Run Windows from External HD

I have a 15 inch June 2012 Macbook Pro Core i7 with 500GB. I want to run windows with bootcamp with an external hard drive. Is it possible to boot natively into windows with a bootcamp partition from a 500GB USB 3.0 External HD? I dont have the HD or windows disk yet because I want to make sure this works. If it doesnt with boot camp, is there a 3rd party app that can do this or is it possible with a SSD? I dont want to emulate this, I want native windows.
PS I dont have much space left on my internal 500GB HD, but I do have enough for some apps.

Mr. Mayonaise wrote:
by emulate i mean i dont want it on vmware, i want it to run fast. If you can put the files on the external HD and if it runs fast, than ok, but i really want it to run fast. i want to play games.
If you search through this forum for MacBook Pros overheating, I think you'll find that the MBP isn't the ideal laptop for playing games. And from what I've read, temperature control is even worse when running Windows in BootCamp.

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Running Windows from external USB HD

Will Leopard's bootcamp let me install Windows (Vista or XP, any) on an external usb HD?
I've seen posts in other forums that it can be done with bootcamp from 2006, but it's rather complicated.

as far as i know you can not install windows on an external disk. it has nothing to do with bootcamp, it is windows related. Microsoft does not want people to use external disks with windows installed and use that disk whichever computer they use without need to buy new windows cds.

How to run windows from an external usb drive

Hi,
I've just install windows using bootcamp. after that i restore that windows installed bootcamp volume to an GUID partitioned external HDD. Now it is shown in startup disc, but when i select that (external HDD) volume it is unable to start.
I don't know what to do? I just want to run windows from an external usb drive like i can run mac osx.
please help. thanks

Windows will not run from an external drive.

Run Windows from an external drive......

I want to boot Windows from an external drive. Why would Apple not allow this to be done. It makes no sence to me at all. You would still have to run Windows from the intel-Mac. To make you waste good MacOS space on the internal drive is a shame. I know... I can remove Windows and re-gain my "lost" space. However, my kid needs to run some school programs that are in the Windows format only. I hope that someday Apple will let BootCamp run from an external drive also.
Apple //GS

I run OS X from one drive, have my home account on a second drive and improves performance.
VMware image is on non OS X boot drive which I think helps so there isn't I/O contention.
OS X shouldn't really be doing much paging regardless of what you are running if you have enough memory. A lot of system and application paging 'maps' to VM, and you can't disable or want to with either Windows or OS X. The Windows \C: is going to be wherever the VM client is located.
Now, whether VMware or Parallels running as an application is paging and using OS X swap, that just depends on your system memory, and goes to OS X boot drive like any application.
OS X can run off external and you could install some windows programs to use an external drive (FAT or NTFS partition) to free up space also. Or use Parallels and put the VM there.

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.

How Do I Run Windows from an External Drive?

Recently my PC with Windows XP crashed- it's old and the motherboard went. I had a full version of Windows XP on there, and I would like to know what I need to do in order to run Windows off of that hard drive (I've taken it out and have it in an enclosure). Ideally, I would like to be able to plug in this external drive, and start a program that will allow me to run Windows off of this drive.
I have downloaded a trial of Parallels Desktop, which seems like it will work, but it needs me to install a transporter on the Windows drive before it can migrate the drive. The problem is, I can't access my drive anymore since my PC is no longer broken.

Then I guess my question is how do I go about transferring my PC data to the external drive without a PC*.
In Parallels, I try this:
Migrate Windows from a PC > External Storage Device > then it says "please install Parallels Transporter Agent on your PC
Since my PC no longer works, I need to find a way to transport the data. As of now, I plug in my Windows drive to my Mac, and it doesn't even show up. I would be OK with running Windows on my Mac via a VM, although it looks like I would need to buy Windows again since it's an OEM copy...
*I found a site where it says it can be done, but I am just having trouble with the transporter program.
https://www.knowhowcompany.com/en/question/14996/Is-it-posible-to-run-windows-Pa rallels-on-Mac-from-an-external-hard-drive.

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

Run Windows on external Thunderbolt hard drive possible?

I just got a 256GB rMBP and would like to run Windows (via Bootcamp) next to OS X for a few 3D apps. I'd love to have the 256GB internal flash drive for OS X exclusivley.
So I wonder if it's possible to install and run Windows 7 on a external SSD that I connect via Thunderbolt so I can keep my built-in flash drive free from Windows.
Thanks!

