Dual Booting is for the people who wish to have the best of both world, which may go against the saying “You cannot have it all”. But, you certainly can have Mac OS X EI Capitan and the latest and greatest Windows 10 OS running on your Mac at the same time. In this guide, I will be showing you how to dual-boot Mac OS X EI Capitan and Windows 10 on your Mac. If you are a Mac user and have been using the OX EI Capitan for a long time while secretly wishing to have the best thing Microsoft has to offer which is Windows 10 without having to buy a new Windows 10 PC, then Boot Camp is here for the rescue. Dual booting has been one of the most used features by any Mac owner if they are into Windows things. It allows you to run your original or default OS the OS X EI Capitan (OS X Mavericks) as well as your favorite Windows OS version including Windows 10 on your Mac with ease. So, let’s not waste any more time and get into the requirements and instructions. Dual Boot Mac OS X EI Capitan and Windows 10 Prerequisites: Take a full backup of your data on your Mac. A Mac computer supporting Windows 10 Minimum 2GB of RAM An external USB Keyboard and Mouse – This is required because you may run into problems while installing Windows 10 with your Apple mouse and keyboard plugged in. A minimum of 55GB of free space in your hard drive (more is better). Windows 10 installation disk or the Windows 10 bootable USB Flash drive. You can create Windows 10 bootable flash drive by following the instructions here. Download Windows 10 ISO from here. Working internet connection Administrator access to OS X Boot Camp Assistant – Every Mac comes with Boot Camp Assistant by default which allows you to do dual booting on your Mac computer. Once you meet all the above-mentioned requirements you can proceed with dual booting OS X EI Capitan and Windows 10 OS on your Mac. Follow these steps to know how to do it. Step 1: Update Mac OS to the latest version Check for any pending OS X updates you still need to install. Log in to your Mac with the administrator account and close any running apps. Go to software update section, and check if you have pending updates to be installed. Step 2: Install Windows 10 on Mac with Boot Camp Now assuming that you have your Windows 10 bootable USB Flash drive or the Windows 10 installation disk ready with you, it is time to install the Windows 10 using Boot Camp. Launch Boot Camp Assistant from “Utilities” folder. If Boot Camp Assistant prompts your to plug-in your USB flash drive or the Windows 10 installation disk, do so. Now your Mac will restart and install the Windows 10 installer automatically. Next step is to select the partition. You will be prompted to select where you want to install Windows 10. Select the partition labeled as BOOTCAMP and select the format option. When you have to allocate memory space, dedicate at least 30GB space for the Windows partition. You can also split the space evenly for your OS X EI Capitan and Windows 10 OS. Click on Next and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Once the installation procedure is completed, you need to boot into Windows OS and complete the Windows 10 initial setup. How to switch between Windows 10 and OS X EI Capitan? Switching between Windows 10 and OS X EI Capitan is as easy as rebooting your Mac. Shut down your Mac completely. Press the power button to restart or reboot while holding the ALT key on your Keyboard. This will allow you to choose your desired OS (Windows 10 or OS X EI Capitan). How to Uninstall Windows 10 from Dual Booted Mac OS X Capitan? In case if you are done with using Windows and chose to have OS X EI Capitan as the only OS on your Mac, then uninstalling Windows 10 is easier than thought. Open Boot Camp Assistant from the “Utilities” folder. Check the option which says Remove Windows, and click on Continue. Next, click on Restore button to completely remove or uninstall Windows 10 from your Mac. So, that’s it for this guide and hope you have been able to dual-boot OS X EI Capitan and Windows 10 on a Mac. Facing any problem with Boot Camp? You can visit the Boot Camp Support page to find the fixes for the errors.
