Can I install Windows through an external hard-drive onto bootcamp?

Is there any way for me to install Windows onto my mac by using an external harddrive that contains the install files to windows 7?

Welcome to Apple Communities
You can install it with a USB drive. Connect it, open Boot Camp Assistant and follow steps

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How can I install window 8 on external hard drive on mac mini

So, I have mac mini and I'd like to install win8 on external hard drive and can anyone give me guides to do it?
also I wonder would I be able to run win 8 after installation using parallels desktop?
thanks in advance

I have to agree that Windows8 is a waste of time, especially if you don't have a touch screen and compatible apps.
However, the latest version of Parallels supports running Windows8, Parallels can either run Windows from a 'virtual disk' file which can be stored wherever you want including on an external drive, or it can also be configured to run Windows from a Boot Camp partition created using Apple's Boot Camp Utility.
See http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v7/update2/docs/en/Parallels%20Desktop%20U ser's%20Guide/32733.htm
In order to run Boot Camp from an external drive and therefore be able to setup the Boot Camp partition on the external drive you first have to install and run OS X on the external drive. Then the Boot Camp utility will let you add the Boot Camp partition on the external drive. You cannot run OS X and the Boot Camp utility from an internal drive and try adding the Boot Camp partition to the external drive. The Boot Camp Utility only lets you add the partition on the same physical drive it is running from.
Personally I have legal XP and Windows7 licenses (currently using Windows7) and even if the Windows8 upgrade was totally free of charge I would not bother with it. I would also not bother with it at work as an IT Manager.

How can I install ntfs on an external hard drive so that my Samsung Smart TV can see my media files? Or is there a better option?

How can I install ntfs on an external hard drive so that my Samsung Smart TV can see my media files? Or is there a better option?

OS X cannot natively write to a drive formatted as NTFS, nor can it format a drive as NTFS. There are third-party NTFS drivers available on the market.
Just out of curiosity: Even with NTFS, how is your TV going to access the external hard drive? Does the TV have a USB port?

Can i install wow on an external hard drive?

Can i install wow on an external hard drive and play it off that, cause im runing out of space on my computer.

If you are going to install WoW to a external hard drive I suggest getting a eSATA external hard drive. There is a noticable drop in performance when trying to use a external USB drive to run games from.

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 SuSE on an external hard drive and boot to that OS?

Hi,
I'd like to figure out and maybe even keep up with what a friend is doing with linux on a pc.
Can I install SuSE 10.1 on an external Lacie hard drive and boot to that OS by holding down option during start-up?
Thanks,
Garrett

Hi,
I'm an OS X fan who was totally engrossed in the terminal a few years back but became side-tracked into structural and sculptural stuff instead of the computer.
The Mac mini forum mentioned putting OS X on external hard drives to supe up the mini so it made me wonder about other Operating Systems.
Now I'm mostly interested in being a little familiar with the SuSE OS because I heared the Chinese have adopted Linux; my impression is China and Europe are the cultural future and vanguard.
U.S. is the only place on Earth using inches, farenheit, gallons, and pounds, for example. I'm anxious to use software that will come from Europe in the next year or two and China in the next four or five. Most American corps, except Apple, seem to have peaked, to me.
I'm just curious as to what's out there. Anyplace not gone metric yet is SO yesterday. I'll feel way cool when I send my PC friend a screen shot of Linux on my Mac using the external Lacie hard drive instead of an internal partition.
Garrett

Install Windows XP on External Hard Drive

Is there anyway I can install Windows XP on my WD 500GB External HD? It serves as my Time Machine for my MacBook, which doesn't have a whole lot of HDD space left. I'd like to install XP and be able to run it on my Mac, but it takes up way to much space.
If I can't install XP to my external drive, is there any suggestions for clearing space on my MacBook? Any way to remove unwanted applications?

Jerid Lucas wrote:
I don't quite understand your answer, or maybe you don't quite understand my question. Here are a little more details.
I have an Early 2008 Macbook with a 160GB HDD with Tiger installed.
For BootCamp you need OSX Leopard since the BootCamp Beta from OSX Tiger no longer works.
I'm interested in running Windows XP on my MacBook, but I'm concerned with it taking up space on my already small HDD. However, I do have a 500GB external HDD that I have plenty of space on.
My question remains, is there anyway that I could install Windows XP on my external drive while keeping Leopard on my laptop HDD. Would I be able to use BootCamp to assist me. If not, how would I access/boot XP?
See my first post. Windows is not intended to be booted of an external harddisk.
This is prevented by Microsoft and BootCamp can not change this.
Windows XP itself needs about 10GB of harddisk space. Add to that the amount of disk space that will be used y the Windows programs you want to run plus the space used by the data files.
So something about 20-25GB for Windows might be sufficient.
How much free disk space do you have right now ?
What is 'eating' up your disk space ?
I know these are several questions, and difficult ones at that, but I believe there is an answer somewhere.
The answer is given, but the technical limitations of Windows prevent the answer from being what you want to hear.
Stefan