Brostad
the answer is NOT to run Windows in its own space on an external, but to get Paralells from the Apple Store $100 approx and get the helpful peeps at the store to migrate your old windows to your MBP Retina. Paralells is the best part of Mac which IMHO should be the backbone or shipped with every new Mac, esp for peeps that have a lot of expensive WIndows software, Win EXCEL ACCESS WORD, Adobe, GPS and the like.
Once set up rightly its very hard to know if your in windows running Mac or Mac running windows. Will also boot VMs ( Virtual machines) in linux ubuntu or whatever without restarting...
Running any major OS like OS 10.8 or Win 8 is not recommended from an exteranl as performance will suffer
Note: Do not upgrade to Windows 8 pro from an update disk as MS allows only one end user per licence, ( some other more expensive option is required) Even if you have installed Win 8 Pro do a roll back and migate from there. The peeps at the Apple shop may have a smooth solution
Hope this helps Robbo

Booting Windows from external drive

Hi all. I recently got an external Firewire 400 drive for backups, and it's just occurred to me that I could possibly run Windows off of it and reclaim some 60GB of internal hard drive space. I would like to know if this is possible. Yes, I know that Windows supposedly cannot boot from an external drive, but I have read reports of people booting it off of USB drives, and wonder if a similar tact can be tried for Firewire for greater I/O speed. I also know that OS X can be booted from Firewire, so it seems it should be possibly for Windows.
My guess as to how to do this would be to. . .
- use dd to do a bit-by-bit copy of the Windows partition on my internal drive to a partition on the external drive
- modify the boot.ini on the external so that it points to the correct location
- modify a .cfg file to load Firewire drivers earlier in the boot process (?)
The first step is trivial, and the second will be easy since the Firewire drive will appear in the same place unless I have another external or CD attached. What I'm not sure how to go about doing is the third - which .cfg? I can probably figure out the drivers otherwise.
Finally: has anyone else done something like this? If so, links/hints? Thanks.

i recommend looking into rEFIt:
I've looked at rEFIt before (because I really didn't want to go through all that hacking), but I think the problem still exists: Windows XP does not support EFI (and neither will Vista), so there's still the problem of USB/Firewire drivers loading at boot time. From
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-224050.html
some people got rEFIt on the external drive, and that helped to dual boot on that drive, but it still required hacking the Windows CD (it's the registry, that I think goes into the installation itself, that's hacked). It's a Window's problem.
you should be able to do this using esata external
drives with a esata express card for native speeds.
If the expresscard includes drivers that support booting, it may work (hence the mention of the Nitro AV card). I know that not all cards do, and I haven't heard anyone had success with it. But, it would be cool if someone decides to get such cards and try ; )

Options in running Windows from an mSATA drive

I recently ordered an x220 and expect to receive it this week. I also ordered an mSATA drive that I would like to install. Once I have it installed, I am not sure the best method to install Windows to the new drive and would appreciate some feedback.
I don't really like the idea of cloning the HDD to the mSATA because of solid-state disk alignment issues and degredaded performance. Also, I believe Windows 7 will correctly configure itself to utilize a solid-state when it goes through the installation process, and simply cloning the HDD will not give Windows an opprotunity to perform the configurations.
I could install Windows from scratch. I like that this option will ensure Windows will configure itself for solid-state drives. I am concerned, however, that I will not be able to reinstall all of the Lenovo drivers and applications as correctly as they should. I reviewed the User Guide for my x220 (available here) under the section of installing a new OS, and it points to registry patches to update Windows and mentions downloading various drivers from the Lenovo site. If Lenovo integrates into Windows to the degree that it requires manual registry edits, I'm not sure I want to attempt to manually place the Lenovo software on top of a plain Windows installation.
The third choice I see, although I'm not sure it will work, is burning the backup recovery media and using this to install the Lenovo configured OS onto the mSATA drive. I question if this will work because if the recovery process is only dumping flat files into the partition, it will not configure Windows properly to utilize a solid-state disk. If, however, the recovery process is a true Windows installation, it should determine that I am utilizing a solid-state and should adjust its configuration accordingly. Does anyone know how the recovery process works?
If you were in my shoes, how would you proceed with getting Windows onto the new mSATA drive? Looking forward to any replies, thanks.
Jesse

