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External HD - Bootcamp

M

mrmaroon

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 12, 2008
59
0
Hi. I have an external HD (western digital 500gb Mybook II), and it works fine in os x (tm backups etc). However, when trying to use it with windows (small partition, so the space is important), it simply doesn't work! I've googled my face off, and come up with several solutions. One being to go to device management, to the disk section then right click the HD and choose 'change drive path or letter'. However, when UIcome to this option, i find it to be greyed out.

So the HD is being recognised, but hasn't been set a location. However, when I come to rectify this, there doesn't appear to be a solution. Any further help would be vastly appreciated!

Regards.

Mr_maroon
 
Re: External HD - Bootcamp

mrmaroon said:
Hi. I have an external HD (western digital 500gb Mybook II), and it works fine in os x (tm backups etc). However, when trying to use it with windows (small partition, so the space is important), it simply doesn't work! I've googled my face off, and come up with several solutions. One being to go to device management, to the disk section then right click the HD and choose 'change drive path or letter'. However, when UIcome to this option, i find it to be greyed out.

So the HD is being recognised, but hasn't been set a location. However, when I come to rectify this, there doesn't appear to be a solution. Any further help would be vastly appreciated!

Regards.

Mr_maroon
Click to expand...

There is no problem with BootCamp.
The problem is that while Windows will SOMETIMES INSTALL on an external drive (specifically, a Firewire drive), it WON'T boot from an external drive, such as Firewire or USB. PERIOD.

There is NO WORK-AROUND, NO FIX, NO CHOICE but to use an e_SATA drive if you want to boot from Windows using an external drive.

Sorry, friend, but until Microsoft changes this, that is the way it will be.

Some day, you OS X guys will UNDERSTAND that BootCamp has absolutely NOTHING to do with RUNNING Windows, once Windows is installed using a partition created using BootCamp.

This means:
1) When Windows is installed on an Apple Intel Mac, Windows does NOT "run under OS X." PERIOD.
2) When Windows is installed on an Apple Intel Mac, it is NOT "running on BootCamp." PERIOD!
3) BootCamp (an OS X executable), will in NO WAY "run under the Windows OS."
4) Once Windows is installed on your Apple Intel Mac, and it is booted, OS X does NOT EXIST, as far as Windows is concerned.
5) Additionally, when Windows is booted on your Apple Intel PC, OS X is NOT RUNNING. PERIOD. NOR is BootCamp running, since it can ONLY run under OS X.
6) The Windows Control Panel Applet which enables one to switch to OS X is NOT an OS X program. PERIOD. NOR is OS X running, even AFTER you start to switch to OS X. Once this WINDOWS program gives control back to the Apple hardware Boot Loader, OS X will load, but NOT until Windows is completely removed from memory.

I do hope the fans in this forum can understand the DIFFERENCE between OS X and Windows.

PLEASE, folks, STOP trying to make Windows an APPLICATION running under OS X. IT is NOT. PERIOD! IT is a SEPARATE Operating System, and running on the HARDWARE, but NOT "on/under/over/above/through/or by" OS X. PERIOD.

I do not really blame the novices (and even the fans) for this misunderstanding. You Apple folks have had it drummed into your heads for so long that an Apple Computer is composed of TWO items, the OS and the machine, that you simply confuse the two with each other. NOR does it appear that you are even able to accept that a computer is NOT composed of "a machine" and "an OS". You just can't envision one without the other.


OS X is an OPERATING SYSTEM, which runs (officially) only on an Apple Intel-Based machine.

Windows is an OPERATING SYSTEM which runs on just about ANY Intel-based machine, including an Apple Intel-based machine.

BOOTCAMP Assistant software is an OS X application, which runs ONLY under OS X.

STOP confusing the three, please?

Donald L McDaniel
 
vistafanboi said:
Windows is an OPERATING SYSTEM which runs on just about ANY Intel-based machine, including an Apple Intel-based machine.
Click to expand...

Actually. Windows runs natively on any x86 CPU, which does include Intel CPUs, but also AMD CPUs.

While that's a long rant, you probably could have saved some time writing it had you read his post fully. He's trying to use his external HDD with Windows. He's not trying to boot from it.

mrmaroon, something tells me that you formatted that external HDD in Mac OS X (If you have a time machine backing up to it and you haven't partitioned your external hard drive, then it is formatted in Mac's HFS file system), which I think it will, by default, format it in Mac's HFS file system. HFS file system cannot be read by Windows without something like MacDrive.

If you don't want to buy a third party addon, then you'll have to reformat it to something that can be read by Windows.

