Can I install Windows ON a flash drive or on flash memory?

All over the internet I see questions from people wanting to install Windows from a USB flash drive with varying results, but my question is different.  I want to install Windows ON removable flash memory.  I would like to purchase a MacBook Air, but would like to also continue making use of Boot Camp without taking up too much of my limited hard drive space.  I've found fast 3.0 USB sticks and flash cards that would be nice, but can they be treated as a partition in order to install and run Windows?

Ignoring the fact that Windows doesn't really support booting from removable media (you might be able to force it if you are willing to build a custom installer), I can think of another reason you wouldn'r want to consider this.  Windows is notorious for heavy usage of the swap file, and I believe I recall reading one report where someone had managed to install Windows to a flash drive, and within 30-60 minutes, the OS had written to the swap file so much that the flash memory was beginning to fail.  Remember that each time you write to flash memory, it cases a small amount of damage to the memory, and after a significant number of writed, it will fail.  Regretfully, the Woindows swap file will cause this threshhold to be reached very quickly, and then you start getting write errors...

Similar Messages

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    Installing Windows on an external drive is not supported.
    Neither of MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) - Technical Specifications or MacBook Air (11-inch, Mid 2013) - Technical Specifications have a built-in Optical drive, so you will need to use a USB2 disk, Bootcamp Assistant and a Windows ISO to create a USB installer and install it on the internal disk.
    Please start at How to install Windows using Boot Camp - Apple Support.

  • Can I install windows onto a flash drive in my ExpressCard/34 slot?

    I want to buy a ExpressCard/34 SSD and install it into my MacBookPro. Then using Boot Camp, I would like to install Windows onto it. Is this possible?
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    Hi,
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  • How can I install Windows 7 with Boot Camp from a Usb memory stick?

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  • Cant install windows with 2 hard drives attached

    i have an sata drive that i use for boot drive and ata for back up. i can not install windows on the sata drive if the ata drive is hooked up. windows only sees the ata drive. it will not give me a choice to install on the sata. if i unhook the ata i can install just fine on the sata. does anyone have any ideas why?
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    Danny you don't have to stay out, I just already said stuff and you told me to do something i already said i did.
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  • Can I install windows 7 on a MBA using a USB flash drive?

    I do not have an external DVD drive. Can I install windows 7 on a MBA using a USB flash drive? If so, what's is the procedure?

    Hi,
    have a look/read here http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-create-bootable-windows-7-usb-to-install-windo ws-7-from-usb-flash-drive-using-windows-7-dvdusb-tool/
    Regards
    Stefan

  • Is it possible to use bootcamp to install windows on a flash drive (rather than an HD partition)?

    I would like to run windows on my Mac preferably from a flash drive, or an external drive. I don't want to install it locally because I don't have enough HD space. I've found a few sites and videos that show you how to do this from a PC (like this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh-F6dcXmsE) but I don't have a PC and I'd like to know if it's possible to use bootcamp to accomplish this.
    Thanks very much for any help! Would be greatly appreciated.

    If you have Windows-to-Go, it can be installed on an external disk, otherwise Windows licensing restricts it. Bootcamp has additional checks to enforce such licensing.
    You can always install it on an internal drive first and then put the drive in a USB enclosure.

  • Can i install windows 7 via bootcamp (MB Air) while using remote disc? I put the windows 7 disk in my macbook pro drive, and connect to my brand new macbook air. In bootcamp i allocate the partition then i click install and bootcamp will not see the disk.

    Can i install windows 7 via bootcamp (on my MB Air) while using remote disc? I put the windows 7 disk in my macbook pro drive, and connect to my brand new macbook air via remote disk. In bootcamp (on my air) i allocate the partition, then i click install, and bootcamp will not see the disk from my macbook pro's drive. How do i get the bootcamp assistant running on my MB air to automatically find the disk in my macbook pro with the ISO image of windows 7? The remote disk on my air can find the cd but bootcamp will not begin installing it. Anyway to do this without buying the damned usb drive?

    I don't know first hand if you can use the Remote Disk option with Windows but as of 10.7.2 you can now use BCAssistant to make a bootable USB (thumb drive or external disk) W7 installer with the Boot Camp drivers installed also. Have you tried that yet?

  • How can I install Windows 8.1 using a USB Pen Drive in Late 2011 Macbook Pro with DVD R/W given.

