How To Use Windows 7 On Macbook Pro
I enjoy my MacBook and macOS but sometimes I need to boot up to Windows to play around with some of Windows OS specific tooling. My MacBook’s SSD is too much to invest in the rarity of Windows. For starters Windows 7 or 10 must be installed in the legacy BIOS mode for all functions to work on a Macbook Pro Late 2011. Officially Apple does NOT support Windows 10 on this Mac. If I started out with a blank HDD/SSD and installed Windows first. We attached an external DVD drive to our MacBook Pro, and using the Disk Utility app, created an image of our Windows 7 installation DVD. You’ll want to save the image as a CD/DVD (.cdr) file.
Mac equivalents of Windows keys
Many of the keys that you'd see on a PC have equivalent keys on an Apple keyboard.
Windows logo: Press Command (⌘).
Backspace or Delete: Press Delete.
Enter or ⏎: Press Return.
Alt (left): Press Option (⌥).
Alt GR (right): Press Option + Control.
Applications: This key isn't available on Apple keyboards.
Use the On-Screen Keyboard for other functions
If your Apple keyboard doesn't include the following keys, you can recreate them in Windows using the On-Screen Keyboard.
Use the Snipping Tool to print screen
To recreate the Print Screen and Print Active Window function in Windows, use the Snipping Tool.
Windows 7 On Macbook Air
If your keyboard isn't working as expected in Windows
If your Apple keyboard works as expected in macOS but not in Windows, try these solutions:
- Install the latest Apple software updates for Windows.
- Install the latest Windows support software.
- If you're using Microsoft Windows 10 N, install the latest Media Feature Pack.
Learn more
Windows 7 On Macbook Pro
- Microsoft provides a keyboard mapping article that describes using a Windows keyboard with macOS.
- Use Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator to find key combinations for the unique characters used by the language and region your Apple keyboard is designed to support:
- Download, install, and open the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.
- Choose File > Load Existing Keyboard.
- Select the keyboard you want to see.
- Find the country or region name in the keyboard list that's followed by '(Apple)'.
- Follow the instructions provided with the app. You can print images of the keyboard, including what keys look like when holding modifiers like Shift, Option, or Fn.