Can't instal Windows 7 to new hard drive

Hello everyone,
I was looking for solution for a while, but cant find it, so I really hope you'll help me here !
First of all, I 've been using my pc until I received the S.M.A.R.T. warning about possible hard drive failure soon, and one morning PC didnt start - one of the hard drives was dead (in my hp model there are two hard drives). After finding out which one was it ( I tried taking one hard drive out, leaving the other and vice versa) I bought a new 500 GB hard drive. Aparently the damaged hard drive was the one with operating system, because of startup message which told me that operating system not found. Nothing fancy, just instal windows like I always did, or so I thought ..
Got my USB flash drive with Windows 7 64 bit, plug it in, the usual windows instal guide loads up. I choose my language , keyboard input etc . At the point where I have to choose "where do I want to instal my windows" I see two hard drives: 1) disk 0 Partition 1 (my old original 232 GB stock drive) and 2) disk 1 Partition 1 (new recently purchased 500GB drive).
So ofcourse, since I replaced old hard drive with the new one I just bought, put it in the same slot, naturaly I chose my location for windows - new hard disk 1 Partition 1. When I highlighted it, a yellow mark apeared at the botom which said "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu".
Ok, so I tried to continue anyway, I pressed next and windows began to instal, took about 10 - 15 mins. Everythings normal until first restart part before completing instalation. PC restarted and .. Windows instalation setup started once more from the begining. So I thought , ok I ll try to instal to the old hard drive disk 0 Partition 1 ( this time there was no yellow warning mark). So instalation began again , restarted , and ... Once more instalation setup starting from begining !
I am really lost here, I tried replacing hard drives places whith each other, or leaving just one of them, every time windows starts instaling from begining ! Allthough, everytime there are less and less disk space, which means it actualy is instaling.
So any thoughts where to start ?
I would be so greatful for your help,
And see ya

Hi @Seniunas ,
Welcome to the HP Forums!
It is a terrific place to find answers and suggestions!
For you to have the best experience in the HP forum I would like to direct your attention to the HP Forums Guide Learn How to Post and More
It is my understand that one of your two hard drives failed. You have replaced the failed drive and are having a difficulty installing Windows 7 from a USB stick.
I have some questions.
What is your exact model of n DV9700 notebook?
How Do I Find My Model Number or Product Number?
Is this a retail version of Windows 7?
Were your drives setup in a RAID configuration or just two individual drives, one being the boot drive with Windows.
You could try this, I am not sure if it will work.
Remove the 232 GB drive completely from your system.
Boot to your Windows 7, USB stick and let Windows format the drive before it installing Windows.
If this completes successfully, make sure the boot order is set to boot to that drive and test it.
If you are then able to boot into windows, shut down the notebook and reinstall the secondary drive.
Good Luck!
Sparkles1
I work on behalf of HP
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Can I install iPhoto on an external hard drive

My iMac is fully consumed with photos. I have no memory available. I was wondering if I purchased an external hard drive if I could completely remove iPhoto and all the pictures from my iMac and put the whole program with all the pictures on the drive? So I would have to open the EHD to even get to iPhoto, it wouldn't be in my regular applications folder. Pretty much I would use this EHD for the sole purpose of iPhoto editing and storage.

Click on the item named Pictures in the Finder's sidebar, drag the iPhoto Library to the external drive, launch iPhoto with the Option key held down, click on Choose Library, point it there, and after verifying that it works properly, throw away the copy on the internal drive. The iPhoto application itself shouldn't be moved.
(43578)

Can I install windows on a fresh hard drive?

I'm installing a fresh hard drive into a macbook pro, I'm wondering if the hard drive will accept a windows 7 disc to install as OS, or will it only accept OSX, and if I'd have to go through bootcamp.

Yes, it's a complete OS. But if you have an empty HDD to setup you will need to install the original OS X that came on the computer originally. If it came with Lion or later:
Install Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion Using Internet Recovery
Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.
Boot to the Internet Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND-OPTION- R keys until a globe appears on the screen. Wait patiently - 15-20 minutes - until the Recovery main menu appears.
Partition and Format the hard drive:
1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu and click on the Continue button.
2. After DU loads select your newly installed hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed. Quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion. Mavericks: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion, Mavericks and click on the Install button. Be sure to select the correct drive to use if you have more than one.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
            if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.
This should restore the version of OS X originally pre-installed on the computer.
If it had an earlier version of OS X:
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
         Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Can't install windows 7 from external dvd drive

Hi,
I have a Late 2006 Macbook (I think). I am trying to install Windows 7 on it. The partitioning goes well. My Main issue is that my DVD drive is Busted. Whenever i try to install Windows 7 Ultimate 64 but from my Samsung External DVDRW Drive, The apple logo starts to flash with a Cross going through it. Are there any methods and solutions to install windows 7 on it?
I have also tried using rEFIt but when booting from a USB, it gives a whole list of Errors.
Plese Help Me
Thank you

HOLD ON GUYS THE PROBLEME IS MINOR AND THE SOLUTION SIMPLE, THE G585 WIN8 IS NOT THAT BAD AFTER U READ THIS OR GO DIRECTLY TO THE LENOVO SUPPORT LINK BELOW AND APPLY THE FIX..
I had the same problem with my new G585, I couldn't get any windows 8 upgrades done by undoing and reversing to pre-upgrade state right after reboot which made my system unstable and very slow to use and windows8 very buggy, it was very frustrating but I didn't give up and kept trying to upgrade with no success to the point I started to think that either something was wrong with my unit even though I had it for less than 2 weeks since I bought it from best buy or Lenovo effed up this time with this sluggish configuration and that I have to add RAM and see if its any better b4 returning it to them for servicing.. well IT TURNS OUT YES LENO EFFED UP BUT NOT WITH THE CONFIGURATION BUT WITH SOME BLOATWEAR CALLED NITRO PDF THAT WILL NOT LET U UPGRADE WINDOWS8 AND SPESIFECLY THE UPGRADE PART OF NITRO PDF FROM TRIAL VERSION TO FULL VERSION CALLED NITRO PDF PRO 7 OR SOME SH** LIKE THAT, THE GOOD PART IS NITRO IS OFFERING A DOWNLOAD FIX U CAN DO WHEN YOU USE THE BLOATHWEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME OR BETTER YET BY DELETING THAT APP AFTER THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UPGRADE YOUR WINDOWS8 OS AND YOU WILL BE AMAZED BY HOW MANY UPGRADES YOU WILL GO THRU BUT YOUR SYSTEME WILL START RUNNING FASTER AND SMOOTHER FROM THE FEW FIRST UPGRADE. LET ME KNOW HOW IT TURNS OUT WITH YOU.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-8/Microsoft-Windows-8-Updates-may-fail-to-apply/td-p/926945

Can not install 10.5 on external hard drive.

This is the situation I took my old hard drive from my old desktop that has 10.4.11 installed and put it into an external USB hard drive case. It shows up on the desktop but I can not install 10.5 on it from the disk. Using disk utility it indicates that the drive is bootable. But I can not get to be read as a destination drive.
I want to use this drive in part for parallels desktop and windows NT.

Yeah, that's it. The Partition Map Scheme is set for APM, which is OK for a disk on an Intel machine, unless you want to Install Leopard or upgrade Leopard on it. That's when you need to use GUID.
You can use SuperDuper to create a clone on an APM drive and an Intel machine will boot just fine, you just can't run the updates. I do this for a drive that I've partitioned into two parts, one for my bootable clone, and the other for TM.
I have SuperDuper clone my boot drive to the external drive every week and don't worry about updating the clone. That way, if an upgrade screws up my machine, I can boot from the other drive and reclone the last working system to my boot drive.
I only use TM to track older files, on the fly, and don't want to have to boot from the DVD to restore my machine and get back to work. I do the work I want right away with the clone and then any changes are cloned back to the original boot drive when I have time.

Can I install iLife, iMovie on external hard drive

I have a powerbook and way too many photos/video cuts-have run out of hard drive space on my powerbook, have much stored on an extrernal hard drive (LaCie). But can't do much movie editing on the powerbook due to HD space limitations. Can I install iMovie, iphoto, iDVD on the esternal hard drive and work there? (250 GB vs the 60 on the powerbook!). If I do, will it delete the 90GB of photos I have on the external HD? Anything I whould worry about?

Hi dianeh,
to uninstall, in finder, you drag'n drop the app into the trashcan - a correct programmed app should vanish "restless"... some apps have/need/come with uninstallers, but not Garageband.
you need to empty the trash to free diskspace, and you could use the "find" command to look for any "leftovers"; in case you find any, trash them manually by draggin' into trash......
And:
you're able to reinstall GB from your installer/recover disk, in case you need it later..........

HT1461 Can I Install Windows on a separate hard drive?

Could I install an additional hard drive on my Mac Pro for Boot Camp / Windows instead of partitioning the first one? I'll be using it for video, so I'll need a lot more space than I currently have.

Yes you can, don't use Boot Camp (except for obtaining drivers), and remove the OSX hard drive during installation. If you search this forum you'll find numerous examples.

Run windows 7 on external hard drive?

I'm purchasing a MAC mini to replace my G4 and PC. I would like to have Windows available for several applications (mainly for the kids) and am wondering if I could install windows on an external hard drive and run it through the Mini. I really don't want to partition the Mini's HD for both OS as I prefer to stay as far away from windows as possible. Thanks.

It all depends on the PC motherboard and BIOS, I don't even think MS has done anything draconian or such, and it is possible and actually easy, with the right X58 say motherboards (most). My Intel DX58SO I used to install via built in eSATA.
There is nothing wrong with or reason to fear Windows, but if kids want to play games, a VM isn't going to cut it. Buy a cheap mini just for Windows, or a PC, or run OS X off external drive and use the internal for Windows only.
Windows 7 + MS Security Essentials is solid and best yet and as easy to use and not all that different than Mac OS (and maybe has had more testing even). Hopefully computers can be seen for what they are, used as tools, objectively.

Can I install Windows through an external hard-drive onto bootcamp?

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