Windows 7 Installation Media Creation Tool For Mac

Apple now supports Windows 10 in Boot Camp. If you have Windows 7 or 8.1 installed on a Mac, you can take advantage of the free upgrade offer and get Windows 10. Just ensure you’ve updated your Apple software first.

If you’d like to perform a clean install of Windows 10, you can do that in the future after taking advantage of the free upgrade once. You’ll be able to install Windows 10 on that same Mac in the future. Or, you can install it with a new Windows 10 product key.

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What You’ll Need

Before you get started, here’s what you’ll need:

  • A supported Mac: In general, you’ll need a Mac made in mid 2012 or later to run Windows 10 Apple provides a list of officially supported Mac.
  • Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1, if you’re upgrading: If you have the original version of Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed, you can upgrade to Windows 7 Service Pack 1 or Windows 8.1 for free from within Windows. You’ll then be eligible for the free upgrade.
  • A 64-bit edition of Windows: Boot Camp only supports 64-bit versions of Windows 10. If you’re installing Windows 10 from scratch, you’ll need the 64-bit edition of Windows 10. If you’re upgrading an existing Windows system, you’ll have to upgrade from the 64-bit edition of Windows 7 or 8.1. If you have a 32-bit version of Windows 7 or 8.1 installed, you’ll need to install the 32-bit version first to take advantage of the free upgrade.
  • An authorized Mac or Windows 10 product key, if you’re clean-installing: If you’re installing Windows 10 for the first time, you’ll need a Windows 10 product key. if you’re installing Windows 10 on a Mac that’s already taken advantage of the Windows 10 upgrade offer, you can just install Windows 10 fresh and it will activate with Microsoft.

Prepare Your Mac’s Software

Apple recommends you have the latest software updates before doing this. To do this, boot your Mac into the OS X system, log in, and open the App Store app. Select the Updates tab and ensure you have the latest version of Mac OS X and your Mac’s firmware. Install any available updates.

Next, boot into Windows and launch the Apple Software Update application. Install any available updates from here, too.

Upgrade to Windows 10 in Boot Camp

RELATED:How to Upgrade from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 (Right Now)

Download the Windows 10 media creation tool from Microsoft and launch it. Select “Upgrade this PC” to upgrade your current Windows installation to Windows 10. Go through the process normally, as if you were upgrading to Windows 10 on a typical PC.

The upgrade process registers your Mac’s hardware with Microsoft. Microsoft will register your Mac’s hardware and grant it a free license. You’ll be able to clean-install Windows 10 on that specific Mac in the future. You must perform an upgrade install to gain your free Windows 10 license before you can perform a clean install.

If your Mac reboots to Mac OS X, restart it, hold the Option key while it boots to launch the Startup Manager, and select the Windows option.

After upgrading to Windows 10, open the Apple Software Update application again and install any other available updates. Everything should work normally.

Installation

Install Windows 10 in Boot Camp

If you’ve previously upgraded to Windows 10 once, your Mac’s hardware has been registered with Microsoft and you can perform a clean-install of Windows 10 on that specific hardware. You won’t have a product key, but it will automatically activate itself. Just go through the Windows 10 installation process normally and skip entering a product key. After it’s completely installed, Windows 10 will activate itself online with Microsoft.

If you just have a Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 license and you haven’t performed a Windows 10 upgrade on that particular Mac yet, you’ll need to install Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and upgrade to Windows 10 from there. In the future, you’ll be allowed to clean-install Windows 10 on that Mac.

If you’ve purchased a new copy of Windows 10 for use on your Mac, you’ll have a product key you can enter while installing Windows 10.

Installing Windows 10 in this way is the same as installing any other version of Windows on a Mac. Use the Boot Camp wizard to create Windows 10 installation media, partition your hard drive, and start installing Windows.

You can download a Windows 10 ISO file directly from Microsoft for the Boot Camp wizard. You’ll need a legitimate Windows 10 product key or a Mac that you’ve previously upgraded to Windows 10 by taking advantage of the free upgrade offer to do this.

You could also install Windows 10 in a virtual machine program like Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, or VirtualBox. If you already have a legitimate copy of Windows 7 or 8.1 running in a virtual machine, download the media creation tool inside the virtual machine to upgrade to Windows 10 for free. If you have a new Windows 10 license, you can install Windows 10 like you would any other edition of Windows in the virtual machine.

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  • Before you begin

Before you begin

To install Windows 10 Education Edition from IUware, or if you have a Windows 8.x or 7 installation disk but do not have an optical (CD/DVD) drive on your computer, you can create a bootable flash drive for the installation.

On a Windows computer, you can use either a tool from Microsoft, or the Rufus software; using the Microsoft tool is generally simpler, while Rufus has some additional features.

What you'll need

To complete the process, you'll need:

  • A Windows or macOS computer connected to the internet.
    On a Windows computer, you must have administrator privileges.
  • A flash drive with at least 8 GB of space for Windows 10 and 8.1, or at least 4 GB of space for Windows 7
    The process described below will delete any data currently on your flash drive. Make sure to back up your flash drive's data to another storage location before proceeding.
  • A valid product key that came with your Windows software. For Windows 10, this will be available on IUware. For Windows 8.x or 7, this will be with the disc you purchased.

Insert your flash drive before beginning.

Create a bootable installation flash drive forWindows 10 Education Edition

This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
  1. Go to the IUware Windows 10 Education page, and select either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version. Review and accept the terms, and then click Get product key. Copy the product key to use later.
  2. Download and run the Academic Media Creation Tool. Accept the license terms, select Create installation (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC, and click Next.
  3. On the 'Select language, architecture, and edition' prompt, leave the default selections.
  4. To have the Microsoft tool create your bootable flash drive, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, select USB flash drive, and click Next.

