I am not really sure why you would want to install Windows 8.1 without BootCamp.
The USB stick needs to be a little bigger than the .iso file you are going to be burning. It doesn't matter if there is any data on it, this will totally erase the whole thing.
Steps To Achieve Victory
- Download the ISO you want to use
Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities)
2.1 Navigate to the path where the .iso file is located
2.2 Use ls to list all the folders
2.3 cd /path/to/iso to dive in to folder or cd .. to go back the path
- Convert
.iso to .img using hdiutil:
hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o /path/to/target.img /path/to/source.iso
- Rename if OS X gave it a
.dmg ending:
mv /path/to/target.img.dmg path/to/target.img
- Type
diskutil list to get a list of currently connected devices
- Insert USB drive you want to use
- Run
diskutil list again to see what your USB stick gets assigned
eg - /dev/disk3
- Run
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (where N is the number assigned to your USB stick, in previous example it would be 3)
- Run
sudo dd if=/path/to/target.img of=/dev/diskN bs=1m (if you get an error, replace bs=1m with bs=1M
- Run
diskutil eject /dev/diskN and remove your USB stick
- The USB stick will now be ready to use
IMPORTANT For the step #9 you can use the destination to /dev/rdiskN to reduce the copy time.
NOTE: Sometimes, not always, Step #4 will be necessary. Not all the time. I am not sure why it will add the .dmg ending and other times leave it alone.
NOTE 2: Might I suggest you learn the name of the .iso you downloaded, or just rename it win8.1.iso or something, and put it on your Desktop folder. That way, when you are typing commands like #3 and #4 etc, etc, you can type it like this:
hdiutil convert -format UDRW -o ~/Desktop/win8.1.img ~/Desktop/win8.1.iso
and
mv ~/Desktop/win8.1.img.dmg ~/Desktop/win8.1.img
and step #9 would look like this:
sudo dd if=~/Desktop/win8.1.img of=/dev/diskN bs=1m
IMPORTANT - You can track the progress by pressing CTRL + T It will show the process info and records in and out, since we use the bs=1m each record is 1Mb in size so you can easily track the progress.
I don't mean to be insulting with Note and Note2, I am just making sure that you know what all these commands mean. It's the simplest method. Unless someone else comes up with something better.
This one:
Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR
partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed on GPT
disks.
Can be worked around like this:
Using the Bootcamp assistant, revert the HD to a single OSX partition
layout. Then use the Disk utility to shrink the OSX parition, leaving
"free space" for the planned Windows installation.
Then, boot from yor Windows USB stick ("EFI boot") and select the free space as target for the installation.
This worked for me.
Regarding Windows 7:
I don't know. I'd like to install Windows 7 as well...
Best Answer
It has been a while since I use windows 8.1, but I believe you can mount the Windows 10 iso. From there you can just click on the setup application and upgrade to Windows 10.
Some comments on what you are attempting.
If you do not have working Windows 10 iso file and you have activated your Windows 8.1 installation, then you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. This offer expires at the end of the year. You do have to agree that you use "assistive technologies". (Microsoft will not check to see if you do). The web site to see is: Customers who use assistive technologies can upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost.