On my old iMac I had a 3tb fusion drive, and I used Bootcamp to install windows on the HDD. I'm replacing that mac with a riMAC, and this time I went with an internal ssd instead of the fusion. Since the ssd is much smaller, I'd like to get an external ssd to run windows off of. Is this possible? Can I get a bootable copy of windows on an external drive with Bootcamp?
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windows 8.1 on external ssd?
- Thread starter Motoxmann
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Yes you can. But Boot Camp isn't needed.
Instructions:
Connect external drive to Windows VM. You must have a Windows VM in VMware/Parallels/VBox, or a Windows PC. Any existing Windows environment will do.
What you need:
install.wim file (obtain this from your Windows ISO)
Open elevated cmd.exe (run as admin)
Note: All commands aren't case sensitive, including pathway to files.
Type diskpart
Type list disk
Take note of the disk you want to select
Type select disk 1 (if your disk is Disk 1)
Type clean
Type convert gpt
Type create partition EFI size=100
Type format quick fs=fat32 label=EFI
Type assign letter=S
Type create partition primary
Type format fs=ntfs quick label=W2G (or any other name you wish for label)
Type assign letter=E
Type exit
Open up File Explorer. In your C drive, create a new folder named WIN2GO.
Put the install.wim file in this folder
Back in cmd.exe:
Type dism /apply-image /imagefile:C:\WIN2GO\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:E:\ (this process will take quite a while)
Type E:\Windows\System32\bcdboot E:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
Restart your entire Mac. After the chime, hold down Option and when prompted to select your boot drive, select EFI Boot.
Proceed installation normally.
After installation, install Boot Camp drivers. Feel free to trash the VM once you're done too.
For best results, use USB 3/Thunderbolt. If you don't have USB 3, use Thunderbolt. If you have neither, stick back to the internal drive
I've been doing this on my Transcend JetDrive 960GB USB 3 SSD for several months already, and it's blazing fast.
Yes you can. But Boot Camp isn't needed.
Instructions:
Connect external drive to Windows VM. You must have a Windows VM in VMware/Parallels/VBox, or a Windows PC. Any existing Windows environment will do.
What you need:
install.wim file (obtain this from your Windows ISO)
Open elevated cmd.exe (run as admin)
Note: All commands aren't case sensitive, including pathway to files.
Type diskpart
Type list disk
Take note of the disk you want to select
Type select disk 1 (if your disk is Disk 1)
Type clean
Type convert gpt
Type create partition EFI size=100
Type format quick fs=fat32 label=EFI
Type assign letter=S
Type create partition primary
Type format fs=ntfs quick label=W2G (or any other name you wish for label)
Type assign letter=E
Type exit
Open up File Explorer. In your C drive, create a new folder named WIN2GO.
Put the install.wim file in this folder
Back in cmd.exe:
Type dism /apply-image /imagefile:C:\WIN2GO\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:E:\ (this process will take quite a while)
Type E:\Windows\System32\bcdboot E:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
Restart your entire Mac. After the chime, hold down Option and when prompted to select your boot drive, select EFI Boot.
Proceed installation normally.
After installation, install Boot Camp drivers. Feel free to trash the VM once you're done too.
For best results, use USB 3/Thunderbolt. If you don't have USB 3, use Thunderbolt. If you have neither, stick back to the internal drive
I've been doing this on my Transcend JetDrive 960GB USB 3 SSD for several months already, and it's blazing fast.
can this be done from a bootcamp partition with windows installed on the internal drive (then later deleted), so as to not have to pay the 70-80 bucks for VMware or Parallels? Also would something like WinClone be able to do this?
WinClone can, but why pay when you can use this?
Any existing Windows environment will do, be it Boot Camp, VMware, Parallels or Virtualbox.
Vbox is free.
You can also do this from a trial of VMware or Parallels. When you're done, just remove the trial and you're done.
The plus side is that with my method, you can even plug the external drive into another PC like HP or Dell and boot from it.
Ok. I'll check out vbox or just it from boot camp then erase it afterwards. Thanks for the info
Because it's a lot easier and is also an excellent way of backing up Windows, not to mention resizing/migrating existing installations.
WinClone is worth it.