    If you plan to use Rufus instead, select ISO file and click Next. This will save the .iso file to your computer; then, to use Rufus and your .iso file to create a bootable installation flash drive, follow the directions below.

Create a bootable installation flash drive forWindows 8.1

Because Windows 8 is no longer supported, you must create a Windows 8.1 bootable flash drive and upgrade to Windows 8.1.

Download Windows 8.1

To download Windows 8.1:

  1. Go to Microsoft's Download Windows 8.1 page.
  2. From the Select edition drop-down menu, select Windows 8.1, and click Confirm.
  3. Select the desired language and click Confirm.
  4. Select the 32-bit Download or the 64-bit Download (recommended, unless the machine you're installing on doesn't support it), and download the disk image.

You can now use the .iso file to create a Windows 8.1 bootable installation flash drive using either a Windows tool or Rufus.

Create a bootable drive using the Windows USB/DVD Download tool

This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
This method formats the flash drive using the NTFS file system, which is incompatible with UEFI (secure boot). You will have to disable secure boot, if enabled, in order to boot from a USB drive made using this tool.

To create a bootable installation flash drive using the Windows tool:

  1. Download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The final four letters of each file (before .exe) represent the language and region of the installer. Download the one for your desired language/location.
  2. Open the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The tool refers to itself as a Windows 7 tool, but works for 8.1 media creation as well.
  3. When prompted, browse to your .iso file, select it, and click Next.
  4. When asked to select the media type for your backup, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, and then choose USB device.

    You may be prompted to insert the USB device even if the flash drive is already inserted. Ignore this, and choose the USB device you'll be writing to.

  5. Click Begin Copying. If prompted, confirm that you wish to erase the flash disk.
  6. The .iso files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When it's finished, close the wizard and eject and remove the flash drive.

Create a bootable drive using Rufus

To use Rufus to create a bootable drive that is compatible with UEFI, follow the instructions below.

Create a bootable installation flash drive for Windows 7

At IU, you have two options for creating a bootable installation flash drive for Windows 7:

  • The Support Center will create a bootable installation flash drive for you at the IU Bloomington Support Center walk-in location; bring a blank flash drive with at least 4 GB of storage.
  • If you are unable to visit a walk-in location or would prefer towork with the .iso file yourself, download the Windows 7 .iso from Microsoft's Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files) page.

You can now use the .iso file to create a Windows 7 bootable installation flash drive using either a Windows tool or Rufus.

Create a bootable drive using the Windows USB/DVD Download tool

Media Creation Tool 1809

This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
This method formats the flash drive using the NTFS file system, which is incompatible with UEFI (secure boot) You will have to disable secure boot, if enabled, in order to boot from a USB drive made using this tool.

To create a bootable installation flash drive using the Windows tool:

Media Creation Tool Windows 7

  1. Download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The final four letters of each file (before .exe) represent the language and region of the installer. Download the one for your desired language/location.
  2. Open the Windows USB/DVD Download tool.
  3. When prompted, browse to your .iso file, select it, and click Next.
  4. When asked to select the media type for your backup, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, and then choose USB device.

    You may be prompted to insert the USB device even if the flash drive is already inserted. Ignore this, and choose the USB device you'll be writing to.

  5. Click Begin Copying. If prompted, confirm that you wish to erase the flash disk.
  6. The .iso files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When it's finished, close the wizard and eject and remove the flash drive.

Create a bootable drive using Rufus

To use Rufus to create a bootable drive that is compatible with UEFI, follow the instructions below.

Windows 7 Installation Media Creation Tool For Mac

Use Rufus to write an .iso file

  1. Download Rufus. Rufus is a standalone program and does not require installation.
  2. Open the Rufus program from where you downloaded it to run it.
  3. From the Device drop-down menu, select your USB drive, if it isn't automatically selected.
  4. Under 'Boot selection', select Disk or ISO image (Please select), if it isn't already chosen, and then click SELECT to choose the .iso file you downloaded.
  5. Leave 'Image option' set to Standard Windows installation.
  6. Leave 'Partition scheme' set to GPT.
  7. For 'Target system', select UEFI (non CSM).
  8. Under 'Format Options', to ensure the flash drive is compatible with UEFI, select FAT32 for 'File System'.
  9. To create the flash drive with the 'Press any key to boot from USB' prompt at startup, under the 'Advanced format' options, select Create extended label and icon files.
  10. When you are finished selecting options, click Start. When prompted, confirm that you want to erase the flash disk.
  11. The .iso files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When Rufus is done, close the program and eject and remove the flash drive.

Create a bootable installation flash drive on a macOS computer

In macOS, the option to create a Windows flash drive appears only when the computer does not have an optical drive. If your Mac has an optical drive, the option will be either missing or grayed out.
  1. From the Finder, open the Applications folder, and then Utilities.
  2. Open the Boot Camp Assistant, and then click Continue. The next screen should give you a list of options.
  3. UITS recommends making the USB drive installer first. You don't need to install Windows or download the support software at this time, as it will be easier to do both later. To proceed:
    1. Verify that the USB drive you will be writing to is plugged in.
    2. Uncheck the Install Windows 7 or later version and Download the latest Windows support software from Apple options.
    3. Check Create a Windows 7 or later install disk and click Continue.
  4. Your USB drive should be listed in the 'Destination disk' area. Use choose to browse to your .iso file; after selecting it, click Continue.
  5. If prompted, confirm your action and/or provide an administrator password. The process of writing the .iso file to the USB drive can take 20 minutes or longer.

Other resources

WebsiteArticle
Windows 10 ForumsHow to create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10
Windows Eight ForumsHow to create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive for installing Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1
How-To GeekHow to create bootable USB drives and SD cards for every operating system
TechverseHow to create a bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive