How to Install Windows Boot Camp Without An Optical Drive

Editor’s Note: Previously, we published a post by Daniel Pataki on How To Install Windows on Mac when all else fails. Alvaro is one of the many readers who left a comment on that thread. Below is his version on how to get Windows Boot Camp, and thus, Windows, on your Mac.

I have a late 2009 27" iMac which has a built-in Optical Drive, one that is not operational anymore. I’m not sure why it refuses to work, but I tried cleaning it with canned air, which improved its condition a little because now at least it "swallows" the dvd and spins it – it just never recognises it. I also have a MacBook Air which I successfully installed Boot Camp on with the use of an external drive. Still, I wanted a way to install it without the drive.

What Didn’t Work

So I tried lots of things.

The first one, was enabling the Boot Camp Assistant app to create bootable USB drives. It didn’t work, because after the application created the USB drive, it made a partition and rebooted. I was supposed to see the windows installer, but instead, all I saw was a blinking white line on a black screen. After several minutes of this, I gave up and force-booted my computer.

Next, I tried creating a partition on my own, using disk utility, formatting it as FAT32 and then attempted to boot from the USB. This did not work either. When I booted my Mac in the boot option menu, it did not show the partition, nor the "bootable" USB.

And that’s when I found this tutorial by Daniel Pataki, which I tried on my MacBook Air and it worked like a charm, despite the long and complex process. When I tried it on my iMac, however, things didn’t go well. When I tried to boot the VM from the Boot Camp partition and install windows, the VM booted into a black screen saying "Missing Operative System".

Finding Plan B

I had given up on other methods, and I decided to sleep on the problem of installing Boot Camp on my Mac when I suddenly thought about the Apple Watch. You see, what Apple has always wanted is for us users to buy a new model of Mac whenever the older one cannot do something. It’s the answer to why certain Mac models can create bootable USB drives while others can’t.

I then asked myself if USB drives have the same restrictions. One thing led to another and this is the way I install Windows on My Mac now. And it is way, way easier.

What Did Work

Here’s what we’ll be doing:

1. Create a Bootable USB


2. Create Partition


3. Install Windows

Yes, it’s really that simple.

Create a bootable USB

1. Locate a Windows PC.

2. Download two things: a Windows 7 USB download tool directly from Microsoft, and a full Windows ISO of the version you want to install.

3. Open the Windows 7 USB download tool and browse to your ISO file, click continue and follow the instructions in the next section to create your Bootable USB.

Create a Windows Partition

We will be using Boot Camp Assistant.. well, sort of.

1. First, we need to make the application recognise USB drives. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities, and right click on Boot Camp Assistant, then click "Show package contents".

2. Navigate into Contents, locate the "info.plist" file then make a copy (do not move the original) of it to your desktop. If you like, make another copy as a backup, just in case something goes wrong.

3. Open the "info.plist" file located on your desktop, look for the line of text saying PreUSBBootModels and erase the "Pre" from there, save the file (CMD+S) and close it.

4. Drag the modified info.plist file from your desktop to the Contents folder we opened previously. It will ask you to Authenticate with your administrator Name and Password. Click Replace.

5. If you were to open Boot Camp Assistant now, and it crashes, that’s because it detected that a modification has been made. If this happens, open terminal and type the following command:

sudo codesign -fs - /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app

Enter your Administrator Password and hit enter. Now you can open Disk Utility.

6. Make sure your Bootable USB is plugged in. Open Boot Camp Assistant and you will see 3 options.

Check Install windows, and hit continue, select the size you want to dedicate to windows and click Install. The process might take several minutes.

Install Windows

Once the Partition is ready, your computer will restart into the Windows installer, follow all the instructions, and enjoy your new windows partition!

Remember that when you finish the installation process, you should download and install the proper Boot Camp Support Drivers so that everything works perfectly.

Editor’s note: This is written by Alvaro Martinez for Hongkiat.com. Alvaro is a tech lover, Google fan, Android enthusiast, gamer and loves helping people solve their problems. You can reach him on Twitter , Facebook or Google+.

How to Install Windows Boot Camp Without An Optical Drive

How to Install Windows Boot Camp Without An Optical Drive

Editor’s Note: Previously, we published a post by Daniel Pataki on How To Install Windows on Mac when all else fails. Alvaro is one of the many readers who left a comment on that thread. Below is his version on how to get Windows Boot Camp, and thus, Windows, on your Mac.

I have a late 2009 27" iMac which has a built-in Optical Drive, one that is not operational anymore. I’m not sure why it refuses to work, but I tried cleaning it with canned air, which improved its condition a little because now at least it "swallows" the dvd and spins it – it just never recognises it. I also have a MacBook Air which I successfully installed Boot Camp on with the use of an external drive. Still, I wanted a way to install it without the drive.

What Didn’t Work

So I tried lots of things.

The first one, was enabling the Boot Camp Assistant app to create bootable USB drives. It didn’t work, because after the application created the USB drive, it made a partition and rebooted. I was supposed to see the windows installer, but instead, all I saw was a blinking white line on a black screen. After several minutes of this, I gave up and force-booted my computer.

Next, I tried creating a partition on my own, using disk utility, formatting it as FAT32 and then attempted to boot from the USB. This did not work either. When I booted my Mac in the boot option menu, it did not show the partition, nor the "bootable" USB.

And that’s when I found this tutorial by Daniel Pataki, which I tried on my MacBook Air and it worked like a charm, despite the long and complex process. When I tried it on my iMac, however, things didn’t go well. When I tried to boot the VM from the Boot Camp partition and install windows, the VM booted into a black screen saying "Missing Operative System".

Finding Plan B

I had given up on other methods, and I decided to sleep on the problem of installing Boot Camp on my Mac when I suddenly thought about the Apple Watch. You see, what Apple has always wanted is for us users to buy a new model of Mac whenever the older one cannot do something. It’s the answer to why certain Mac models can create bootable USB drives while others can’t.

I then asked myself if USB drives have the same restrictions. One thing led to another and this is the way I install Windows on My Mac now. And it is way, way easier.

What Did Work

Here’s what we’ll be doing:

1. Create a Bootable USB


2. Create Partition


3. Install Windows

Yes, it’s really that simple.

Create a bootable USB

1. Locate a Windows PC.

2. Download two things: a Windows 7 USB download tool directly from Microsoft, and a full Windows ISO of the version you want to install.

3. Open the Windows 7 USB download tool and browse to your ISO file, click continue and follow the instructions in the next section to create your Bootable USB.

Create a Windows Partition

We will be using Boot Camp Assistant.. well, sort of.

1. First, we need to make the application recognise USB drives. Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities, and right click on Boot Camp Assistant, then click "Show package contents".

2. Navigate into Contents, locate the "info.plist" file then make a copy (do not move the original) of it to your desktop. If you like, make another copy as a backup, just in case something goes wrong.

3. Open the "info.plist" file located on your desktop, look for the line of text saying PreUSBBootModels and erase the "Pre" from there, save the file (CMD+S) and close it.

4. Drag the modified info.plist file from your desktop to the Contents folder we opened previously. It will ask you to Authenticate with your administrator Name and Password. Click Replace.

5. If you were to open Boot Camp Assistant now, and it crashes, that’s because it detected that a modification has been made. If this happens, open terminal and type the following command:

sudo codesign -fs - /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app

Enter your Administrator Password and hit enter. Now you can open Disk Utility.

6. Make sure your Bootable USB is plugged in. Open Boot Camp Assistant and you will see 3 options.

Check Install windows, and hit continue, select the size you want to dedicate to windows and click Install. The process might take several minutes.

Install Windows

Once the Partition is ready, your computer will restart into the Windows installer, follow all the instructions, and enjoy your new windows partition!

Remember that when you finish the installation process, you should download and install the proper Boot Camp Support Drivers so that everything works perfectly.

Editor’s note: This is written by Alvaro Martinez for Hongkiat.com. Alvaro is a tech lover, Google fan, Android enthusiast, gamer and loves helping people solve their problems. You can reach him on Twitter , Facebook or Google+.

How to Install Windows Boot Camp Without An Optical Drive

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1

Photo collages have been around for a while but is a trend that is making a come back in a selfie-laden era. Showcasing multiple photos within the same frame to communicate a fusion of stories, collages may be awesome to look at but difficult to manually make without the right tools.

The good news is there are plenty of graphic editors that can help organize photos in a beautiful fashion and all without the fuss that usually comes with. In this collection, we find 9 free photo collage makers you can use on Windows 8.1. Some have preset styles, designs, frames, grid arrangements, the ability to add text and other features that you’d probably find use for.

1. El Collagero

El Collagero greets you with a superb list of collage templates including shaped collages, and classic and cool template collages. It comes with hundreds of these templates, and offers some of the best customization options for making the photo collage that best reflect your thoughts. You can also go for customization options like page layout, background, photo shape, etc.

2. PicsArt

PicsArt is a powerful collage maker, which offers three modes to create photo collages: Grid, Frame and Background. All three modes offer different sets of collage templates. Frame provides lots of collage templates like birthday, nature, travel, etc. It lets you add photos from various services other than your computer’s local storage, such as PicsArt network, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Picasa, etc.

3. Fotor

Fotor is a photo editor for multiple platforms including the web but is also a great photo collage maker. You can customize the border, background, template and photo quality. Pick your photo collage using any of the three offered modes: Template, Freestyle and Photo Stitching or go with the Freestyle mode, which allows you to organize the photos in any form or style of your choice. Check out our in-depth review on it.

4. Phototastic

Want to make a photo collage for a lot of photos? Phototastic lets you group up to 25 photos in the same collage. Fetch your photos from local storage, straight from your camera, or from Flickr then use their grid templates to create your collage. On top of that, you can customize the border, photo shape, frame, background, or add text or stickers to the photo collage.

5. Atlantas

Atlantas provides two layouts to start with the photo collage: Smart layout and Advanced layout. The simple Smart layout offers fewer customization options (only border and layout options) and a grid-based result. The Advanced layout offers freestyle placement of images along with more customization option, such as shapes, templates, background, photo shape, photo groups, etc.

Cool Collage

Want to keep it simple? Cool Collage keeps things basic and simple, just add the photos, choose a background and photo size, adjust or arrange the photos, and it’s complete. It offers a freestyle collage template, wherein you can place the photos in any form or style of your choice. You can also share your collages with your friends and family via Facebook or the Charms Bar in Windows 8.

My Collage

My Collage not only lets you create photo collages but also customized e-cards for various occasions. Choose one of the many given collage templates, add your photos and that’s it, you’re done.

While there are few customizations, you can add text, which can be used to write custom greetings or quotes on the photo collage or e-card and make them more personal. Share your masterpiece on Facebook.

Photo Joiner

Photo Joiner cannot be any simpler. Creating a photo collage using this application is as simple as choosing the photos and setting some customization options. It simply joins the photos in a vertical or horizontal grid to make a photo collage.

It offers only the basic configuration options, and no fancy or advance options such as collage templates, text, stickers, etc. are provided as its competitors. It also allows to share your collage on Facebook and Twitter.

Tap Collage

Tap Collage is a simple collage maker, which is not only limited to photo collages but also offers to create e-cards. You’re limited to pre-defined templates for making collages as well as e-cards using this application.

There are templates for creating collages of various types and e-cards for special occasions. The only option it offers is background color and this make the whole process easy: you only need to choose the template and add the photos, and the collage or e-card is ready!

Bonus: Pic Stitch (Paid)

Pic Stitch, as the name suggests, lets you stitch pictures, i.e., join photos to create collages. It’s a premium application that comes at a small price for Windows platform.

