Installing Windows on external hard drive

Does anone know how I can install and run Windows from an external hard drive? I use only a couple Windows applications and want to clutter my MacBook internal hard drive.
Thanks in advance, Ron

RKD56 wrote:
Does anone know how I can install and run Windows from an external hard drive? I use only a couple Windows applications and want to clutter my MacBook internal hard drive.
Thanks in advance, Ron
Check in the bootcamp forum here:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1244
You might also consider using a Windows Emulator, some of which support many Windows apps without requiring Windows at all.
You can search the net for them.

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Installing Windows to external hard drive or using parallels?

Will installing Windows on external hard drive protect mac from viruses better than parallels? Which option is more sound, installing windows on external hard drive or using parallels? My main concern is mac protection. Thanks

Hi,
Thank's for your reply.
Using Parallels and creating a virtual machine, I think it should be possible installing Windows to an external hard drive, shouldn't it?
Message was edited by: Oleguer Vilella

Boot Camp will not let me install Windows via external hard drive

Hi,
I'm having problems installing Windows 7 on my MacBook Pro. I have the iso file on my external hard dirve and have went to Boot Camp but the following message comes up:
"The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.
The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows."
At one point i just clicked OK and let Boot Camp install the selected tasks, which formated the disk, copied the Windows files and downloaded the Windows support software but another message came up:
"Install this Windows support software after installing Windows"
It then only gives me an option to Quit...
I would like to add that i tried to install Windows a few days ago and everything was working well up until instead of clicking on "customize" to continue the installation i clicked on "upgrade" then it asked me to remove disk and reboot the computer, i did that and it didn't work. Luckily i got that sorted but wanted to try and install Windows again as it didn't end up getting it installed and this is what is happening now...
Can someone suggest to me what might be wrong?
Thanks in advance.

My other post has been deleted. I will reply to you on this post instead.
I dragged down the Macintosh HD partition via the small triangle at the bottom right hand side of it. It now looks like this:
Is it back to normal now? Can i install Windows now or do i need to do anything else?
Thanks a lot for your help!

Windows on external hard drive

Can windows be installed on an external hard drive and can it be used on my imac?

No. And even on PCs that is generally no 98% of the time.
Some PCs have a motherboard with a direct eSATA port that will, but not on Mac, not on USB or FW.
You can run a VM off an external drive, but those tend to be slow.

Can Flash Player be installed on an external hard drive?

I have this game I am trying to install on an external hard drive that requires Flash Player and even though it is installed on my computer the game keeps popping up with Flash Player is required for this install. Would you like to install it now? Is there any way to install Flash Player on my external or get the game's installer to recognize it being on the hard drive. I don't want to install the game to my computer. Thanks for any help.

Flash Player is installed on the Windows system32 and syswo64 folders; it cannot be installed anywhere else.
What does that game require: the ActiveX control, or the plugin? If in doubt, install both.

Install data from external hard drive?

Hi, we have our old macbook data saved on external hard drive (old laptop had water damage but able to retrieve data). I now have new macbook, how do I install data from external hard drive to new macbook? Is it super easy? I didn't want to set up new laptop until I could understand how to install all our old data. Thanks

Do you have the appropriate cable to connect the external drive to to new Macbook?
If you do, the rest is easy. Connect the drive and start up the new Mac. The first steps in the setup will be to enter information about yourself, etc. etc. As you proceed you will be asked if you want to bring in data from another place. Just follow the directions, and the Mac Setup Assistant will do everything for you.
The critical part is making sure the external is corectly connected to the new computer.

Can i use windows migration assistant to transfer files from my windows formatted external hard drive to my mac?

I have a windows formatted external hard drive and a macbook pro. I was wondering if i could use the windows migration assistant to transfer files from my external hard drive to the mac

No.
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Can programs be installed on an external hard drive with my mac pro?

