Running Windows 8 on USB for a MacBook with dead HDD

piatti · 11:00 AM

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-DataT...9580319&sr=1-7

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer...9582535&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?

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 10:38 AM

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.

old-wiz · Feb 18, 2012, 11:58 AM

Hmm.... I thought Windows refuses to boot from external HDDs; saw it mentioned elsewhere in the forum.

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by old-wiz

Hmm.... I thought Windows refuses to boot from external HDDs; saw it mentioned elsewhere in the forum.

Windows 8 seems to be a bit different.

piatti · Feb 18, 2012, 01:32 PM

Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick?

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick?

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 · Feb 18, 2012, 01:47 PM

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

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

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

What do you want to accomplish?

balamw · Feb 18, 2012, 01:59 PM

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 · Feb 18, 2012, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simsaladimbamba

What do you want to accomplish?

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.

----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by balamw

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

same price? where?

----------

Would this be good enough? http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Fujitsu-60-G...d=p3286.c0.m14

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.

As mentioned repeatedly, a USB flash memory thumb drive would be too slow for this. Even in Linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.Would this be good enough? http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Fujitsu-60-G...d=p3286.c0.m14

Yes.

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

To edit your posts, use the button.

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

piatti · Feb 18, 2012, 03:11 PM

What about Puppy linux would that be fast enough to play HD movies?

----------

Would 40GB of HD be enough? http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

I remember if your HD was too full it started to lag. Maybe I should just install Linux on this small of a HD? It had a 320 GB before I think and it seemed to fill up pretty quick.

balamw · Feb 18, 2012, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

[/COLOR]Would 40GB of HD be enough? http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used

That's a 3.5" (desktop) PATA/IDE drive you (probably) want a 2.5" SATA drive for a white MacBook.

Would help if you told us what specific model...

B

piatti · Feb 18, 2012, 04:00 PM

The MB White was bought on summer of 2008.

simsaladimbamba · Feb 18, 2012, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

The MB White was bought on summer of 2008.

Then get a 2.5" S-ATA HDD with a maximum height of 9.5 mm.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto

piatti · Feb 19, 2012, 09:32 AM

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 · Feb 19, 2012, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piatti

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 you mean the HDDs on eBay you linked to in post #11, then yes.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto

Quote:

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

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.

Feb 18, 2012, 10:34 AM	#1
piatti macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: USA	Running Windows 8 on USB for a MacBook with dead HDD http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-DataT...9580319&sr=1-7 http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer...9582535&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? __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB Last edited by piatti; Feb 18, 2012 at 11:00 AM.
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 10:38 AM	#2
simsaladimbamba macrumors Core Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: in front of it	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. __________________ This is not
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 01:32 PM	#5
piatti Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: USA	Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick? __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 01:47 PM	#7
piatti Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: USA	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? __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 01:59 PM	#9
balamw Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: New England, USA	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 __________________ MBA (13" 1.7 GHz 128GB), UMBP (15" SD 2.8 GHz), UMB (13" 2.4 GHz), iMac (17" Yonah), 32GB iPad 3 WiFi+LTE, 64 GB iPad WiFi, 32 GB iPhone 5, Airport Extreme
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 11:58 AM	#3
old-wiz macrumors 603 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: West Suburban Boston Ma	Hmm.... I thought Windows refuses to boot from external HDDs; saw it mentioned elsewhere in the forum.
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 03:11 PM	#12
piatti Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: USA	What about Puppy linux would that be fast enough to play HD movies? ---------- Would 40GB of HD be enough? http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...condition=used I remember if your HD was too full it started to lag. Maybe I should just install Linux on this small of a HD? It had a 320 GB before I think and it seemed to fill up pretty quick. __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB
	0

Feb 18, 2012, 04:00 PM	#14
piatti Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: USA	The MB White was bought on summer of 2008. __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB
	0

Feb 19, 2012, 09:32 AM	#16
piatti Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: 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) __________________ 15'' MacBook Pro, 2.66 GHz, 4GB RAM 320 GB HD (early 2010) ; 1st generation iPod Touch iOS 3.1.3 ; iPhone 4 Black; 15'' HP Pavilion g6, AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 650 GB
	0

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