BootCamp Download Stuck – How to Get Drivers for Macs to run Windows 7 or 8

— updated after BootCamp 5 release June 2013 —

Where can you get a direct download of Windows drivers for Macs if BootCamp is stuck, and says 'could not continue' or you have some other problem downloading the drivers?

The brute force solution: it’s a darned large download, so physically take your machine to somewhere with a very fast internet connection that can download 600MB – 1GB in a couple of minutes. There, you’re done. Especially if you have a laptop, this would be the simplest solution - even take it to an Apple Store.

For the rest of us:

  1. If not, then first find out your Mac's ModelIdentifier
    • Q: How do I find my Mac's Model Identifier?
      A: Open System Information, and look in the Hardware Overview section.
      In other words: Click Apple menu -> About this Mac -> More Info… -> System Report -> Hardware. Now, read down the list in the Hardware Overview panel, looking for Model Identifier
    • If you're stuck, see the note below.
    • Note that a ModelIdentifierHasNoSpacesInItAtAll.
  2. Second, get a download manager. You can try doing without, but the reason you're on this page is that you're having trouble getting a file to download reliably. A download manager such as iGetter or Folx solves this problem.

  3. Then, search for your ModelIdentifier in the table below. Click the link to get the download package. Be patient as they are 600MB to over 1GB. It will be much simpler if you do the download in OS X, because OS X can open the downloaded file and also open the dmg file inside it.

  4. Still in Mac OS X, once your pkg is downloaded, double click it and install to a folder on your hard drive so you know where to find it. During the Installation, click the "Change Location" option so that you can choose where it gets installed.Image of OS X Installer step where you can choose the folder to install to

  5. The folder contains a nest of folders, the last of which contains a dmg disk image file. Double click that to open. At last! Here are your Windows installer files.Install BootCampESD 4 Find and Double click the dmg fileBootCamp WindowsSupport.dmg Contents

    BootCamp WindowsSupport.dmg Contents of Drivers Folder

  6. Copy them to a usb drive, or a burnable CD. NB, it’s still 660MB or more, so it’s a full CDs worth of burning time.
  7. Done. You can now proceed with Boot Camp assistant Windows installation and boot the Mac in Windows.

If you must do the download in Windows instead OS X, it's harder. You will need the help on http://www.cafe-encounter.net/p860/opening-a-bootcamp-driver-download-on-windows-7-or-8-with-7-zip to open the pkg file and the dmg file inside it.

BootCamp Direct Download Links

Most of these driver downloads work for both Windows 7 and Windows 8. Windows 8 on 32-bit is not officially supported, but almost everything seems to works on fine on not-officially supported models: the only specific shortcoming I'm aware of is that the screen brightness buttons don't work on all models.

Model Identifier Size & driver release date Direct Download Link
Macmini6,1
Macmini6,2
MacBookPro10,2
iMac13,1
iMac13,2 		438MB, 3 Dec 2012 http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/54/18/041-8805/9tglhtxadqtnrro79rsdy4f0mkgu7wg6or/BootCampESD.pkg
MacBookPro9,1
MacBookPro9,2 		1,058MB, 15 June 2012 http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/11/05/041-0925/g27es04pw9re5ggrfp3vuf8ew6r53asfz8/BootCampESD.pkg
MacBookPro10,1
MacBookAir5,1
MacBookAir5,2 		942MB, 15 June 2012 hhttp://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/55/51/041-3891/se4uhpqng48t842cdsosqh28lft54fmswl/BootCampESD.pkg
MacBookAir4,1
MacBookAir4,2
Macmini5,1
Macmini5,2
Macmini5,3 		676MB, 23 May 2012 hhttp://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/32/33/041-2303/W5jKtsQhhMgMXs3TKhPDqLXrpXyY2HdXMN/BootCampESD.pkg
MacBook2,1
MacBook3,1
MacBook4,1
MacBook5,1
MacBook5,2
MacBook5,3
MacBook6,1
MacBook7,1
MacBookAir1,1
MacBookAir2,1
MacBookAir3,1
MacBookAir3,2
MacBookPro2,1
MacBookPro2,2
MacBookPro3,1
MacBookPro4,1
MacBookPro5,1
MacBookPro5,2
MacBookPro5,3
MacBookPro5,4
MacBookPro5,5
MacBookPro6,1
MacBookPro6,2
MacBookPro7,1
MacBookPro8,1
MacBookPro8,2
MacBookPro8,3
MacPro1,1
MacPro2,1
MacPro3,1
MacPro4,1
MacPro5,1
Macmini2,1
Macmini3,1
Macmini4,1
iMac5,1
iMac6,1
iMac7,1
iMac8,1
iMac9,1
iMac10,1
iMac11,1
iMac11,2
iMac11,3
iMac12,1
iMac12,2 		632MB, 23 May 2012 http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/33/54/041-2011/pRtCDYcWShMLxFggy3TzFzmfnnWQNFQBfJ/BootCampESD.pkg

Finding your ModelIdentifier

If you're struggling to find your ModelIdentifier then you want the brilliant page at everymac.com which can tell you what model Mac you have based on serial number. On the result page after you submit, look carefully and you'll the ModelIdentifier.

Still stuck?

If you're still stuck, then:

  1. Look through the comments for people with similar problems -- there have been a couple of hundred so they cover pretty much everything I can suggest.
  2. Try my summary of problems/solutions for direct download of bootcamp drivers

References

See BootCampESD.pkg download instructions for references and for the DIY instructions to work out these links yourself.

