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MacBook Pro (Summer 2010 Model, Basic Model)

I currently have OS X Lion and Windows 7 running side by side on my MacBook Pro. However I have a need to get Windows 8 running as well in this mix (a Virtual Machine is not good enough, I need the performance).

I have created a suitably sized parition (80GB) that is recognizable in Boot Camp. However every time I try to boot from the USB stick (that worked to install Windows 8 on my PC) using the latest version of rEFIt, it just boots Windows 7 and not the Windows 8 installer.

I cannot start the installation within Windows 7 as it will just install over Windows 7.

I'm guessing the Boot Camp emulation is doing something werid to stop the "Press any key to install Windows..." message from appearing (which should happen if the installer detects Windows is already installed (e.g. if you left your install disk in).

Is there a way to get around this / force the installer to start?

(Note I cannot start the Windows 7 installer either if I wanted to install a second copy of Windows 7 to upgrade to Windows 8)

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Good question...I was about to try this myself. – Rig Dec 5 '11 at 15:34
Its been a right pain so far, wiped my mac about 3 / 4 times yesturday trying things out all to no avail – Lloyd Sparkes Dec 5 '11 at 15:43
Hope a good answer surfaces here. If not I will have to settle for a VMware instance (not preferable). VMware Fusion 4 did show some nice performance improvement for my Win7 install (running my bootcamp instance as a VM) but I would really like a native Win8 for similar reasons to you. – Rig Dec 5 '11 at 15:45
I thought I was the only special one having this problem. When I select the USB drive from refit, it just boots windows 7. – Brian J Jan 8 at 20:58
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1 Answer

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The problem is the result of the Macbook being unable to boot a usb device that is not EFI. The typical Windows installation usb is MBR not EFI. If you still have the Superdrive installed, you should be able to boot a Windows 8 DVD and do the install.

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Well the Windows Installer does support EFI, but its incompatible with the Apple EFI. I have sucessfully booted both installers from USB, my problem is that once one is installed (Windows 8 or Windows 7), i cannot boot the other installer. – Lloyd Sparkes Jan 5 at 17:29
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