How To Install Windows 7 x64 & Boot Camp 3.1

Yesterday I ventured to get Windows 7 running on my Mac Mini and naturally ran into quite a few problems (quite unlike installing XP).  Unfortunately, I could not get the x64 version of Boot Camp 3.1 installed; it would try to install the nVidia driver and then silently fail thereafter.  I also ran into the road block of not being able to install the x64 version of Boot Camp 3.0 from the Snow Leopard installation media, but found a work around.  You will need the following items:

1. Snow Leopard installation disc
2. Boot Camp 3.1 x64 installation package

First, insert your Snow Leopard installation disc and open a CMD prompt As Administrator.  Access your disc drive and navigate to the Boot Camp\Drivers\Apple directory.  Now execute the following command:

msiexec /i  BootCamp64.msi

This will install version 3.0 of the Boot Camp software.  This may take a few minutes, but after it is done, follow the prompt to restart your machine.  For the most part, everything should be installed correctly, sans Apple's most recent hardware like the Magic Mouse.

After you have rebooted, you should then be able to run the Boot Camp 3.1 setup without any problems.