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”

  2. i have a problem when i download windows support software from apple my download dnt complet & i cant define enything in windos plz help my mac is 9.2 plz answer me

    1. Hi crespy, if you follow this instructions at the top of the page you should be fine. If it looks a bit difficult, perhaps ask a friend to read the instructions with you and help you through them? Cheers Chris

    1. Alas not. That’s the first generation of Intel MacBook Pro I think – Apple only ever officially supported Win XP. What you can try is googling on ‘bootcamp windows xp’ I think this link http://danieltharp.com/weblog/2012/04/how-to-install-windows-xp-sp3-on-mac-osx-lion-and-get-drivers-too/ is the one. It’s a bit more work though.
      Your other option is to install Windows 7 and hope it works. You should get reasonable screen resolution and working USB keyboard and mouse, but you won’t get proper screen brightness control. Sorry. Chris

  4. Hey Chris, I got a iMac13,2, installed Windows7 but after running the Setup neither the wireless mouse, wireless keyboard nor a USB mouse or keyboard will react. They were fine before (since I couldn’t have installed bootcamp this might be obvious) so I need help here.

    1. That doesn’t sound good. Do you mean that “you used to have Windows 7 working fine on your iMac13,2 but after downloading and installing the bootcamp drivers from the link above the keyboard/mouse no longer works in Windows but does still work when you boot into OS X” or does that not exactly describe what doesn’t work?
      Your first step is writing out a precise description of what you had beforehand, what steps you went through and what doesn’t work now. Post on an apple forum too, 100 heads are better than 2 or 3.

  8. hello, i have just installed windows on my MacBook Pro mid 2012 and the Model identifier is MacBookPro9,2. now tell me can it work with this drivers you have listed above. coz i seem not to find the model identifier for my MacBook Pro.

    pliz help me ASAP!!!!!!….

    2. It’s right up there!
      It’s a little hard to find, but if you press Ctrl+F, and type in your model identifier, it’ll search the page for you!

  9. I have found it Thanks sooooo very much am now happy… i can use my mac on windows…. Thanks again…:-D

    1. Hi Andi, if you can find your ModelIdentifier (see instructions above) and if it’s not in the table in the post I’ll check the Apple software update feed
      Chris

    1. I don’t know. What’s the ModelIdentifier?
      I do know that (1) Apple don’t yet officially support windows 8 (2) Win 8 is working fine for me and others (3) Win 8 is not working fine for everyone.

  16. When you start bootcamp, it formats the drive, doesn’t it? So how to do after the steps you said?

  21. wow, its amazing at how many people don’t read what you wrote for instructions…
    its pretty simple to understand,,,, maybe they should figure it out before asking you stupid questions. cheers and kudos on the kickass pkg.

  24. Many thanks for your kindly cooperation about it. exactly it help us.
    For find boot camp I think when pigs fly maybe I’ll reach it but here I found it.
    Adios

  25. Wish I’d found this site ages ago, would have saved me hours and hours. Thanks very much for your work.

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