    How can I install Windows 8.1 using a USB Pen Drive in Late 2011 Macbook Pro with DVD R/W given.
    I have Boot Camp 5.1.2 (497) and there is no option for installing using USB. I have downloaded an image of Windows 8.1 already.
    I can't install using DVD R/W because it's not working.
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    Thank you.

    unlocked by myself
    thanks

  • Can I install windows on a RAID hard drive?

    Hi,
    I recently purchased a used macPro. This mac pro had a raid set so 4 1TB hard drives were created to make one 4 GB partition. This made the raid utility pop up frequently saying there was something wrong so I just broke the RAID set and tried to set the disk up as their on storage partitions (Just as if they were 4 normal hard drives. Now that I did this, only 3 out of the 4 hard drives are visible in disk utility. Also, I reinstalled macosx snow leopard and tried installing bootcamp but when I partition the hard drive and restart using the windows installation disk, it doesn't show that I have any available hard drives to install windows on. Is this because of my RAID disks? (Sorry I don't know anything about raid disks and didn't know this computer had it before I bought it)
    Any help would be appreciated.
    Thanks.

    As stated in the Mac Pro RAID card FAQ you can't install Windows if you have the drives controlled by that card.
    Question: Why can't I install Boot Camp on my Mac Pro or Xserve that uses a RAID?
    Answer: Boot Camp does not support the installation of Windows onto a Mac using hardware or software RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Drives). Boot Camp is not supported on the Xserve with or without the Xserve RAID Card installed.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1346
    Look inside and see if there is a RAID controller from Apple, proably top slot #4. Also look in System Profile under SATA interface.
    Pull non-graphic card, seems you don't need it if you have one.
    You are not getting something: internal hard drives are one thing. RAID card is another. The RAID card just replaces the normal SATA controller that otherwise interfaces.
    Take a look at the photos and manual for the card.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3514
    You can find the above from the Mac Pro Support home page I posted above.

  • Can I install windows 7 to an external USB 3.0 drive via bootcamp?

    with the new airport extremes supporting USB 3.0, can I install windows 7 to an external USB drive via bootcamp?
    i'm not willing to sacrafice any of the limited space on the SSD, but i'm very willing to get a good performing USB 3 drive, and use it as necessary with windows.
    if this wouldn't work via bootcamp, can it be done on a windows PC and plugged in subsequent to the install to work on the road?

    Installing Windows on an external drive is not supported.

  • Can i install windows 7 on my iMac 2012 using a external drive

    Can i install windows 7 on my imac 2012 using a external cd drive ?
    Thanks

    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
    If you have a Late 2012 iMac (without a built-in SuperDrive), you can use a USB drive to install Windows with Boot Camp and you shouldn't have any problem

  • Can I install windows 7 on a second internal drive on a macbook pro 2011?

    Can I install windows 7 on a second internal drive on a macbook pro 2011? I have 2 500 gb. SSD drives in my 2011 MacBook Pro. My plan was to install windows 7 on the 2nd drive. I'm new at owning Macs so I have had Windows on main drive using bootcamp but I wanted to speed up my 17" Mac so I maxed out the memory and added the SSD drives.  Thinking I could put the 2 operating systems on seperate drives I bought to 2 SSD's. Is there any way to do this.  So far I have drawn a blank. Any ideas?

    Yes. Just install Windows onto it without using the Boot Camp Assistant to partition it.
    (124769)

  • Can I install Windows without optical Driver

    Hi!
    I have a Macbook pro Early 2008 - MB134LL/A but its optical driver cannot read any disc. Now I want to install Windows via BootCamp but it cannot. Anybody know how can I install Windows without optical Driver? I tried to boot by USBflash, USB DVD Driver but it cannot boot.
    I think that does external optical drivers via firewire work?
    Thanks alot!

    Thank you for your reply, and the information.  This is what I came up with:
    I added the strings as instructed, however when I went to sign the script in terminal, I was told:
    /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app: replacing existing signature
    /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app: code object is not signed at all
    In subcomponent: /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app/Contents/info.plist
    Also, here are screen captures of the lines that I added.  Mine are the top string entries:
    Thank you for your help, thus far!

  • Already i download driver for install the windows, i can get the drivers but i can't install windows, how i can install windows without downloads driver again

    already i download driver for install the windows, i can get the drivers but i can't install windows, how i can install windows without download driver again

    This seems to be a commercial product. For the best chance at finding a solution I would suggest posting in the forum for HP Business Support!
    You can find the Commercial Laserjet board here:
    http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-LaserJet/bd-p/bsc-413
    Best of Luck!
    You can say thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in my post. If my post resolves your problem, please mark it as Accepted Solution so others can benefit too.

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