Solved Windows 7 installation problems with Bootcamp, diskpart, and mac os x

[Croabadrake]

Windows 7 reinstallation problems with Bootcamp, diskpart, mac os x

I'm having trouble installing Windows 7 on a Bootcamp partition. Reading through the sticky topics, I noticed one subject that seemed to be my problem: whenever the system reboots during installation, it simply goes back to the beginning of the install process. It mentions that Diskpart may be able to help me here, but...

Does it work on Mac OS X? It's kind of the only working partition at the moment, so I have to download it on that one. I simply wish to know if Diskpart is a viable option even through the mac partition. I figured I would ask just in case it did work but didn't work the same way (don't want to go poking around the wrong files and mess up the working half of my laptop, eh?).

Thank you for your time.

...erm, yes, I should probably mention that Windows 7 had existed on this drive before, but I had to format said drive and this is a reinstallation attempt.

 

[edwar]

I have Win 7 installed on my Macbook Pro in a Boot Camp partition. It installed without problems. What model Mac do you have? What version of Win 7 do you have? It has to be a Retail Full version, NOT an Upgrade version, or an Over the counter, NON Major manufacturer, OEM version.

 

[Croabadrake]

I have a Macbook Pro as well, 32 Bit Windows 7. All sent to me by my college, Full Sail University: the installation succeeded before, but Windows ceased working at some point, forcing me to evacuate the important files followed by formatting the partition in an attempt to get the re-installation to work (since it was already failing to re-install, and if you hadn't guessed yet the reformat didn't work).

 

[edwar]

If you had it installed before and it quit working then more then likely you will need to use the Boot Camp Assistant program, In OS X, to remove the Windows partition and then recreate it and reinstall Windows. Not sure if you can successfully run Startup Repair on a BC Windows install. It may want to change the partition structure in a way that will cause neither Windows or OS x from booting.

Not sure as so far I haven't had to do that.

 

[Croabadrake]

Yeah, I tried using Bootcamp Assistant at one point. It decided to tell me that it couldn't restore it to a single partition and that I'd have to reformat the entire disk into a single partition...... which was the main reason I went and evacuated all of my important files to my brother's laptop (off of the Mac partition, where I kept them while formatting the Bootcamp partition). I came here more or less as one last attempt to see if there was a way around having to do this, but... ah well. I've got all of the installation discs and everything I need to get up and running again.

One last thought: is there a way to combine the partitions as-is without reformatting the Mac half as well? Because that would avoid the having-to-reinstall-everything-on-the-mac-half-as-well thing, which I would like to do...

 

[edwar]

Sorry no there isn't. Even if you deleted that Windows partition in Disk Utility there is no easy way to get that space back into the Mac OS X partition without Re-Partitioning the physical drive as One Partition.

If I may add a suggestion.
In the future, when you are in the market for a new notebook, look at dumping Mac and going with a Real Win PC.
Although with MS coming out with Win 8, IMHO, that choice isn't the best either. Windows is going in the same direction as Mac OS X. Very Limited in what the users can change and how they work with the system.

 

[Croabadrake]

Agh, well, thank you anyways. I appreciate the effort.

I did plan to get a Windows PC in the future, but I can't at the moment. I'm really only using this Mac because A: the college sent it to me so it was psuedo-free and has class-required programs on it (Garageband, etc.), and B: I can't afford a new laptop at the moment.

Thank you for your time.