Here is what I did. I created 2 partitions with my 500 gig external HDD. A 80 gig Time Machine partition in HFS+ and a 420 gig partition in Fat32. Fat32 can be read by both Windows and Mac OS X. The only problem is the maximum file size of 4 gigs. Typically, it's not a problem, and I have my desktop and MBP networked. So, if I do have a file that's over 4 gigs, I can just leave it on my desktop partition in a shared folder that can be accessed by my MBP.
 
vistafanboi said:
There is no problem with BootCamp.
The problem is that while Windows will SOMETIMES INSTALL on an external drive (specifically, a Firewire drive), it WON'T boot from an external drive, such as Firewire or USB. PERIOD.

There is NO WORK-AROUND, NO FIX, NO CHOICE but to use an e_SATA drive if you want to boot from Windows using an external drive.

Sorry, friend, but until Microsoft changes this, that is the way it will be.

Some day, you OS X guys will UNDERSTAND that BootCamp has absolutely NOTHING to do with RUNNING Windows, once Windows is installed using a partition created using BootCamp.

This means:
1) When Windows is installed on an Apple Intel Mac, Windows does NOT "run under OS X." PERIOD.
2) When Windows is installed on an Apple Intel Mac, it is NOT "running on BootCamp." PERIOD!
3) BootCamp (an OS X executable), will in NO WAY "run under the Windows OS."
4) Once Windows is installed on your Apple Intel Mac, and it is booted, OS X does NOT EXIST, as far as Windows is concerned.
5) Additionally, when Windows is booted on your Apple Intel PC, OS X is NOT RUNNING. PERIOD. NOR is BootCamp running, since it can ONLY run under OS X.
6) The Windows Control Panel Applet which enables one to switch to OS X is NOT an OS X program. PERIOD. NOR is OS X running, even AFTER you start to switch to OS X. Once this WINDOWS program gives control back to the Apple hardware Boot Loader, OS X will load, but NOT until Windows is completely removed from memory.

I do hope the fans in this forum can understand the DIFFERENCE between OS X and Windows.

PLEASE, folks, STOP trying to make Windows an APPLICATION running under OS X. IT is NOT. PERIOD! IT is a SEPARATE Operating System, and running on the HARDWARE, but NOT "on/under/over/above/through/or by" OS X. PERIOD.

I do not really blame the novices (and even the fans) for this misunderstanding. You Apple folks have had it drummed into your heads for so long that an Apple Computer is composed of TWO items, the OS and the machine, that you simply confuse the two with each other. NOR does it appear that you are even able to accept that a computer is NOT composed of "a machine" and "an OS". You just can't envision one without the other.


OS X is an OPERATING SYSTEM, which runs (officially) only on an Apple Intel-Based machine.

Windows is an OPERATING SYSTEM which runs on just about ANY Intel-based machine, including an Apple Intel-based machine.

BOOTCAMP Assistant software is an OS X application, which runs ONLY under OS X.

STOP confusing the three, please?

Donald L McDaniel
Click to expand...

Mate, if you actually read my post, you'd understand the nature of my problem. Let me make this clear; I DO NOT WANT TO BOOT WINDOWS FROM AN EXTERNAL HD! I just want it to be recognised by windows itself!!

Read before you rant!

rant over:D
 
The Flashing Fi said:
Actually. Windows runs natively on any x86 CPU, which does include Intel CPUs, but also AMD CPUs.

While that's a long rant, you probably could have saved some time writing it had you read his post fully. He's trying to use his external HDD with Windows. He's not trying to boot from it.

mrmaroon, something tells me that you formatted that external HDD in Mac OS X (If you have a time machine backing up to it and you haven't partitioned your external hard drive, then it is formatted in Mac's HFS file system), which I think it will, by default, format it in Mac's HFS file system. HFS file system cannot be read by Windows without something like MacDrive.

If you don't want to buy a third party addon, then you'll have to reformat it to something that can be read by Windows.

Here is what I did. I created 2 partitions with my 500 gig external HDD. A 80 gig Time Machine partition in HFS+ and a 420 gig partition in Fat32. Fat32 can be read by both Windows and Mac OS X. The only problem is the maximum file size of 4 gigs. Typically, it's not a problem, and I have my desktop and MBP networked. So, if I do have a file that's over 4 gigs, I can just leave it on my desktop partition in a shared folder that can be accessed by my MBP.
Click to expand...

Cheers for your help... but I've already tried this..
When in disk utility, it hangs on 'modifying partition map' or something similar, before (after a fair while) giving me an error message.

Any further suggestions? How about manually partitioning (with a hacksaw)? :p
 
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