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I am trying to install Windows 7 on my MacBook as a dual boot setup. I have a MacBook 7,1 running Mavericks. I have replaced the DVD drive with a SSD (now have 2 internal drives) so cannot use a windows CD to do the install. I have used the trick that alters the BootCamp info.plist file to allow me to create a bootable USB to do the install. So I have a bootable Windows 7 installer USB. I know this works because I can boot into it on another MacBook.

However, it turns out that my MacBook can't boot from USBs other than USBs containing a Mac OS. The BootCamp created USB (Windows 7 installer) does not appear at all on the grey boot sources screen (holding option at boot). I have tried rEFIt/rEFInd and they see that there is an OS on the USB but when it tries to boot it gives me a heap of errors saying that Mac can't boot "legacy" OSs from a USB.

To summarize: Its not a problem with corruption or incorrect formatting. I put the USB into another (newer) MacBook and can boot into it absolutely fine. This is a problem with my MacBook not being able to boot from USBs.

I need a way to boot from this USB even though the mac won't natively do it. Is there an alternative bootloader that I can install on my macbook to provide this USB booting functionality?

sion
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  • Well firstly make sure that your windows .iso file is not corrupt/incomplete/not bootable etc. (try to boot the usb in windows pc if available). Your No bootable device problem comes when the usb drive is not properly formatted or if the files are not properly copied while making it bootable. Use disk Utility to format it to FAT. And try to make it bootable now using the Bootcamp Assistant located in your utility folder. – Ruskes Sep 01 '14 at 02:57
  • Its not a problem with corruption or incorrect formatting. I put the USB into another (newer) MacBook and can boot into it absolutely fine. This is a problem with my MacBook not being able to boot from USBs – sion Sep 01 '14 at 03:00
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    What build of OS X is on the media and have you checked that your specific version of MacBook pro boots from that version and build of OS X? It's not even clear that this is a problem with your media without some details edited in (unless you want to change this to be "How can I tell if build X runs on Mac Y?") – bmike Sep 01 '14 at 03:27
  • There is no OSX on the USB, its the Windows 7 installer... – sion Sep 01 '14 at 09:20
  • what year is your macbook pro? – William Jan 24 '17 at 01:42
  • Its not a Pro. Either mid or late 2010, cant remember... – sion Jan 30 '17 at 10:31
  • I have a Macbook Pro 17" Mid 2010 and successfully installed Windows 7 through a hack that uses a virtual machine but installs on a real partition. I think this is the link: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/install-windows-on-mac/ I also experience the problem that I am not able to boot anything correctly, including Linux, from USB. – bomben Feb 04 '17 at 18:37

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