365 thoughts on “BootCamp Download Stuck – How to Get Drivers for Macs to run Windows 7 or 8”

  3. hey i am not able to install the mac support software on my windows partition drive, it is saying it cannot open file” choose which app to open with”. Confused, this is driving me absolutely bonkers. windows has installed on the partition drive, but i cannot get the software to install. HELP

      1. i think u misunderstood. i was able to download the dmg file on mac o/s. but when i transfer it over o the windows partition it will not allow me to open the file in windows. help!!! thanks

  4. Pingback: Opening a BootCamp driver download on Windows 7 or 8 with 7-Zip | Chris F Carroll

  5. Hi,

    I’ve run the installer pkg a couple of times to different locations, but cannot see any files installed when I navigate to those locations in the finder despite it saying ‘installation successful’. I’m running Lion 10.7.5 on a MacPro 1,1

    Am I missing something?

    Many Thanks.

    1. Hmm. That sounds annoying. Two things I can think of: (1) the downloaded pkg is corrupt. Try using http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/6812/pacifist to inspect the contents and if the files aren’t there, try the download yet again.
      (2) Check you haven’t done something daft. Use an empty USB stick as your install location and then it will be easy to see after install that it really really hasn’t installed anything.
      If the download isn’t corrupt, Pacifist will let you drag the WindowsSupport.dmg file to your desktop, then you can double click it and copy the result onto a usb stick.

  8. after i have transferred the files to my thumb drive. i just go on windows 7 and install the files?

    1. That’s right. Make that you double click the .dmg image file while still in OS X. The image contains windows-readable installer files. Those are what you need to copy to a thumb drive.

  10. Hi Chris,
    Thank you so much for your work on this site. You have saved me alot of grief and hardache. thanks again …….

  12. Hi Chris,
    Followed your instruction with the BootCampESD.pkg, ran 7Zip and extracted the 0.Apple_ISO and the only files that appear are Motorola modem files???
    Downloaded MacbookPro9,2 file from above.
    Cheers – Ben

    1. Hi Ben, Oskari, The easy way is to do the download in OS X, then when you double click the .pkg file it opens to show the drivers.

      If you do the download in Windows and then use 7zip, then when you get to the 0.Apple_ISO, drag it to your desktop and rename it to Apple.iso — you have the make sure it has a .iso extension. Then finally double click it to get the installers. See Will’s comment on http://www.cafe-encounter.net/p860/opening-a-bootcamp-driver-download-on-windows-7-or-8-with-7-zip#comment-1343
      Cheers, Chris

  13. Hi!

    I noticed the same that Ben above had after digging into the iso file for my MacBookAir 5,1, Motorola modem files.

    Windows 7 in my laptop is still missing drivers for the display and graphics.

    Thanks for your work on these, hope it gets clearer.

  14. Hi Chris,
    I didnt choose a folder when I installed the package. Do you know where it is installed to by default?

  15. Hi,

    Why is this so difficult for me???

    Finally i got setup.exe from your data in windows 8!!
    Does.nt work get message not for this computer (VMware 5)

    1. Hi tol, that might mean you clicked the wrong download link. What model Mac do you have and which download link did you click? And — do you have 64 bit or 32 bit Windows 8?

  16. Thank you Chris, after stuck with apple’s bootcamp assistant now I’m able to download the software

  17. Not really sure which link to click on as I already deleted all Apple OS from this computer…. can’t check which “model” is mine 😛 It’s a 13″ macbrook pro, so I’m just gonna hope for the best and pick that middle one lol

          1. SORRY correction: you don’t *boot* from the DVD. You install windows and boot it normally from the hard drive with just window’s default built-in drivers. You’ll get a working mouse, keyboard, low-resolution display, ability to read usb drives and hopefully the CD/DVD. Then, in windows, you run the BootCamp driver installer. That gives you the ‘proper’ drivers for all your machine’s hardware including camera, touchpad, accelerated video etc.

  18. Pingback: Windows BootCamp Treiber manuell ohne Boot Camp-Assistent downloaden - Apple

  19. thanks a lot
    i have saved lots of work
    i have mac book air 4,1 i have removed mac & using win 7 only, Now i have to format it then no need to install lion

  21. Per today 041-4776 is no longer listed in the index sucatalog, probably deleted because covered in 041-2011 ? But still doesn’t answer my question why MacBookAir3,1 and MacBookAir3,2 which are in 041-4775 are also covered in 041-2011.

    Or 041-2011 should cover 041-4776 and 041-4775 ?

    1. Ah yes. Thanks for spotting that. So I’ve removed the 4775 & 4776 file links. All the models are listed in the 041-2011 file, including MacBookAir3,1 and 3,2.
      Cheers, Chris

  22. You are the fuckin man dude, this was a lifesaver. Kept getting the wrong pkg and finally got a working one from this. Why would Apple make it so difficult? Really annoying, but thanks again.

  23. hi again
    i just dl the link and i installed it on my mac , so then i brought that into my windows but i can’t open it , it’s DMG file so how can i open it ?
    thnx

  24. just wanted to thank you for doing what Apple should be doing for us. I have the latest macbook pro, I7 etc., expensive laptop and when I want to bootcamp it as Apple says it should be able to do, they don’t supply the stuff to do it with. That’s sad, what isn’t sad is you stepped up. Thanks!

  25. Chris,

    Thx for this, it sucks big time that apple can’t get off their ass to do this; the bootcamp file regularlly fails to burn to a CD/DVD so this *really* helps.

    Cheers

    Gary

Comments are closed.

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