Whether you are dual-booting your Mac or formatting a new PC, the best way to get Windows 10 is through a fresh installation, not an upgrade. But you’ll need to create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive first. The process is a little more complicated if you’re using a Mac.

Microsoft offers a simple tool to create a bootable USB on Windows, but there is no such tool for Mac users. Fortunately the process is pretty easy, if you know how.

Aug 03, 2016  Short Description of Problem: Option to boot into usb linux was not available during the Mac's boot process. I was unable to get the mac to see any of 4 distros on 3 different USB sticks, trying all USB ports on the computer. How to Fix Broken EFI Partitions with a System Software Reinstall. Or you can use a USB boot disk if you have one available; If the Mac.

Plus, this is a great opportunity to get Microsoft’s last version of Windows for free. Remember, on July 29, Microsoft will end its free upgrade to Windows 10 Act NOW to Keep Your Windows 10 Upgrade Free After July 29Microsoft has confirmed that the free Windows 10 upgrade will expire. After July 29, a Windows 10 license will cost $119. We show you how to become eligible to install Windows 10 for free, even.. Read More for existing Windows 7 or 8 users. So if you have an old laptop, you could use that license to activate and dual-boot Windows 10 on your Mac.

What You Will Need

• An 8GB or larger USB drive whose data you don’t mind losing. You can pick up a new 8GB drive for as little as $5.

• Your MacBook power adapter should be plugged in. You don’t want the laptop running out of battery in the middle of creating the bootable drive.
• This method obviously requires a valid Windows 10 license to activate the operating system.
• An active Internet connection to download any updates required.

1. Download the Windows ISO

Microsoft has free downloadable ISO files for Windows 10 on its official site. Download wamp server for mac. There are two things to keep in mind when you download:

1. Make sure it’s Windows 10 version 1511 How to Upgrade to Windows 10 Version 1511 NowCan't seem to install the Windows 10 Fall Update? It wouldn't be the Microsoft we know and love, if there wasn't some kind of screw-up along the line. Let us help! Read More —you’ll see the digits 1511 in the file name if it is. Older versions don’t let you use Windows 7 or 8 keys to activate it directly.
2. Don’t worry about “K”, “N”, “KN”, “Simple Language” or other suffixes. Just download the plain Windows 10. Those suffixes are for lighter versions of Windows made for Europe and South Korea, due to anti-trust litigation against Microsoft.

Download:Official Windows 10 ISO

Once you have downloaded the ISO, keep it in a location you can easily find later, like your desktop or downloads folder.

2. Plug in Your USB Drive

Disconnect any other USB hard drive, optical drive, or other storage media you have connected.

3. Start Boot Camp Assistant

Mac OS X’s built-in Boot Camp Assistant (BCA) is capable of creating the bootable Windows 10 installer USB drive, so you don’t need any third-party apps.

To start BCA, press command+spacebarto bring up Spotlight Search More Efficiently In Mac OS X With Our Top Spotlight TipsSpotlight has been a killer Mac feature for years, with Cupertino regularly schooling Redmond in the art of desktop search. Here are a few tips to help you find more on your Mac. Read More , type “Boot Camp Assistant” (without the quotes), and press Enter.

Click Continue at the introduction dialog box.

4. Configure Boot Camp

Check the box for “Create a Windows 7 or later install disk”.

The other options will probably be greyed out, but in case they aren’t, check the second box for “Download the latest Windows support software from Apple”, and don’t check the third box.

Click Continue when done.

5. Choose Your ISO Image & USB Drive

Browse to and select the Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded.

In Destination Disk, make sure you see your 8GB USB drive.

Click Continue when done.

6. Copy The Image to Disk

BCA will format this USB drive, so again, make sure it has no important data on it that you can’t lose.

All the data will be wiped.Click Continue to proceed. The installation process will now start and you don’t need to interact at all. Just let it run.

If you’re on a MacBook, don’t shut the MacBook’s lid! It’s an instinctive act that several of us do when we aren’t using the laptop, but this will put your Mac to sleep and interrupt the process.

When everything is done, you’ll see a window that says “The Windows support software has been saved.”

Click Quit to finish your procedure, unmount and unplug your USB drive. Congratulations! This is now a bootable Windows 10 installer.

While Booting: USB vs. UEFI

When you go to install Windows 10 on a PC with this USB drive, your motherboard might not boot with it, even if you have set to boot with the USB first. It’s a common problem with a simple solution.

Go to your motherboard’s BIOS settings How to Enter the BIOS on Windows 10 (And Older Versions)To get into the BIOS, you usually press a specific key at the right time. Here's how to enter the BIOS on Windows 10. Read More by tapping F2 or Delete as it powers on. In the Boot settings, you will likely see two options for your USB drive that seem similar, titled something like “USB Mass Storage Device” and “UEFI USB Device”.

Choose UEFI instead of USB Mass Storage. Save the new settings, exit BIOS, and restart. This time, your computer should boot into your Windows 10 installer USB drive.

UEFI is a new type of firmware for motherboards What Is UEFI And How Does It Keep You More Secure?If you've booted your PC recently you might have noticed the acronym 'UEFI' instead of BIOS. But what is UEFI? Read More instead of the traditional BIOS, and BCA uses it by default when creating USB installation media. It makes no real difference to a regular user, so just change the setting and you’re good to go.

Alternate Method to Create the Installer

The Boot Camp Assistant is the easiest way to make a bootable USB installer for Windows 10, but some users have reported problems with it. El Capitan users, in particular, have noted that BCA does not offer the “Create a Windows 7 or later install disk” option at all. In case you face this problem, there is an alternative to create your bootable drive.