I could do that, but I would suffer write performance loss due to the SSD partition being out of alignment. I found this helpful article that describes what alignment is, and why it is important.
I think you are probably running your SSD at less than full performance capacity. Since you cloned the original HDD to the SSD, you probably didn't even notice your SSD could be performing faster. You can check you alignment by following this.
Additionally, if you don't let WIndows detect that it is being installed on a solid state disk, it won't optimize itself for that disk. I am referring to things like disk defragmentation, indexing services, or prefetching. These tasks really only apply to traditional spinning disks, and should not be enabled on a solid state. There are other things that are enabled that could be turned off, such as hibernation. With solid states, it is just as fast or faster to completely shut down the computer rather than hibernate, so why waste the disk space?
What are other people doing when they install solid states in their lenovos?

Install Windows from external dvd drive?

ok.there is my problem.
I have a Mac Pro here.Last week the dvd driver stopped work and I do not have time to fix it now and I need urgently install the windows xp because need to use a specific app for windows.
Is it possible to install windows xp on bootcamp using a external dvd drive (usb).
thank you.

I have the exact same problem - my internal SuperDrive died and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay over $500 to get a new one. It appears to be utterly impossible to install Windows from an external DVD drive. At least it seems to be that way for me and my machine.
I've tried my drive connected with USB and with Firewire. I've tried rEFIt. I've tried booting with the Option/Alt key. My Mac seems unable (or unwilling) to do this.
I've found many many people with the same problem and only a very small handful that seem to eventually get it to work.
I've even tried to use the 30 day trial of VMFusion (which is not a long term solution because it doesn't use/mimic sufficient video drivers to support the games I want to play) to install Windows to the partition and I can't get that to work either. The Windows installer seems to refuse to install an older version of the system when the boot version has already been updated to a new one.
Does anyone out there have a way to reliably install Windows on a BootCamp partition?
Cheers,
Fusilier

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.

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

Moving Windows from external drive to a new internal partition

I have Windows 7 installed on an external drive connected to my Mac Pro, which I access by rebooting into Windows. I am transitioning from the Mac Pro to a new MacBook Pro and want to copy the Windows disk (with all its installed applications and data) onto the laptop's internal drive. Without creating a partition with Boot Camp and reinstalling Windows, how can I do this?
Thanks, Eric

Hilal Malawi wrote:
Thanks, but that site doesn't have a clear answer.
Correct. As it clearly states, there are too many variables to have detailed solutions for every possible situation.
In the 'pink' box, which best matches my situation, the instructions begin with: "•You must be logged on to the account being moved...".
That's not clear at all. How do I log in to an account that doesn't exist yet? Connecting a hard disk that has a home folder to a new Mac doesn't allow me to 'log on' to that home folder's account, because it doesn't yet exist on the new Mac.
You may have to set up user accounts "from scratch." Then change the ownership and permissions on the old home folders so you can copy the contents of the sub-folders from the old home folders to the new ones.
If you're comfortable with permissions and Terminal, this may help: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-20013630-263.html

Apple tv running movies from external HDD

I have airport extreme base station (wireless N) and I am connecting my external HDD to the USB port to it and by doing so I can access it from my apple macbook pro. I am considering buying apple tv. I want to know if i can run my movies from the external HDD through the wireless connection or they have to be uploaded to the hard disk on the apple tv (only limited to 40 GB or 60 GB)
Thx

You can either copy (sync) iTunes library material to the AppleTV hard drive or stream it (play it across the network on the fly).
For syncing (copying) or streaming (on the fly) it doesn't actually matter where on the network the media files lives BUT it must have been added to iTunes at some stage. By setting preferences appropriately you can have material for iTunes residing on different external or network drives, or all in the same library folder.
AppleTV uses iTunes to sync new content and also streamed content is sent VIA iTunes. The last point means that for streaming iTunes must be running, whereas it can be off for playing already synced content.
So, so long as iTunes is running it will be able to stream music or movies to AppleTV from the connected external drive.
In fact many of us use external drives to store all or most of our content.
So long as your network is up to the task streaming will playback as well as synced content, though navigatiuon within a file can be a tad slower.
AC

Run Windows from External HD

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