Solution for non-functional keyboard and mouse after Windows 7 Boot Camp restore
Windows 7 does not include default USB3 drivers, so when restoring Windows 7 Boot Camp to newer Mac hardware that relies on USB3 for keyboard and mouse, you may find no user input control to proceed with installing Boot Camp drivers. The following guide explains a workaround for resolving this issue.
There is a quicker fix that may or may not work, but worth trying first. See “Set Boot Mode” support document for details.
TL;DR: Boot from a virtual machine, set up auto-install of USB3 drivers, then boot directly intoBoot Camp.
Virtual machine hosts on OS X includeParallels, VMware Fusion and Oracle VM Virtualbox. Use the vendor support information for installing the vm and linking it to Boot Camp. If you have never used a virtual machine previously, you may find that you prefer the convenience of using Windows within OS X. However, this solution uses the virtual machine as a temporarymeasure toget device drivers installed so Boot Camp is functional when booteddirectly from the hardware.
Please note that this solution applies to Windows 7 loss of keyboard and mouse control. This solution is not applicable for Windows 8 or above.
Using Boot Camp Assistanton the same Mac that contains the Boot Camp partition,download the latest Windows support software from Apple to a USB flash drive.
Start up Boot Camp as a virtual machine.
Attach the USB flash drive containing the Boot Camp drivers.
From the virtual machine Windows desktop, copy the $WinPEDriver$ directory from the Boot Camp folder on the flash drive to the Windows desktop.
Copy the remaining Boot Camp drivers directory to the desktop (for convenience in installing later)
In Windows, uninstall Boot Camp from Control Panel-> Programs and Features. The drivers and Boot Camp program will be reinstalled later. If the uninstall fails, use the Microsoft Fixit tool to remove Boot Camp from Windows: https://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_file_and_folder_diag/en-us
Setup the administrator account to auto-login at boot. This tutorial explains how to set this account for auto-login: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/377-log-automatically-startup.html
Disable UAC. The tutorial linked below refers to the”Vista” operating system but is equally applicable to Windows 7:
Create a shortcut for the “Setup.exe” located in $WinPEDriver$IntelxHCISetup and place the shortcut file in the Run-> Startup folder. Right click the $WinPEDriver$IntelxHCISetupSetup.exe file and select Properties. At the end of the string in the Target field, add “-s”, which will install the driver in silent mode.
Note:If you cannot find a Target field in the Properties of the Setup.exefile, it may be necessary to add the -s in the Target field of the shortcut file placed in the Run-> Startup folder instead.
Shut down the virtual machine. Restart the Mac while holding the Option key and select BOOTCAMP as the startup volume.
If everything was configured correctly as described above, Windows should automatically log in to the administrator account and run the setup for the USB drivers, thus enabling keyboard and mouse control.
With user interface control restored, you may proceed with installing Boot Camp from BOOTCAMPsetup.exe which should install the remaining drivers and have a fully functional Boot Camp system.
As a final cleanup step,re-enable UAC, password-required, etc.
The above workaround is not directly related to Winclone, but if you have questions we will do our best to answer. Contact us at support@twocanoes.com