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I’m wondering if it’s possible to install 64 bit Windows Vista on the late 2008 aluminum MacBook without using Bootcamp. I’ve tried creating a Vista USB with Rufus on Windows using MBR, BIOS and NTFS as the USB scheme. After holding Option after booting up the Mac, my USB doesn’t appear in the boot menu.

Also, my DVD drive is broken. So is there anything I’m doing wrong or any other way I can install Vista 64 on the entire Mac with a USB?

agarza
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DrNostalgia1978
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1 Answers1

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Below are some comments regarding your Mac.

  • Apple only supports 32 bit versions of Windows XP (SP2), Vista and 7 on your model Mac.
  • The Boot Camp Assistant application requires your Mac have a working DVD drive in order to install Windows.
  • Most (if not all) 2008 Macs cannot BIOS boot the Windows installer from a USB port.
  • The drivers for Vista may exist on Leopard or Snow Lepard installation DVDs.
  • Apple assumes you model Mac will be BIOS booting Windows, therefore the drives provided by Apple may not be compatible with an (U)EFI booting Windows.

The question you are asking was popular years ago here a Ask Different with respect to Windows 7 and newer. The popular answer was to use a virtual machine to install to a physical drive partition. Once installation was complete, the virtual machine was discarded. Windows was then booted from the physical Mac. The installation procedure can be rather complex as demonstrated by Installing Windows 7 or 10 Pro 64 bit without DVD or Flash Drive. To install Windows to the entire Mac, you would have to remove OS X after installing Windows.

The Boot Camp Support Software (Windows Support Software) for Windows 7 can be found at Install Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp. I do not know if the download would be compatible with 64 bit Vista. Based on the answer found at Does Apple offer a page that lists all versions of published Boot Camp drivers?, I found the following download URLs:

agarza
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David Anderson
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