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Running Windows 8 on USB for a MacBook with dead HDD

piatti

piatti

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
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http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Data...ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329580319&sr=1-7

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329582535&sr=1-1

If I install W8 on 32GB USB, could I boot up W8 from it for my dead White MB? Or do I need to somehow install Bootcamp drives on the USB stick too? (Which I don't know how to do) Or even boot up Mac OS from the USB stick? (Is 32GB enough? What about 16GB?)

I was reading how to boot up from an external drive here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNPfgufrVRA

Do you need to have a partition reserved for the OS only?
 
Last edited:
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

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Nov 28, 2010
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Probably, if the HDD is the only thing, that is kaputt/dead in that MB, but know, that most USB flash memory thumb drives have an abysmal read and write speed (5 to 20 MB/s), thus an external USB HDD or Firewire 400 HDD or even a new internal HDD would be much better.
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

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Nov 28, 2010
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piatti said:
Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick?
Click to expand...

No, as the PS3 uses the PPC architecture and Windows 8 does not run on that.
And as I already said, a USB flash memory thumb drive is quite slow to run a complex OS like Windows. A small Linux distro might work with that, but Windows would be slow, slow, slow.
 
piatti

piatti

macrumors 6502a
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Jun 9, 2010
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Would it be best to install puppy linux?

What kind of Linux is best to install on a USB disk stick, and could I boot my MB from that?
 
balamw

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
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Wouldn't it just be easier to replace the HDD in your white MB?

You should be able to pick up a working drive for the same price as the USB drives....

B
 
piatti

piatti

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
819
0
USA
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

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Nov 28, 2010
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Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.
Click to expand...
As mentioned repeatedly, a USB flash memory thumb drive would be too slow for this. Even in Linux.

piatti said:
Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.Would this be good enough? http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Fujitsu-60-...3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5841&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Click to expand...
Yes.


Btw, to quote several posts, use the
multiquote_off.gif
button (multi-quote).

To edit your posts, use the
edit.gif
button.

All these buttons are on the bottom right of the posts.​
 
piatti

piatti

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
819
0
USA
I searched for some 2.5 but they all seem to be too expensive. What would happen if I tried to do it with one of those very cheap used HDs? Would it just not work?

If I just tried to have two tabs in a browser in puppy Linux would that be fast? (no HD movies)
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

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Nov 28, 2010
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piatti said:
I searched for some 2.5 but they all seem to be too expensive. What would happen if I tried to do it with one of those very cheap used HDs? Would it just not work?
Click to expand...
If you mean the HDDs on eBay you linked to in post #11, then yes.

If I just tried to have two tabs in a browser in puppy Linux would that be fast? (no HD movies)
Click to expand...
You have to try that for yourself, but it should work, if you can install Puppy. Maybe go to the Puppy Linux message board to get more Puppy specific help.
 
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