Windows 7 dependent on external disk

I bought a 60GB OWC SSD and put it in my MacBook Pro (used the data doubler kit to replace the DVD drive) Installed Windows 7 on the ssd without using the bootcamp setup wizard. (i'm such a rebel) It installed beautifully and Win7 is really really fast! The screen is gorgeous! But beauty comes at a price right?
Here's the weird thing, I couldn't install Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 or get Win7's SP1 to install. I tried loading from the DVD, re-downloading installers, and running installs from my known good flashdrives. None of it was working.The installs would inexplicably hang, I thought it was from the 8GB of ram in the system. But that wasn't it... By chance/accident, I left my WD elements usb hdd plugged in when I attempted to install office 2010, i noticed the disk light was flashing occasionally during the install, odd I said. But 2010 installed in about 1.5 minutes. I then said, lets try 2007. It also installed in about 2 minutes... brilliant! (the elements disk had activity during the 2007 installation) And lastly, SP1 installed without issue, yay! With each installation, the elements disk would flash and indicate usage by the installer (according to perfmon)
Before my accidental discovery, it was taking well over 2 hours to make any progress and the disk write speed for the installer was 2.4kbps (peak) Even windows update was wonky... it would take forever to check for updates and even then it wouldn't be accurate...
I checked the pagefile, it's on the C: drive and win7 says that the elements drive is not needed for ReadyBoost.
So, with that in mind, is there a driver or destination configuration to let windows use the SSD for storing critical temporary installation files?
What has me curious as to why Win7 is dependent on a usb external disk to do any sort of Microsoft software/update installation. Any reasons why?
Specs-
2011 Macbook Pro 2.2ghz Intel i7 (quad core)
8GB of DDR3 RAM
128GB Apple SSD
60GB OWC SSD
Latest drivers from apple/AMD

Usually applications' installers give you a default installation location and prompt if that's where you want to install it. You can change that to a different location, such as an external drive. This will likely slow down the game a bit if it has to load data from an external drive instead of the SSD.
You need to decide whether it's better to install everything on the SSD, thus, requiring a larger allocation of space for the Windows partition.

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BootCamp partition on external disk?

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Thanks in advance,
Charles

Check in the BootCamp forum.
It seems to me that many have successfully installed Windows on an external disk.
In fact, BC is not even needed - just a few tricks.
We discussed this at length over there during the old beta days.
You can also install "refit" and play with that.
I don't know if it's yet Leopard compatible
Here's the URL:
http://refit.sourceforge.net/

I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 4 and for them I use I cloud I have also 1 pc windows and at work place I use windows pc ; until now my files are stored on an external disk drive could' I use iCloud to perform the backup of my external disk drive ? Thanks

I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 4 and for them I use I cloud I have also 1 pc windows and at work place I use windows pc ; until now my files are stored on an external disk drive could' I use iCloud to perform the backup of my external disk drive ? Thanks
Loredano

These are the options you have.
Budget $1299.
http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
Best.

Having trouble installing Windows 7 on external optical disk drive

My internal optical drive doesnt work so i ran out and bought and LG external Optical drive. I Reinstalled mac os 10.6 and created a 45gb partition in bootcamp. When i try to install windows, at the gray screen it flashes a folder symbol and a circle with a line through it like it cant find the boot up disk in the external disk drive. The version of windows 7 im using is a burned .iso that i got from my boss so i could work on my laptop, i have tried an official windows 7 disk and that produced the same error. Im really not sure what to do other than go to the apple store and the nearest one is 100 miles away so i preferably dont want to do that. Any help would be appreciated. thanks.

Sorry, it is not clear to me if you are trying to install Windows on an external optical drive or what. Read the Bootcamp installation and help manuals http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
Windows needs to be installed on the internal hard drive drive.
Also, Bootcamp questions are better posted in the Bootcamp forum where the Bootcamp gurus hang out. https://discussions.apple.com/community/windows_software/boot_camp

Install BootCamp windows 8 on external Boot Disk

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Thanks in advance,
Oscar Simpson

You cannot install Windows on an external drive. Microsoft only allows you to install it on an internal drive.
There's a Windows 8 feature called Windows To Go, that allows you to put your Windows system onto an external drive, but to do this, you need Windows 8 installed on the internal drive

The finder window for an external USB hard disk suddenly started separating files by time (today, yesterday, etc.) and stopped allowing me to change column width, order, etc. Also the header bar shifted to flat white from gray.

The finder window for an external USB hard disk suddenly started separating files by time (today, yesterday, etc.) and stopped allowing me to change column width, order, etc. Also the header bar shifted to flat white from gray.
All was normal until the icon for the disk stopped showing up on the desktop when I would plug it in. I rebooted the computer, and the disk icon now shows up but this new look to the finder window started as a result. The hard disk does not have this problem when I use it on another Mac running Snow leopard. Also, two other external hard disks that I use on this computer running lion 7.4 still have the normal header bars with columns that can be reordered, etc.
I have tried looking in preferences and other places but have not seen this discussed.

Well duh - I finally figured out that somehow in the View options for the hard drive, the "arrange by" option had been changed to "by date" from "none". Not sure how that happened, I had never used the "view options" menu tem before. Changing "arrange by" back to "none" gets the gray column headers and the collapsible folder icons back.

[newb] External disk always in new window?

Hello,
Whenever using my external disk it always opens the folders in a new window. As you can imagine the screen gets rather cluttered in this instance if the directory tree is deep. I want it to open folders in the same window.
It does this: http://imgur.com/uVW2q.png
In Finder Preferences I have unchecked "Always Open Folders In A New Window". This works for the internal HDD but not for the external ones.
Am I missing a setting somewhere or am I stuck with this behaviour?
Thanks.

Hi azrin
Select preferences from the Finder menu and under the general tab ensure that "Always open folders in a new window" is not selected.
Also folders will automatically open in new windows when the windows are in the state they're in on the screen shot. Clicking the round disclosure button on the top right corner of the finder window will revert them to a state where the folders will no longer open in new windows.
Hope this helps
J.C

I want to share External disk to windows

Hi there,
I have a Lacie external disk and am trying to share it to my windows network (not a domain - just a workgroup).
I have edited my /etc/smb.conf to add the [Lacie] share following this guide: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2003/03/18/samba.html and it shows up on my network but when I click on it from a Windows machine, it says
\\macmini\Lacie is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
What else do I need to do to enable me to read and write to the share from Windows.
Thanks!
keymoo

Use SharePoints from hornware.com

IPod crashed windows when I tried to use it as an external disk drive!

My 30g iPod says it can be used as an external disk drive, but when I tried, I got the blue screen of Death. I need a flash drive for school but can't afford one. How can I make the external disk feature of my iPod work?

I agree with Kappy.. passing files and especially via wireless is slow as slow.
Just need to be sure your TC is the new AC model??
And the OS on the computer is Lion?
Have you completed the setup of the TC via the utility? You do still need to get internet via the TC so it has to be plugged into the main router..
Give us the full picture of the network.
Then we can help you get into it.. whether you should put your files on it is another question.

Is there a way to install Windows on an extern hard disk?

I have a mid 2010 iMac and inside a 160GB SSD instead of an 1TB HD and I want to install Windows on it. Because of the SSD is to small for Windows and all the games and so on I want to install Windows on an external firewire HD. Is there a way to make this possible?

Windows 7 can be trimmed to fit on 40GB (I've seen smaller but you need that probably). Same for Mac OS, a small OS normally unless you load up FinalCut, X-Plane World Edition, etc.
You can use another drive with NTFS partition for all the other things you want to use, page, applications, whatever, even temp/tmp and cache can be relocated to another volume.
And, there are iMacs with SSD + 2TB hard drives, and while the iMac isn't as easy to service and upgrade there are drive upgrades, incl SSD.

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on what other external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and how to configure that disk

I want to set up the Time Machine and I would love to use the Time
Capsule but since I already have a wireless router I need suggestions on
what other
external disks Apple could recommend to use with the Time Machine and
how to configure that disk.
A complication that I need to resolve is the fact that I am using Vmware
Fusion to be able to use Windows on my Mac. Now it seems that Time
Machine is not backing up my files
on that virtual Windows without additional configuration and my question
is whether you can advise me here or whether this is only a matter for
the Fusion virtual machine.

If you want to use Time Capsule you can.. you simply bridge it and plug it into the existing router.. wireless can be either turned off or used to reinforce the existing wireless.. eg use 5ghz in the TC which is much faster than your 2.4ghz.
You can also use a NAS.. many brands available but the top brands are synology, qnap and netgear readynas series. These will all do Time Machine backups although how well always depends on Apple sticking to a standard. There are cheaper ones.. I bought a single disk zyxel which was rebadged and sold through my local supermarket. It actually works very well for TM at least on Snow Leopard. Major changes were made in Lion and again ML so do not instantly think it will work on later versions. I haven't tried it yet with those versions.
Any external drive can be plugged into the mac. Use the one with the fastest connection or cheapest price according to your budget. USB2 drives are cheap and plentiful. But no where near as fast as USB3 or FW800. So just pick whichever suits the ports on your Mac. Interesting Apple finally moved to USB3 on their latest computers.
TM should exclude the VM partition file.. it is useless backing it up from Mac OS side.. and will slow TM as it needs to backup that partition everyday for no purpose.. TM cannot see the files inside it to backup just the changes.
You need to backup windows from windows. Use MSbackup to external drive.. if you have pro or ultimate versions you can backup to network drive. But MSbackup is a dog.. at least until the latest version it cannot restore the partition without first loading windows. There are about a zillion backup software versions for windows.. look up reviews and buy one which works for you. I use a free one Macrium Reflect which does full disk backups and is easy to restore.. to do incremental backups though you have to pay for it.

What do I need to make a bootable external disk?

I got a response from Apple support that said I could make an external disk a bootable one, like a flash drive or ext hard disk, by using an OS X Installer app that was supposed to be available at the Mac App Store. I looked and couldn't find it. Since we no longer get a hard-copy of the system install disk, I was trying to figure out what to do to make a 500Gb external disk one I could boot using the MacBook Air with its limited GB storage.
So if anyone can give me the simple solution I'd appreciate it.

Get an external disk drive. Start by partitioning and formatting it:
Drive Partition and Format
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your 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 Apply button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Next, clone your existing system disk to the external one:
Clone Mavericks, Lion/Mountain Lion using Restore Option of Disk Utility
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
     3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
     4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
         to the Destination entry field.
     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
         the Source entry field.
     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.
Test the new clone by:
Boot Using OPTION key:
1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the
      "OPTION" key.
3. Release the key when the boot manager appears.
4. Select the external disk's icon.
5. Click on the arrow button below the icon.

Suggestions for TM+CCC in a 160GB external disk

Hi,
I am new to macs and to this wonderful discussion foruns. Just to make sure I will have no surprises in the future, I wanted to run in a newly purchased 160GB USB external disk both Time Machine and a bootable clone of the system (size is about 52 GB) using Carbon Copy Cloner. Presently, the 160GB has two partitions: one with 140 GB, already used by TM, and the rest is FAT32 formatted being presently used for transfers between mac and windows.
I understand that in order to do what I am planning, I have to resize the partitions and maybe changing the formatting of the smaller one, so my questions are:
1- How can I resize the partitions using the Mac OSX?
2- A 50/50 resizing between the 2 partitions would be ok bearing i mind that my system should not be larger than 60 GB?
3 -Does this resizing may affect the TM backups already made?
4- Do I need to change the type of formating of the smaller partition?
Thank you.
ss

That disk is not suitable for TM if you had Windows on a partition. TM will try to initialize the entire drive because the drive must be partitioned and formatted properly. And, yes, formatting will result in losing all data previously stored on the drive. Rather than using TM you need to use Disk Utility as follows:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Partition, games, and external disk

We've just learned that for optimal use, the partition size for Windows under Boot Camp should be 32 and no more.
Our children will be using Boot Camp for heavy PC games that don't work well under Parallels. Is it possible to partition the disk at a maximum of 32 and install the games on an external disk and play them from there, under Boot Camp?
Thanks!
susan

"Is it possible to partition the disk at a maximum of 32"
Sure .. this is possible, either by useing Boot Camp, or by some other means.
"install the games on an external disk and play them from there, under Boot Camp?"
This would probably VERY MUCH depend on the requirements of the game? Windows should allow you to install anywhere, but the game itself may NEED to be installed at a specific place/directory/maybe even have to be installed on drive C.

Want to boot XP from an external disk? Here's how:

Has to be a USB 2.0 drive:
http://forum.onmac.net/showthread.php?t=1015
By: gradenko
Source: www.onmac.net
[edit: you have to keep the 5GB NTFS parition on your internal drive for this to work]
Hello, I cannot find a working solution for this posted so I'll post the solution I came up with (well, cobbled together from other people's hard work). I am using a MacBook Pro and an external G-Tech Q drive that supports USB 2.0. While XP does not officially support booting from a USB drive there is a way around it.
This solution requires access to a PC and is a bit time-consuming.
1. Use BootCamp to create a 5GB XP partition.
2. Using a PC and your Windows XP SP2 CD, go through the following process to create a USB enabled XP SP2 installation CD: http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176
3. Plug your USB 2.0 external drive into your mac.
4. Put your new XP SP2 CD into your MAC and boot holding down the "C" key.
5. XP installation should begin, when you get to the drive choice, be sure to choose your USB drive. You may have to pre-format this drive to NTFS, mine was already formatted.
6. You will get a screen warning you that drive C needs to be formatted. This is OK because XP needs to write some temporary data to the startup (internal) disk. It will format the 5GB XP partition you created in step 1.
7. Follow the installation prompts and when your Mac reboots be sure to hold down the Option key. You will get a choice to boot to either your OSX installation, XP or the XP CD. Choose the XP hard drive.
8. The normal XP installation will continue. You will get some warnings about unsigned divers. This is fine and is occurring because you tampered with the XP installation files in step 2. NOTE: My installation hung once here. I just reboot and tried from step 7 again and it worked fine.
9. Once XP comes up install your BootCamp device drivers.
Good luck! I just now finished this so I have some testing to do. A very big thank you to emmanual from ngine.

Hi,
without the preperations to be made, that are outlined in the link I gave, Windows always tries to read and write certain files during bootup, which it can't find when you 'only' have a Windows on an external HD.
I only know of these instructions to get Windows on external HDs to work.
If it weren't for games you like to play, I would suggest to have a look at the 'Virtualization' apps like Parallels or VMWare Fusion.
But these aren't good for playing games.
Sorry
Stefan

Windows 7 dependent on external disk

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