Boot Camp: Windows 7 on iMac – Fix Black Screen
Recently I was making a Boot Camp installation of Windows 7 on my iMac, however, it did not go as smoothly as expected. During the installation process the screen went infinitely black, and it was not possible to continue the installation process.
Software versions:
- Boot Camp 3.0 (Mac OS X Snow Leopard)
- Windows 7
Doing a little search, I found the following solution on how to fix the problem.
Update: Apple has made a support article on the issue: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3173
Solution (step by step from the beginning):
- Run Boot Camp Assistant from Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Applications -> Utilities)
- Create a partition for the Windows installation using Boot Camp Assistant
- Plugin your install disc and install Windows 7
- The system will reboot a couple of times during the installation
- The problem: The second time the system reboots, you the see the Windows red-green-blue-yellow animated logo, and then the screen goes black and hangs infinitely.
- Press and hold the power button on your iMac until it shuts down.
- Start the iMac again holding “alt” key, so you can select and load Max OS X Snow Leopard again.
- Run any application that let you work with NTFS partitions (e.g. Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X or MacFuse)
- Find the file “C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ATIKMDAG.SYS” on your BOOTCAMP partition, and simply delete it.
- Restart you iMac, and boot up Windows 7
- Now Windows 7 should boot normally
- Run update windows utility and install Boot Camp drivers from the Mac OS X install disc
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about 7 months ago
works perfect! thanks!
about 7 months ago
hey thanks A LOT! Tried this after instructions from apple didn’t work for me!
Now Win7 64bit runs perfectly
about 6 months ago
Thanks a lot !
about 6 months ago
It definitely works! Thanks a bunch!
about 6 months ago
Thank you sooooo much. I spent almost 3 hours trying to solve this issue until i stumbled upon your article.
Cheers!!
about 5 months ago
It works like a charm! I spent hours finding a solution to the black screen issue!
Thanks a lot!
about 5 months ago
Thanks! Nice to have read this in advance! Couldn’t Get macfuse to work, but paragon trial did the job
about 4 months ago
Hey,
how do I find the file I have to delete? I cannot figure out how MacFuse or Paragon works.
Thank you.
about 4 months ago
Thank you your solution worked a treat.
about 4 months ago
Worked like a charm! Thanks so much!
about 4 months ago
I have the exact same prob with my 27″ imac but with an installation of xp (sp 3 i believe) – can’t find that specific file however might be somethin similar tho…
not sure if it started on the second boot or if it happened because i installed apple’s drivers from the snow leopard retail disc.
funnily enough i can use the bootcamp partition with vmware’s fusion no prob.
about 4 months ago
Hey guys!
Just to let the fellow above me (Jim) that I had the exact same problem (iMac 27″ i5 with Windows XP SP2 on Boot Camp) and solve it by renaming (using the method in this post) the ati driver in my windows/system32/drivers folder. In my particular case was ati2mtag.sys. After that, no more black screen. Hope it helps someone.
Now I’m having problems with “hold option to dual boot” not working but that’s a whole new google quest…lol.
about 4 months ago
Yay! That worked, excellent! Thanks a lot.
Alex, that might be because of that wireless keyboard, I had same problems first. Try pushing that power button on keyboard, it will wake up and pair eventually…
about 3 months ago
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thaaaaaaaaank you.
about 3 months ago
Thank you so much for posting this information. It saved me last night!
about 3 months ago
Thanks very much for the fantastic tip.
Worked perfectly. I used the demo of Paragon NTFS for Mac to gain access to the Windows bootcamp volume.
I deleted the file, restarted iMac in Windows and the installation finished it’s business nicely (and visibly
Imac 27″ Core i7 with Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit.
about 2 months ago
Havnt tried this yet but will be when I get home but judging by the comments looks like it will definitely work so just incase I forget later, thanks!
about 2 months ago
Just to let anyone reading this know: you can skip all of this if you have a mini display port adapter and an old monitor. When the screen goes black the output is still available on the external monitor and allows you to continue with the installation as normal. If you download and install the ATI update right after installation completes then you’re sorted.
A bit easier than editing the driver files.