Some of the offered features are stickers, photo effects, rich collection of collage templates, and various customization options such as texture and border layouts, photo aspect ratios, etc. You can also share your masterpiece on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

[Download]

Now Read:
20 Useful Microsoft Windows 8.1 Tips & Tricks

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Free Windows 8.1 Security Apps You Should Get

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1

Photo collages have been around for a while but is a trend that is making a come back in a selfie-laden era. Showcasing multiple photos within the same frame to communicate a fusion of stories, collages may be awesome to look at but difficult to manually make without the right tools.

The good news is there are plenty of graphic editors that can help organize photos in a beautiful fashion and all without the fuss that usually comes with. In this collection, we find 9 free photo collage makers you can use on Windows 8.1. Some have preset styles, designs, frames, grid arrangements, the ability to add text and other features that you’d probably find use for.

1. El Collagero

El Collagero greets you with a superb list of collage templates including shaped collages, and classic and cool template collages. It comes with hundreds of these templates, and offers some of the best customization options for making the photo collage that best reflect your thoughts. You can also go for customization options like page layout, background, photo shape, etc.

2. PicsArt

PicsArt is a powerful collage maker, which offers three modes to create photo collages: Grid, Frame and Background. All three modes offer different sets of collage templates. Frame provides lots of collage templates like birthday, nature, travel, etc. It lets you add photos from various services other than your computer’s local storage, such as PicsArt network, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Picasa, etc.

3. Fotor

Fotor is a photo editor for multiple platforms including the web but is also a great photo collage maker. You can customize the border, background, template and photo quality. Pick your photo collage using any of the three offered modes: Template, Freestyle and Photo Stitching or go with the Freestyle mode, which allows you to organize the photos in any form or style of your choice. Check out our in-depth review on it.

4. Phototastic

Want to make a photo collage for a lot of photos? Phototastic lets you group up to 25 photos in the same collage. Fetch your photos from local storage, straight from your camera, or from Flickr then use their grid templates to create your collage. On top of that, you can customize the border, photo shape, frame, background, or add text or stickers to the photo collage.

5. Atlantas

Atlantas provides two layouts to start with the photo collage: Smart layout and Advanced layout. The simple Smart layout offers fewer customization options (only border and layout options) and a grid-based result. The Advanced layout offers freestyle placement of images along with more customization option, such as shapes, templates, background, photo shape, photo groups, etc.

Cool Collage

Want to keep it simple? Cool Collage keeps things basic and simple, just add the photos, choose a background and photo size, adjust or arrange the photos, and it’s complete. It offers a freestyle collage template, wherein you can place the photos in any form or style of your choice. You can also share your collages with your friends and family via Facebook or the Charms Bar in Windows 8.

My Collage

My Collage not only lets you create photo collages but also customized e-cards for various occasions. Choose one of the many given collage templates, add your photos and that’s it, you’re done.

While there are few customizations, you can add text, which can be used to write custom greetings or quotes on the photo collage or e-card and make them more personal. Share your masterpiece on Facebook.

Photo Joiner

Photo Joiner cannot be any simpler. Creating a photo collage using this application is as simple as choosing the photos and setting some customization options. It simply joins the photos in a vertical or horizontal grid to make a photo collage.

It offers only the basic configuration options, and no fancy or advance options such as collage templates, text, stickers, etc. are provided as its competitors. It also allows to share your collage on Facebook and Twitter.

Tap Collage

Tap Collage is a simple collage maker, which is not only limited to photo collages but also offers to create e-cards. You’re limited to pre-defined templates for making collages as well as e-cards using this application.

There are templates for creating collages of various types and e-cards for special occasions. The only option it offers is background color and this make the whole process easy: you only need to choose the template and add the photos, and the collage or e-card is ready!

Bonus: Pic Stitch (Paid)

Pic Stitch, as the name suggests, lets you stitch pictures, i.e., join photos to create collages. It’s a premium application that comes at a small price for Windows platform.

Some of the offered features are stickers, photo effects, rich collection of collage templates, and various customization options such as texture and border layouts, photo aspect ratios, etc. You can also share your masterpiece on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

[Download]

Now Read:
20 Useful Microsoft Windows 8.1 Tips & Tricks

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Free Windows 8.1 Security Apps You Should Get

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1

Photo collages have been around for a while but is a trend that is making a come back in a selfie-laden era. Showcasing multiple photos within the same frame to communicate a fusion of stories, collages may be awesome to look at but difficult to manually make without the right tools.

The good news is there are plenty of graphic editors that can help organize photos in a beautiful fashion and all without the fuss that usually comes with. In this collection, we find 9 free photo collage makers you can use on Windows 8.1. Some have preset styles, designs, frames, grid arrangements, the ability to add text and other features that you’d probably find use for.

1. El Collagero

El Collagero greets you with a superb list of collage templates including shaped collages, and classic and cool template collages. It comes with hundreds of these templates, and offers some of the best customization options for making the photo collage that best reflect your thoughts. You can also go for customization options like page layout, background, photo shape, etc.

2. PicsArt

PicsArt is a powerful collage maker, which offers three modes to create photo collages: Grid, Frame and Background. All three modes offer different sets of collage templates. Frame provides lots of collage templates like birthday, nature, travel, etc. It lets you add photos from various services other than your computer’s local storage, such as PicsArt network, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook, Picasa, etc.

3. Fotor

Fotor is a photo editor for multiple platforms including the web but is also a great photo collage maker. You can customize the border, background, template and photo quality. Pick your photo collage using any of the three offered modes: Template, Freestyle and Photo Stitching or go with the Freestyle mode, which allows you to organize the photos in any form or style of your choice. Check out our in-depth review on it.

4. Phototastic

Want to make a photo collage for a lot of photos? Phototastic lets you group up to 25 photos in the same collage. Fetch your photos from local storage, straight from your camera, or from Flickr then use their grid templates to create your collage. On top of that, you can customize the border, photo shape, frame, background, or add text or stickers to the photo collage.

5. Atlantas

Atlantas provides two layouts to start with the photo collage: Smart layout and Advanced layout. The simple Smart layout offers fewer customization options (only border and layout options) and a grid-based result. The Advanced layout offers freestyle placement of images along with more customization option, such as shapes, templates, background, photo shape, photo groups, etc.

Cool Collage

Want to keep it simple? Cool Collage keeps things basic and simple, just add the photos, choose a background and photo size, adjust or arrange the photos, and it’s complete. It offers a freestyle collage template, wherein you can place the photos in any form or style of your choice. You can also share your collages with your friends and family via Facebook or the Charms Bar in Windows 8.

My Collage

My Collage not only lets you create photo collages but also customized e-cards for various occasions. Choose one of the many given collage templates, add your photos and that’s it, you’re done.

While there are few customizations, you can add text, which can be used to write custom greetings or quotes on the photo collage or e-card and make them more personal. Share your masterpiece on Facebook.

Photo Joiner

Photo Joiner cannot be any simpler. Creating a photo collage using this application is as simple as choosing the photos and setting some customization options. It simply joins the photos in a vertical or horizontal grid to make a photo collage.

It offers only the basic configuration options, and no fancy or advance options such as collage templates, text, stickers, etc. are provided as its competitors. It also allows to share your collage on Facebook and Twitter.

Tap Collage

Tap Collage is a simple collage maker, which is not only limited to photo collages but also offers to create e-cards. You’re limited to pre-defined templates for making collages as well as e-cards using this application.

There are templates for creating collages of various types and e-cards for special occasions. The only option it offers is background color and this make the whole process easy: you only need to choose the template and add the photos, and the collage or e-card is ready!

Bonus: Pic Stitch (Paid)

Pic Stitch, as the name suggests, lets you stitch pictures, i.e., join photos to create collages. It’s a premium application that comes at a small price for Windows platform.

Some of the offered features are stickers, photo effects, rich collection of collage templates, and various customization options such as texture and border layouts, photo aspect ratios, etc. You can also share your masterpiece on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

[Download]

Now Read:
20 Useful Microsoft Windows 8.1 Tips & Tricks

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Free Windows 8.1 Security Apps You Should Get

Top 9 Free Photo Collage Makers for Windows 8.1