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.

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Running Windows on external hard drive

Does anyone know if you can run bootcamp and then windows vista from an external hard drive. I have a 320 gig LaCie hard drive and the 17" iMac with the 2ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 1 gig 667 mhz ddr2 sdram for memory.

Not sure why you asked in the iMac G3 CRT discussion area.
I suggest that you ask this question in the Intel iMac discussion area.

My iTunes is running from my external hard drive because I need to make space on my C drive. Could/should I delete the music on the C drive?

My iTunes is running from my external hard drive because I need to make space on my C drive. Could/should I remove the music from the C drive?

Hello Willlig
If iTunes media is taking up a good majority of space on your computer, you can move it by following the steps in the article below.
iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1364
Regards,
-Norm G.

Can Target Disk Mode be run from an external hard drive?

Hi
My hard drive crashed on me the other day (again) and the apple genius told me all I could do was recover my data and send it in (again)
QUESTION:
Can target disk mode could be run using an external hard drive as opposed to another mac? If so, how?
I think corrupt files on my external hard drive might have crashed my ibook hard drive and I'm wondering if I should really try using the external to save all my info from my ibook. Am I completely clueless about computers or is this actually a possible problem?
Thanks

HI Andrea,
No, you are not completely clueless. If you follow John's sound advice using Target Disk Mode from another Mac, maybe you have a friend or relative who has one. Here's the information on how to use Target Disk Mode that I found in the Apple Help menu:
Transferring files between two computers using FireWire:
You can use FireWire to connect your computer to another Mac and have one of the computers appear as an external hard disk on the other computer. This is sometimes called Target Disk Mode.
To transfer files using FireWire:
Shut down the first computer and leave the second computer on.
Connect the two computers using a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire cable. (If both computers have higher-speed FireWire 800 ports in addition to the standard FireWire 400 ports, you can use a 9-pin to 9-pin cable with the FireWire 800 ports to transfer data at higher speeds.)
Open System Preferences, click the Startup Disk, and click Target Disk Mode. (Or, start up the first computer while holding down the T key.)
A disk icon for the first computer appears on the desktop on the second computer. Drag files to and from the disk to transfer them.
When you finish, eject the first computer's disk by dragging its icon to the Trash. (While you drag, the Trash icon changes to an Eject icon.)
Push the power button on the first computer to shut it down and disconnect the FireWire cable.
If the computer to which you connect your computer is running Mac OS 9, it must have FireWire version 2.3.3 or later installed. Use Apple System Profiler (located in /Applications/Utilities) to check the version of FireWire installed. If it has an older version, get an update at the Apple FireWire website at www.apple.com/firewire.
It's a very simple process but it can only be done between two Macs. You can only "target" another Mac, not an external drive.
It sounds like your iBook needs service. And if you think that your external drive caused the problem to start with, I wouldn't use it again if you can do the TDM instead to retrieve your important data.
Also, be careful with total free drive space. Never fall below 15% free space. Open Disk Utility from the Applications/Utilities folder. Then select MacintoshHD in the panel on the left. Then look down towards the bottom of the window on the right. You'll see "Capacity" and "Availablity". It's a good idea to keep track of free space all the time. You need a minimum of 15% just to boot.
Hope this helps...
Carolyn

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.
Just connect the drive to your Mac. The Mac can read most Windows formats (it cannot WRITE Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) formatted drives.

HT1660 How do I run itunes from external Hard drive?

How do I run itunes from external hard drive. I only have ssd on PC and media is too large to fit

You do not.
iTunes, like all programs is installed on the C drive.
You can store the media on another drive.
Assuming you are moving an existing library from another computer:
Move or Copy the ENTIRE iTunes folder from the old computer to the new computer and put it where you want it.
Install iTunes using the default options.
Hold <SHIFT> while launching iTunes. It will prompt to create a new library or locate an existing library.
Select the option to locate an existing library.
Point iTunes to the iTunesLibrary.itl file in the iTunes folder that was moved from the old computer.

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

Can iphoto be run from an external hard drive?

Can iphoto be run from an external hard drive?

As BD says: keep the application on your startup drive.
This is our resident iPhoto guru, Terence Devlin's, advice:
You can move your iPhoto Library to an external disk:
1. Quit iPhoto
2. Copy the iPhoto Library Folder as an entity from your Pictures Folder to the External Disk.
3. Hold down the option (or alt) key while launching iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library' and navigate to the new location. From that point on this will be the default location of your library.
4. Test the library and when you're sure all is well, trash the one on your internal HD to free up space.

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.

Running windows on mac hard drive questions?

