I'd suggest using a 16GB USB stick for this, just to be sure you've got enough space.Ĭlick the drive labeled Windows, and you're good to go. Then I made a bootable USB stick using a small free utility called Rufus. (Sorry no screenshot of this I was somewhat frazzled at the time.) So I took my Windows 8 installation disk and used the OEM version of Nero that came with my DVD drive to create a disc image from it. In practice, if you have a portable DVD drive that gets all its power from the computer by plugging into two USB ports, the Mac will see it as two devices and balk. Choose your Windows installation device and you're good to go. Then press the power key again, and hold down the Option key (which is the Alt key if you're using a PC keyboard) until you see a screen from which you can choose which device to boot from. If this happens, the official instructions say to hold down the power key until your Mac shuts off, and then disconnect all USB devices except your installation device, mouse, and keyboard. When it reboots, if you are using a USB device (either an external DVD drive or a USB stick) to install Windows from, you may get a black screen. When I began the Windows 8 installation I quickly found that the Mac has an annoying quirk that complicated this otherwise simple procedure for me. Sometimes, Macs don't 'Just work.' My USB connections cause problems! Make sure that your Windows 8 installation disk is inserted properly in your optical drive (or a USB slot if your software is on a USB stick). Once the partition is created, you'll be asked to reboot your Mac.

Mac, OS X, Boot Camp, Windows 8, Installation Click on the Apple menu in the upper left corner and choose Software Update. You'll also need at least 30 GB of free space on the hard drive, and an 8GB USB drive to store the Mac/Windows drivers on.Īs with any other project of this nature, the very first thing you want to do before you do anything else is make sure that OS X and all your apps are up to date. The 32-bit version and upgrade versions of Windows 8 won't work. You will need the 64-bit full version of Windows 8 for this endeavor. Boot Camp is built right into OS X, and it will allow you to set up your Mac to dual boot OS X with any other operating system you want. But you don't need to buy any third-party software to do it. It can be done using commercial software called Parallels, for example. There are several ways one can install Windows 8 on a Mac. What You Need in Order to Install Windows 8 on a Mac How to Switch Between Windows 8 or Mac OS X.Sometimes, Macs don't 'Just work.' My USB connections cause problems!.What You Need in Order to Install Windows 8 on a Mac.

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