Can programs be installed on an external hard drive. I am running low on space. Final Cut Pro X spins off the rendering files which takes a large chunk of space. Like to at least have those rendered files on an external drive, but can find that option to make it happen.
Hardware Overview:
   Model Name:   MacBook Pro
   Model Identifier:           MacBookPro10,2
   Processor Name:        Intel Core i5
   Processor Speed:       2.6 GHz
   Number of Processors:           1
   Total Number of Cores:           2
   L2 Cache (per Core):   256 KB
   L3 Cache:        3 MB
   Memory:          8 GB
   Boot ROM Version:     MBP102.0106.B07
   SMC Version (system):           2.6f59
   Serial Number (system):         C02L250VFFRP
   Hardware UUID:          B26BB020-5346-5A3E-BE36-8D63AAF041C4
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Kent Mechem

Hello Ian. I am currently using Lion installed on a WD My Passport 500Gig drive connected to my MBPro via USB, which is still running 10.6.8. Like you I am not prepared to lose all my currently functioning Mac, but also like to see how the new OS runs before making the total switch, maybe when it gets to 10.7.2
So after you download Lion and select to run the installer it will show you which disk to install on, being the default SL drive you downloaded Lion with. But here you can click Other Disk and select the external HD. The installer will run and then boot into the external drive to complete the installation. From then on you can use Startup Disk or the Option key to select the preferred OS.

Can I install onto an external hard drive + run off it?

Can I install onto an external hard drive + run off it?
If possible, will the system run at the *same* speed as the built in hard drive?
ALSO: Am I correct in saying that if I replace my current hard drive with an SSD one?
If so: that *****
Thanks
Omar

OS X doesn't matter what disk you boot from, as long as it can be formatted properly in Disk Utility. You can boot from a USB stick drive if it's big enough.
Thunderbolt would be the fastest, the drive would be the limiting factor there. You can find Thunderbolt drives like these at stores like macsales.com. But USB 3 might also feel fast enough.
If you have boot systems installed on many drives connected to your Mac, the way you tell the Mac which one to use is to hold down the Option key at startup. This will present icons of all the connected drives you can boot from, then you just pick one and go.

Using Current Windows-based External Hard drive on Mac

Hello,
I have a MacBook Pro now. I have BootCamp installed with Windows Vista. Working fine. I also have a Western Digital 160 GB external harddrive with data on it from my old Windows only computer. In other words, it is formatted with NFTS.
I want to be able to do one of the following things:
1. Partition the external drive in half so I can use half of it for new Mac data while keeping my old Windows data
2. Seamlessly use the external drive as is between Mac OS X and Windows being able to transfer data. Right now, if I boot into Mac OSX, I can see the drive on the desktop and actually see the files and folders. But if I try to drag anything to the drive, I get permission denied.
Any hints here? Basically, in a nutshell, I am going to have data from both Windows and Mac OSX that I would like to save on the same external hard drive
Thanks.

You won't likely be able to make one hard drive with two different partition types if it is already partitioned (partly anyway) in Windows in NTFS. Mac Disk Utility won't deal with the unpartitioned space AFAIK.
It cannot hurt to try in Disk Utility and see if it shows the 60GB only or refuses to mount at all which I suspect will be what happens.
Anything but My Book is the answer (I have seen at least a dozen My Book complaints here) - normally with macs there are a few trusted makers and one interface - firewire (NOT USB). I use LaCie drives - 3000GB worth - and for portable I have an OWC, they make very high quality cases and drives and nice and small.
I have a few others that I do not rely on like a 320GB USB drive that was $100 and the drive inside is worth more than the whole external drive actually cost which is why I bought it. And a small USB Maxtor for use with Parallels since Parallels won't see Firewire drives.

Booting Windows on External Hard Drive

Is it possible to set up an external hard drive with one or more Windoze partitions so I can boot from them? If so, will the drive also boot a Windoze machine? Also, what is the oldest version that will work with a 2.2 GHz MB?
Message was edited by: MacInAction7

Windows does not boot from external drives.
For Boot Camp installations:
Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 or later, or Windows
Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate
Important:
You must use a single full-install Windows installation disc (Service Pack 2 is required for Windows XP installations). Do not use an upgrade version of Windows and do not install an earlier version of Windows XP and attempt to update it later to SP2. Use only 32-bit versions of Windows.

How do I install Lion on external hard drive? I have purchased and downloaded through App Store but do not know where the download is located so I can install.

I want to install Lion on an external hard drive. The OS was purchased and downloaded through the App Store but I do not know where the file is.

If you downloaded the installer it will be in your applications folder. Failing that use spotlight start typing Install and it should show up.
This is assuming you downloaded the installer from the app store, and didn't just install it onto your mac. If all you have done is install it on your mac. Go to your purchases Lion should show up. Then click download.
Here is the Support page for installing osx on an external drive.
OS X: Installing OS X on an external volume - Apple Support
Hope this helps.
PJRS

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I suggest that you ask this question in the Intel iMac discussion area.

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Installing Windows on external hard drive

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