According to my Mac Mini, the model identifier is Macmini7,1.

can I use this to install a 64 bit version of Windows 7 in bootcamp on my mid 2013 Macbook Air?
I heard I have ot use an external soundcard. Can I use the Zoom h1? If so, how?
I want to try bootcamp but its been a pain since I can't get the other twpe thing by Brian Smart to work.

@Gellman: ah, OK, cool, thanks.

@Sean: yes, you can do a USB boot. So you create the USB version of the PE and boot from it with the Option key held, and choose the Windows option.

But I think you're right; start with Fusion, as this makes things considerably easier. It also, somewhat ironically, removes the need for the talking PE, because in fact Fusion can optionally create an answer file for you.

Hi,
This does sound like something I find useful having to not wait on friends to be available to read the screen and stuff to me when formatting a pc or setting up a new pc
However, I do have a few questions.
The bundles that you guys have hosted, do they contain all the things needed to install windows? I.E the setup as well? or would I need a win7 64bit setup iso. From all the posts that I've read it does look this has the setup, but I am a little unsure as the setup isos  that I have seen have been at least a gb in size if not more.
Another question, if I wanted to install 8.1, and had the iso file, How would I go about loading it with this talking wpe?
To use this, basicly all you do is either burn this iso on to a dvd, or load it on to a bootable usb, boot from either the opticle drive or from usb, and start the setup from there,right?
Thanks for hosting the files!
grryf

Hi.

Will this talking pre-installation work with the mac sound card or do I have to use the zoom h1?

@Sean and @Chris: I'll have some answers when I try doing a clean install of Win8.1 on my MBP Retina. In short, though, you'd better have a pair of headphones handy in case the output levels are not up to it, though the standard chipsets all seem to be supported. I don't know about USB audio, though that would also be a very good option if it is available in this set.

I downloaded the talking windows installer that was posted on this thread. Where might I find a copy of Windows? I would love to, like I said, put Windows on my Mac so I don't have to go between computers.

@grryfindore

Just create a folder on an external usb disk, copy the entire Windows dvd to that folder, boot from the WinPE and open that with Windows Explorer after boot.

Now start the Windows setup program and wait for the process to complete.

Note that you can't do an upgrade of a previous installation of Windows when using that method.

So back up all important data on the partition on which you intend to install Windows before starting.
@Chris

I don't know about support for the Mac sound card, but if you want to be safe just plug in a usb headset into the computer before booting the talking preinstallation environment.

Even a cheap usb headset or an old external SB Live External will do.

@Dranelement

The setup will create a new partition if none exists.

If there is already an active partition Windows will be installed to that unless you repartition manually with diskpart.

It's long time ago since I had to perform a Win7 installation so be warned, but the setup from usb stuff has really gotten less complicated with Windows 7.

Important: Installation of Windows 7 and XP from WinPE is different, and XP is really a pain in the ass unless you know which command line options to provide the winnt32.exe and which parameters to write in the answer file.

I have successfully done both but Xp did not install from WinPE out of the box, because I had to  build my own custom iso and correct my own answer files several times.

XP installation from WinPE is also difficult because the program must knhow about the exact distribution source with wich it must continue setup after reboot.

If you really want and need XP it's simply easier and more accessible to install it in a virtual machine.
If you have the paid products VMWare Fusion or VMWare Workstation, no problem because you can automate the installation from the virtualization software.

Workstation and Fusion will generate answer files for unattended installation of Windows XP and 7.

If you haven't these products, just download VMWare Player and the empty virtual machine which I provided earlier in this thread.

I have created an empty virtual machine for use with VMWare Player.

You can tweak the virtual hardware configuration  by editing the vmx file.

512 MB RAM, sound card, 100 GB IDE harddisk (VMDK).

The machine can be used with the free VMWare Player to boot up a talking Windows PE or Linux.

Name the bootable iso test.iso and place it in the same directory as the vmx and vmdk file.

Note that VMWare Player/Workstation creates a file with the extension .nvram in the virtual machine directory.

In order to boot from the iso, you must always delete that file before starting the machine otherwise it will attempt to boot from the virtual harddisk.

Download links:

https://www.sendspace.com/file/auc4uw
https://userscloud.com/gq526ix965gn
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This empty virtual machine can of course be used to bootstrap the Windows setup or a talking Windows Preinstallation Environment.

I know that we have Easy Install if we pay for VMWare Workstation or Fusion, but as a matter of principle blind users should have the same opportunity to
virtualize their Windows installation without having to pay for something others can get for free.

@Sebby

USB audio is always supported, and I have never encountered an usb audio source
Windows was unable to recognize.

Therefore I always keep an usb headset along with a copy of the talking preinstallation environment when travelling from home.

Yes, Setup will format, but not partition, when launched from talking PE disks. This is because, from Setup's point of view, there is already working access to the distribution and target partition. You will have to make preparations in advance, by using Disk Management and/or diskpart, or partition your disk from another OS on the same or different disk or computer. For a Mac this is of course very simple: you use Disk Utility from within Mac OS X recovery, booted from the network or an external drive.

Hi, yes, it's a full dvd. I'm trying to install windows 7 pro on a computer that's already running windows 7 home basic. The error message says something like. This version of windows isn't compatible with the version you are running. If you are trying to upgrade, please use a different windows disc. If you wish to do a clean install, reboot into this disc and choose custom advanced. That's not the exact text, but it's close enough.