Hi.
I am looking to purchase windows for my mac just for gaming and i was wondering how installing works.
When i run boot camp will it format my entire hard drive (ie delete all my mac stuff) or just partition part or my hard drive?
Ive read to install windows i need an 8GB memory stick, is this true? can it be an external hd?
After boot camp is installed and windows is running, what partition are games installed on? is it the windows partition? if so will it need a larger partition or can i download and run games on an external hard drive?
also can i access my mac files (mp3's, videos ect) in windows?
Thanks alot

To install Windows with Boot Camp, you will have to open Boot Camp Assistant, in /Applications/Utilities. This application will guide you through the process of downloading the Windows support software, creating a USB drive with Windows (if you need it and your Mac didn't come with optical drive) and partitioning the hard disk to install Windows.
Boot Camp creates a second partition to install Windows, so it won't format the hard disk. However, you must be very careful during the installation, because if you do something wrong, you will lose everything. Make a backup of your files.
You can install Windows through a USB drive (you need a ISO image with Windows, that you can get if you have purchased Windows as a download) or a DVD (the copy you can buy at any shop).
After having installed Windows, Windows games will be installed in the Windows volume because Windows won't be able to write in your Mac OS X volume. Some games may let you install them in an external drive.
After installing the Windows support software, you will be able to access to your Mac OS X volume, so you can read your files but you can't write into the Mac OS X volume.
To install Windows, follow the steps of this Apple guide > http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_10.8.pdf

Running iTunes from external hard drive, new computer, where to start?

I've seen several threads relating to this, but I'm a bit confused. For some time we have been running iTunes from an external hard drive with no issues. We now have a new laptop with windows 8, and I'm not sure where to start to set up iTunes (we replaced the computer with a laptop). Do I need to do a new install of iTunes on the laptop? Do I install it to the hard drive (C) or to the external drive (G)? My biggest source of concern is losing the library. I also want to be sure that we can continue to run iTunes from the external drive, I don't want it taking up space on the laptop hard drive.

With more & more people looking towards external drives as a storage solution, it's important to warn them, that although using one within iTunes is a great idea, it comes with its issues & can be a step towards a disastrous sequence. In such a scenario, each time iTunes is launched it'll look for the library that resides on the external drive, & if that drive's not connected, iTunes will open with an empty library. You know what's comming next, rite ? An empty iDevice. This happens because 'by default' iTunes is set to Auto-Sync & if you're using an external drive, the potential for a messy problem goes way up. So in short, remember these points. when using an external drive(library).
. Always connect your external drive prior to lauching iTunes.
. Always ensure iTunes sees your external library prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Disable the 'Auto-Sync' feature from within iTunes prior to connecting your iDevice.
. Always wait to connect your iDevice until thee aforementioned points are confirmed.
As stated earlier, using an external drive with iTunes isn't a problem in & by itself. But if the external drive's disconnected & the 'Auto-Sync' feature's left at its default setting(enabled), a family member could loose all their data simply by connecting their iDevice to the PC/Mac. Or be in for a time consuming lesson.
PS: At the very least one should research the topic themselves. http://ipod.about.com/od/advanceditunesuse/a/Itunes-External-Hard-Drive.htm

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.

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.

Running Itunes from external hard drive

I have transferred my itunes to an external hard drive. I have changed the save to loaction in the preferences, advanced window. When I connect my IPod to the computer, it tells me that it is synced to another and asks if I want to erase and resync. When I tell it yes, it says that the lib. is empty and all songs will be erased off of the IPOD, do I wnat to continue. Can any one help.

I have a similar situation.
I had over 6000 songs on an original 20" iMac, and I had the entire library backed up on an external HD. The iMac is currently in the repair shop, from which it may never emerge in working condition.
I removed the entire iTunes library from my MacBook Pro (which contained no music because the computer has only a 120 GB HD) and I can get to the backup on the external HD (press Shift while starting iTunes) and see all the music. However, when I try to play any song for the first time I first have to migrate to the specific file in the Finder. Thus, it is totally impractical to attempt to manage a 6000 plus song collection in this way.
Is there an automatic way to locate each of the songs or is this manual process the only solution?
Thanks for your help.
Barrie

Mac and Windows shared external hard drive - possible?

Our set up is a Windows XP pc and iMac 20" and I hoped that we could back up both computers using one external hard drive - that way if the Mac failed we could still use the pc to access the files and vice versa. But having looked into buying one I'm starting to get doubts about whether it is possible. I just don't understand all the technical stuff. Can anyone help in layman's terms how we go about it?
Thanks
Jane

Try iFelix's excellent guides for Windows to Mac networking (link). I understand that he will do Vista versions as soon as possible.
A FAT32 formatted drive in a NAS Enclosure like this one (link) should suit you needs. Remember that a NAS drive will not have the performance of a Firewire connected drive so you do need to consider your intended usage.
kind regards
mrtotes

Installing & Running Itunes on external hard drive

I have just got rid of my personal computer and now only have a work laptop.
I have copied all of my Itunes music onto an external hard drive and have downloaded itunes and quicktime to the external hard drive.
However the programme will not run from the external drive. Is there any way of running itunes without having to install the programme onto a host machine?
Cheers

The answer is you can't. The iTunes program itself has to live on the host machine. You can store you library anywhere you want. You also can move the itunes library files to the other places but itunes itself you can't.

Run windows 7 on external hard drive?

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