook airyou will need to use the H67 intel drivers from early sandy bridge launch to get video to work, unless you like to only use external LCD etc
http://plus.google.com/102366667408472522649
Anonymous

Hi. Thanks for the method. However, I have a problem.

I have an MBP mid-2010 model, with OS X Lion and Boot Camp 4.0 installed. The installation disk came with my Mac was Snow Leopard.

I ran Boot Camp and created a 40-GB partition for Windows 8 Developer Preview x64. I selected “I have downloaded Windows support.” Then, the installation finished.

I boot to Windows, and I was planning to install the boot camp drivers. I followed your method above, but a dialog box appeared saying the exe file is not compatible.

Any thoughts?
Anonymous

It seems that the last word on using Windows 8 on the mid 2011 MacBook Air is to install the 32-bit version. However, this is definitely NOT working for me. Whether Windows 8 is 64-bit or 32-bit, the Boot Camp installer fails to run with the same “Requires Windows 7″ error. This is of course with compatibility mode set to Windows 7. I can install the drivers individually, but this is very messy, and results in incomplete functionality.

A solution to this problem would be greatly appreciated!
Dewey

Some of the drivers are not working for me, most notably the screen resolution and trackpad. My iMac has a resolution of 1440×900 but Windows 8 wont give me that option. Do you know which driver is the one for the screen resolution, maybe running it by itself may cause it to work?
Kemal KOCABIYIK

I want to let you guys know, I have mid2011 air 256 GB i7. I always got Windows 7 compatibility issue. However I downloaded the link about “All apple drivers” that was given in here: http://theundyingtruth.com/

I tried to run the setup as administrator and installed boot camp.

Regards Kemal
http://www.facebook.com/kallikrates5 Stephen Kirby

Glad I found this thread. I have installed W8 64bit twice in a couple of days, in Boot Camp. First time it worked but I ran into the W7 issue tried compatibilty mode with no result. It was running though, even without all drivers. Don’t believe 20Gb is enough either, because with Safari, iTunes and QuickTime installed I got a running out of space warning. After fiddling about trying to reformat I gave in and started over once more, with 27GB. This time I went through the 64 bit drivers one by one and now there’s only one yellow warning in Device Manager. However I still can’t get Boot Camp Setup to run whatever I do, but from reading here it’s probably this Macbook Air 2011 that has caused the issue. I’ll check back to see if anyone has a fix.
- Brent Schooley
  
  If you have the time, you might want to try 32-bit at least once to see if that will help.
Anonymous

If you don’t have a 2 button mouse, click on setup.exe and press shift F10 for a menu then change the windows 7 compatibility from the properties.
http://twitter.com/wcooper97 William Cooper

Anyone know how to get this working properly with Parallels 7?
Anonymous

If you hack BootCamp64.MSI or BootCamp32.MSI with Orca and change the Windows check from 6,1 to 6,2 it will install the boot camp control panel and everything from setup.exe with no errors.
Toffer00444

Where can i download those files
Amfteam4

will windows 8 work with no prior installation/bootcamp of windows 7? if not, will it work with vista and/or os x snow leopard???
Anonymous

Worked very well. I did notice that
Gingerjacob2011

my dvd drive dosent show up though thats the only problem i went and installed the drivers from boot camp and it wont show my dvd drive
Jensencole

After I installed drivers and rebooted it went into a black screen. Any suggestions on how to fix this problem?
Kevinblue_10

i have MBP 13″ with mac os x Lion, when i try to install windows 8 at bootcamp, it restart and turn the screen into black and it say: “windows failed to start. a recent hardware or software change might be the cause.”
i need help guys. thanks!
http://www.gadgtastic.com java

is win 8 running in ahci mode??

CodeSnack

take a byte

Windows 8 on a Mac Using Boot Camp

What if setup.exe won’t run because it needs Windows 7?

End result: