How do I install Windows 7 on my Mac via Boot Camp?

System requirements

To use Boot Camp with Mac OS X 10.5 or later, you need the following:

• An Intel-based Mac
• A Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or 10.6 Snow Leopard installation disc. This can be either a Mac OS X disc included with a purchased copy, or a Mac OS X Install Disc 1 from a Mac that had Mac OS X preinstalled
• A USB keyboard and mouse, or a built-in keyboard and trackpad
• At least 10 GB of free space on the disk you’re installing on (for Microsoft Windows and Windows-based applications) 
• Boot Camp Assistant, which is installed by Leopard in /Applications/Utilities/

1. Launch Boot Camp Assistant found in /Application/Utilities

2. Boot Camp Assistant will ask how much of your hard drive you wanna dedicate to Windows. The amount of disk space to dedicate to Windows depends on your own specific requirements, but we recommend no less than 20GB. Use the bar between Mac OS X and Windows to decide how much space to dedicate to Windows. Click partition and Boot Camp Assistant will start partitioning your hard drive. 

3. Boot Camp Assistant will ask for you to insert the Windows 7 install disk. Insert the disc and click Start Installation.

4. Select your language and accept the terms. For insatllation type, choose Custom. Select the partition labeled BOOTCAMP and click Format.  This will format the Boot Camp drive as NTFS. Choose next and wait for Windows to finish the installation.

5. Hold the option key to pick between booting Mac OS and Windows after the computer restarts. Once you have arrived at the Windows desktop, click the Start menu and select Computer. Select the Windows 7 install disc and click the Eject button at the top of the Window.

6. Insert the Leoapard/Snow Leopard disc. Windows should prompt you to run the Boot Camp Driver Installer automatically. Accept any error messages you receive as Windows 7 is not officially support by Apple at this time. After installing the drivers, the computer will restart again.

7. After the drivers have been installed, you will have an icon in the new Windows 7 system tray. It will look like a gray square. Select the Boot Camp icon and click Boot Camp Control Panel. Here, you can set which Operating System you want your mac to default to, screen brightness, Apple remote settings, and power options. Click apply after making any changes.

8. Run Windows Update from the Control Panel for the latest Windows Updates and drivers. 

9. Once up to date, Windows is ready to go.

**One new feature in Snow Leopard only**
The Boot Camp 3.0 drivers that Snow Leopard installs allows Read Access to your Macintosh HD from Windows through Start>Computer.