Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Can I run MBP from external HD rather than replace internal?

dmaxdmax

dmaxdmax

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 26, 2006
773
176
My '07 MBP has developed several problems and I'm loath to put much money in it. (first and foremost it has a power system problem that only allows it to run for 5-10min on battery so it isn't really portable anymore.) I think the internal HD is slowly failing and last night I had to repair it.

Can I buy an external drive and use it to boot and run apps? For the same price as an internal I can get more space and won't have to pay anyone to install. Once the laptop gives up the ghost I can use the drive with another machine. (This is my second machine - the first is a new MBP retina)

Speed on Firewire 2 wouldn't be too bad would it?
 
Shouldn't be an issue, I am able to run a copy of OS X off an SD card on my MBA 2011.
 
dmaxdmax said:
Am I OK with time capsule backups?
Click to expand...

You should be, and you can restore to a new drive from TM, if you believe the internal is failing act sooner rather than later as it will only end up corrupting data. Once you transfer your data for the most part everything will be seamless. I tend to agree if you are having multiple issues then repairing the machine is not viable, with the money better spent on a newer system.

FWIW i have a Early 08 15" MBP, Late 2011 2.4 i7 15" MBP and now a Retina and the performance increase on the iCore system`s is simply astronomic in comparison to the 08 2.4 Penryn C2D
 
dmaxdmax said:
My '07 MBP has developed several problems and I'm loath to put much money in it.
Click to expand...

It's cheaper to replace the internal hard drive than to go buy an external and boot your machine off that.

Ifixit has a nice guide on replacing your HDD.

If for some reason you don't want the machine anymore and you want to have an extra external lying around, all you have to do is go out and buy an enclosure for it.
 
last bit of advice if you're planning on an external HD: use firewire because it's faster than USB 2.0

When you say a power problem, do you mean just a depleted battery? because you can still get replacement batteries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back