Win 8 + OS X + SSD & HDD?

You use Bootcamp to install Win on the ssd.
Why wouldn't it work?

JohnyBoi88 said:

I guess it does then

Thanks!

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Good luck.

JohnyBoi88 said:

System:

• Macbook Pro Early 2011 13"
• Samsung 840 EVO SSD + 320GB Hitachi HDD

Setup:
SSD in the mainbay running Windows 8. HDD in a caddybay running Yosemite.

Two drives with different operating systems. How would this setup work? I mainly use Windows and therefore would like to have it on the SSD. The OS X is nice to have so I'll just keep it in the secondary HDD?

..or am I just day dreaming here? Thanks!

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I would rather partition the SSD and run both OS from the SSD and use the HDD for data storage.

Sure it is possible.

I have the same configuration, the main difference is that OSX is on SSD and Windows 8.1 is on the stock HDD (soon will be replaced with another SSD, cause lately i spend alot on windows for master degree).

So there should not be a problem.

I've done exactly what you want to do and you're going to have one hell of a time getting Windows installed without the optical drive.

You don't need bootcamp in this situation. Most people don't realize bootcamp is just a partitioning tool for creating a hybrid MBR (it's also what they call their drivers). If you run Windows and OS X on separate hard drives you don't need it, your Mac natively runs Windows using a BIOS emulator.

Unless by some miracle you can get Windows installer to boot from USB, you're going to have to install your optical drive and the SSD to install Windows. The installation process is that of any other "Windows" computer. Once that is done swap the optical drive for the spinner and install Yosemite onto it from USB.

Don't forget to install the bootcamp drivers, which can be dowloaded from Apple.

It is usually the best idea to put both OS on the SSD and just split it. Use the HDD in NTFS for additional space.
Then again buying a Mac notebook and mainly using windows with the poor touchpad drivers and battery life is not a great idea to begin with. Windows notebooks just have better drivers than the just enough crap they ship with the Mac Notebook.

OS X really does need the optical drive to be in when running bootcamp. I'd say the easiest way to get this going and save yourself time and frustration is to put the optical drive back, install windows, and the pull the optical drive.

JohnyBoi88 said:

At the moment the SSD is still in the box it came with waiting to be installed to the machine. My HDD still hosts OS X.

I was thinking this as a straight forward - operation, where I simply transfer the HDD to the caddybay and put the SSD to the mainbay. Then I just launch the Win8 installation via USB stick/external HDD (fairly straight forward) and use the fresh SSD as the installation location

Glad to hear that people have gotten this setup to work on their machines though

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You've obviously never tried to boot a Windows installer from USB on a Mac

I tried everything from Apple's own utility to a 3rd party bootloader, the USB just wouldn't show up.

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dusk007 said:

It is usually the best idea to put both OS on the SSD and just split it. Use the HDD in NTFS for additional space.
Then again buying a Mac notebook and mainly using windows with the poor touchpad drivers and battery life is not a great idea to begin with. Windows notebooks just have better drivers than the just enough crap they ship with the Mac Notebook.

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From a reliablity standpoint having Windows and OS X on separate drives is better. Hybrid MBRs are sketchy. Also OS X can't write to NTFS without third party utilities, which are also known to be sketchy and lead to file corruption.

JohnyBoi88 said:

But honestly I have done this operation a couple of times before on different machines without any problems, so it sounds strange to me that Mac would be any different..

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The difference is the Mac.
Apple has placed some sort of limitation somewhere that requires MacBooks with optical drives to use that optical drive for Windows installation.
On a MacBook without an optical drive it's straightforward, just like on a PC but search and you'll find dozens of threads about people who've removed their optical drives and then found themselves unable to boot from a Windows USB install drive.

JohnyBoi88 said:

Pardon my language but that ******* blows
Good to know though! I have to dive into the subject a bit more it seems.

Thanks for the heads up!

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Did you see this thread?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1836959/
Might be the answer you need.