Use VirtualBox to create a virtual Windows machine on Mac How to Use VirtualBox: User's GuideWith VirtualBox you can easily install and test multiple operating systems. We'll show you how to set up Windows 10 and Ubuntu Linux as a virtual machine. Read More . Then it’s just a matter of using the Windows Media Creation Tool or any of the other methods to create Windows installation media How to Create Windows 10 Installation MediaRegardless of how you arrived at Windows 10, there's a way to create your own installation media. Sooner or later you might need it. Let us show you how to be prepared. Read More . It takes more resources and the process has more steps than BCA, so use this as the last option.

Sandisk clip sport not recognized by mac. Sansa players in MSC mode are seen by Windows and Mac systems as removable drives. MSC mode provides Plug and Play support for current Windows and Mac systems:. Driver support is native in WIN XP, Vista and WIN 7. A Sansa player in MTP mode when plugged into a Mac computer will NOT be detected or recognized. Mac computers supports Sansa players in MSC mode Sansa players can only be recognized by a Mac if the USB mode on the Sansa player is set to Auto Detect or MSC. NOTE: Sansa Clip Sport already operates in MSC mode. MTP mode is the recommended and default method for Sansa Players when used with Windows OS. The Sansa player will show up on Device Manager's right pane as: 1. USB Mass Storage device (if the player is set to MSC) 2. Portable Device (if the player is set to MTP mode) If there is a yellow exclamation point (!). SANSA MTP DEVICE DRIVERS FOR MAC DOWNLOAD. Message 2 of 35 42, Views Reply 0 Kudos 0. Message 3 of 35 42, Views. Shame, I really liked the price and the size. I too had a smilliar problem where it wouldn’t install right, but ended up installing the included Best Buy Music Store software sansa mtp device it DOES NOT say to do in the directions.

This method will usually not use UEFI firmware, so the BIOS settings change won’t be needed.

Are You Dual-Booting Windows 10?

With all of these options, you should be able to easily make Windows 10 installation media on your Mac. The question is, are you going to use it?

As the July 29 deadline approaches, we are curious to know how many of you are dual-booting Mac OS X and Windows 10 already, and how many of you plan to do it in the near future? Is Windows 10 better on a Mac than earlier versions of the operating system?

When you install Microsoft Windows on your Mac, Boot Camp Assistant automatically opens the Boot Camp installer, which installs the latest Windows support software (drivers). If that doesn't happen, or you experience any of the following issues while using Windows on your Mac, follow the steps in this article.

• Your Apple mouse, trackpad, or keyboard isn't working in Windows.
  Force Touch isn't designed to work in Windows.
• You don't hear audio from the built-in speakers of your Mac in Windows.
• The built-in microphone or camera of your Mac isn't recognized in Windows.
• One or more screen resolutions are unavailable for your display in Windows.
• You can't adjust the brightness of your built-in display in Windows.
• You have issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi in Windows.
• You get an alert that Apple Software Update has stopped working.
• You get a message that your PC has a driver or service that isn't ready for this version of Windows.
• Your Mac starts up to a black or blue screen after you install Windows.

If your Mac has an AMD video card and is having graphics issues in Windows, you might need to update your AMD graphics drivers instead.

Install the latest macOS updates

Before proceeding, install the latest macOS updates, which can include updates to Boot Camp.

Format a USB flash drive

To install the latest Windows support software, you need a 16GB or larger USB flash drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).

1. Start your Mac from macOS.
2. Plug the USB flash drive into your Mac.
3. Open Disk Utility, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
4. Choose View > Show All Devices from the menu bar.
5. From the sidebar in Disk Utility, select your USB flash drive. (Select the drive name, not the volume name beneath it.)
   
6. Click the Erase button or tab.
7. Choose MS-DOS (FAT) as the format and Master Boot Record as the scheme.
8. Click Erase to format the drive. When done, quit Disk Utility.

Download the Windows support software

After preparing your USB flash drive, complete these steps:

1. Make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
2. Open Boot Camp Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder.
3. From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Action > Download Windows Support Software, then choose your USB flash drive as the save destination. When the download completes, quit Boot Camp Assistant.
   

Learn what to do if you can't download or save the Windows support software.

Install the Windows support software

After downloading the Windows support software to your flash drive, follow these steps to install the software. (If you're attempting to resolve issues with a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, it might be easier to use a USB mouse or keyboard until these steps are complete.)

1. Make sure that the USB flash drive is plugged into your Mac.
2. Start up your Mac in Windows.
3. From File Explorer, open the USB flash drive, then open Setup or setup.exe, which is in the WindowsSupport folder or BootCamp folder. When you're asked to allow Boot Camp to make changes to your device, click Yes.
4. Click Repair to begin installation. If you get an alert that the software hasn't passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.
5. After installation completes, click Finish, then click Yes when you're asked to restart your Mac.

Learn more

If you can't download or save the Windows support software:

• If the assistant says that the Windows support software could not be saved to the selected drive, or that the USB flash drive can't be used, make sure that your USB flash drive has a storage capacity of at least 16GB and is formatted correctly.
• If the assistant doesn't see your USB flash drive, click Go Back and make sure that the drive is connected directly to the USB port on your Mac—not to a display, hub, or keyboard. Disconnect and reconnect the drive, then click Continue.
• If the assistant says that it can't download the software because of a network problem, make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet.
• Make sure that your Mac meets the system requirements to install Windows using Boot Camp.

If a Mac feature still doesn't work after updating the Windows support software, search for your symptom on the Apple support website or Microsoft support website. Some features of your Mac aren't designed to work in Windows.