Curious: Are there VM's with Win7 already loaded?

[gadgetmacfreak]

After struggling and failing to install Win7 (retail version) through Fusion and then Bootcamp, I wondered if there are Virtual Machines available with Win7 already loaded, with the Mac drivers loaded. Everything you need, but waiting for the license key?

So really three questions:

1) are they available?
2) are they safe?
3) are they legal if you have a legit license key?

 

[ayeying]

No. It's a complete violation of the EULA for Windows 7 so none are created and distributed.

However, I haven't had any problems installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp or Fusion. The only problem I had was in Parallels which for some reason crashes when I try logging in, not sure why.

Can you explain your problems so we can see if we can help you?

 

[gadgetmacfreak]

I first tried to run the install DVD in Fusion, but get an error message that there is no bootable disk. Read somewhere else that creating an ISO image may help but I have not tried that yet.

Then I tried to install in bootcamp and got the black screen of death. Appeared as if the computer turned off and would not turn back on. Only way to do it was to unplug the machine and plug it back in. I posted about it another thread on the late 2009 imacs:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/816785/

 

[ayeying]

I first tried to run the install DVD in Fusion, but get an error message that there is no bootable disk. Read somewhere else that creating an ISO image may help but I have not tried that yet.

Then I tried to install in bootcamp and got the black screen of death. Appeared as if the computer turned off and would not turn back on. Only way to do it was to unplug the machine and plug it back in. I posted about it another thread on the late 2009 imacs:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/816785/

For boot camp, that's actually an issue with the ATi video cards for Windows 7. It's been posted on many other sites.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...os/174668-windows-7-27-imac-black-screen.html

http://geekswithblogs.net/ajames/ar...an-imac-and-windows-7-rtm-ndash-and-have.aspx

For VMWare Fusion, did you set it to boot from disk and not boot from hard drive?

 

[gadgetmacfreak]

For boot camp, that's actually an issue with the ATi video cards for Windows 7. It's been posted on many other sites.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...os/174668-windows-7-27-imac-black-screen.html

http://geekswithblogs.net/ajames/ar...an-imac-and-windows-7-rtm-ndash-and-have.aspx

For VMWare Fusion, did you set it to boot from disk and not boot from hard drive?

Thanks for the info on the video card. For Fusion I was just using the wizard and selected the DVD as the drive where the media was. I assumed that would tell it to boot from there -- is there an extra step?

 

[ayeying]

Thanks for the info on the video card. For Fusion I was just using the wizard and selected the DVD as the drive where the media was. I assumed that would tell it to boot from there -- is there an extra step?

I never use the wizard because I like to customize my settings to my own likings. I'm assuming you're using VMWare Fusion 3.

Open Up VMWare Fusion
Goto "Settings" for the Boot Camp Partition
Choose "Advanced"

Here you can select "CD/DVD" to boot from.

 

[jaybar]

Ayeying

I assume from Your post, that You are running windows 7 with Fusion?

Am I correct?

How do You find performance on the MBA?

Thanks

Jay

 

[gadgetmacfreak]

For boot camp, that's actually an issue with the ATi video cards for Windows 7. It's been posted on many other sites.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/wi...os/174668-windows-7-27-imac-black-screen.html

http://geekswithblogs.net/ajames/ar...an-imac-and-windows-7-rtm-ndash-and-have.aspx

For VMWare Fusion, did you set it to boot from disk and not boot from hard drive?

I am going to make attempt # 2 this Friday, and it sounds like I'll have workarounds for both bootcamp and fusion. However, if I install Win7 through Bootcamp first, will I even need to worry about bootable media in Fusion? I've not done it before, but doesn't Fusion allow you to use a bootcamp install?

 

[ayeying]

Ayeying

I assume from Your post, that You are running windows 7 with Fusion?

Am I correct?

How do You find performance on the MBA?

Thanks

Jay

Yes, I'm running Windows 7 Boot Camp, with Fusion VM on my air. I find the performance fine. I don't see any real issues. When I'm in OSX, I open up Fusion with Windows 7 Boot Camp so I can do some SETI@Home in the background.

I am going to make attempt # 2 this Friday, and it sounds like I'll have workarounds for both bootcamp and fusion. However, if I install Win7 through Bootcamp first, will I even need to worry about bootable media in Fusion? I've not done it before, but doesn't Fusion allow you to use a bootcamp install?

If you have a boot camp install, you can link Fusion to boot from the boot camp partition. At that point, bootable media isn't even necessary.

 

[gadgetmacfreak]

If you have a boot camp install, you can link Fusion to boot from the boot camp partition. At that point, bootable media isn't even necessary.

Success! Thanks for the help! Got Bootcamp working and then Fusion was easy. Had to activate twice. Using a family pack (3 upgrades) so hopefully it only used one license, not two.

Thanks again!