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I have an early 2009 iMac that I'm trying to install Windows 7 on. I’ve been trying for a few days, but I can’t even boot the installer. I tried making a USB using Rufus. On the first attempt the USB showed in the boot menu under the name “EFI boot”, but it would just freeze if I clicked it. I tried remaking the USB using Rufus again, and now the USB doesn't show in the boot menu at all. Does anyone know why?

David Anderson
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bwr99
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1 Answers1

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The short answer is no to using a flash drive alone. You are trying to do something that was not available on iMacs until the 2013 model year. Apple has not issued any updates to make this possible for your early 2009 iMac.

Here I assume you are trying to install 64 bit Windows 7. More information (including drivers) can be found here.

A few items to know:

  • The Windows 7 ISO file should include Service Pack 1 (SP1). Although, users have reported being able to install without SP1.
  • Officially, your Mac supports 32 bit Windows 7, but not 64 bit Windows 7. This probably means you will not be able to boot a 64 bit Windows 7 installer DVD without having to burn a customized DVD.
  • UEFI booting a Windows 7 USB flash drive installer usually (if not always) fails for iMac models.
  • The drives provided by Apple (Boot Camp Support Software 4.0.4033) are designed for a 32 bit Windows 7. Although, many have succeeded in using the drivers with 64 bit Windows 7.
  • The drivers are designed to support a BIOS booting Windows. An UEFI install can cause problems like sound not working.
  • BIOS booting from the USB port is not possible for your model Mac.
  • You may need a wired keyboard and/or wired mouse to complete the installation.
  • To ensure all available firmware updates are installed on your Mac, you should have installed OS X El Captain with all its updates. This is the latest version compatible with your Mac.

All viable methods of installing Windows 7 will leave pain. The only question is where do you want the pain? Or, maybe give up and avoid pain.

Below are two methods which can be using to install 64 bit Windows 7.

Method 1

Burn a DVD. I prefer to use a RW DVD. If the DVD will not boot properly, then you will need to perform surgery on the ISO file to remove the EFI booting files. This will require a machine running Windows. This method should not require having OS X installed on the Mac.

Below is an example of what is meant by the DVD not booting properly. You will encounter a screen similar to the one shown below. The problem is the Mac will not accept any input entered.

enter image description here

I do not know if an early 2009 iMac will have this problem. I know my 2007 iMac does. One solution to this problem, which involves burning a DVD, is to given at "Select CD-ROM Boot Type:" error during Windows install.

Method 2

Use virtual machine software installed in OS X. This can be done where after finishing installing Windows 7, OS X can be removed. Or you can leave OS X installed for a dual boot arrangement. I should point out that the virtual machine method does not actually involve using a virtual machine to run Windows 7. Instead, the virtual machine is used in place of a physical optical drive to read from the Windows 7 ISO file. Once installed, Windows 7 operates on the physical Mac without the use of virtual machine software. See this question for some resent work posted by TAbdiukov.

References

David Anderson
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  • alright, i just ordered a windows 7 disc since blank dvds are quite expensive nowadays, so i hope it works. – bwr99 Mar 11 '24 at 14:27
  • I updated my answer to give more information about using a DVD. If you need to purchase a DVD to burn, I would suggest a RW DVD, since this type can be burned more than once. – David Anderson Mar 11 '24 at 15:42
  • i didnt buy a blank one, but I’m not sure whether the disk i bought has sp1 or not so I’m kinda nervous, but it is 32-bit – bwr99 Mar 12 '24 at 17:16
  • also it is weird that you can’t boot from a usb, since I’ve booted Linux from a usb on this computer – bwr99 Mar 12 '24 at 17:20
  • Your Mac can EFI boot from USB, but not BIOS boot from USB. Intel created the EFI standard. Apple adopted part of (and probably not all of) the EFI standard for OSX. Many Linux providers adopted at least enough of the EFI standard to be bootable on Intel Macs. Eventually, many companies came together and used EFI as a starting point for the development of UEFI. Microsoft now uses UEFI to boot Windows. (Although BIOS booting still works.) Intel Macs, which Apple documents can UEFI boot newer Windows versions, have firmware with enough of the UEFI standard implemented to be able to do so. – David Anderson Mar 12 '24 at 19:16
  • Your Mac has not been documented by Apple to be able to UEFI boot Windows. Windows 7 has never been documented by Apple as UEFI compatible. There are exceptions. I believe users here at Ask Different have posted being able to EFI or UEFI boot Windows 7 by making adjustments. Note that all Windows 7 compatible drivers supplied by Apple are supposed to be for a BIOS booting Windows. For this reason, I have always posted only answers which install a BIOS booting Windows 7. – David Anderson Mar 12 '24 at 19:16
  • alright it makes sense now – bwr99 Mar 12 '24 at 19:58
  • is a blank dvd required or will an actual disc work fine? – bwr99 Mar 12 '24 at 20:08
  • maybe if I just hope it will work when it arrives, the boot camp guide says to use an authentic disc anyways so I should be fine. also thank you for helping me here – bwr99 Mar 13 '24 at 00:11
  • hey, the windows 7 dvd arrived and i tried to install off of it, but i had to wipe my hard drive but it didn’t let me since it had gpt partition, so i tried to do a last resort and just install macos to dual boot, but when i boot it up, it just says “gnu grub version 2.06” did I just break the uefi or something? (i had zorin os installed before i tried windows) – bwr99 Mar 15 '24 at 14:22
  • Actually, i might just put this under a seperate thread – bwr99 Mar 15 '24 at 15:45
  • A 32 bit Windows 7 with SP1 DVD should work fine. You should not need a blank DVD. I am not sure what will happen if the DVD does not have SP1. If you do get Windows installed without SP1, then first thing to do would be to try installing SP1. You may need to use the Micrsoft diskpart command change from GPT to MBR partitioning. – David Anderson Mar 15 '24 at 17:42