Possible to boot OSX/bootcamp from external FW800 harddrive? How are loading speeds different compared to an internal 5400rpm drive? I'd like to load XP on external and install some windows games on there to play. Also, possible if I would buy an OWC eSata hard drive , is it possible to boot from an eSata connection?
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Booting osx/bootcamp from external hard drive
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TO THE ORIGINAL POSTER: Not to be rude, but please do a search before making a thread. It is currently not easy to set up BootCamp to boot from any external drive, interface irrelevant (i.e. FW800, USB 2.0, etc.). Also, to my knowledge, Windows XP will not boot off of an ext. drive. Perhaps by the time BootCamp is no longer in beta status that feature will be implemented. Iirc, there's actually a thread as well as a guide here @ MR detailing what people have done to get this working. I'd suggest you take a look at one or both of them.
Trust me. I want this to be possible as well.
Trust me. I want this to be possible as well.
XP & Vista boot just fine from eSata drives on a standard PC using the built-in Sata ports. The issue is with the add-on cards. Unless the MBPro efi boot functionality allows the add-on card to load before the OS, booting from an add-on express slot card will not work.
Perhaps some industrious chap has hacked efi using specific cards but I am not aware of any but we can't say Windows cannot boot externally. I do it all the time.
Cheers,
I successfully booted the leopard install DVD from a USB external drive so I imagine if you can get it installed properly on the external drive it shouldnt be a problem at all. I remember hearing about problems installing windows to external drives though so good luck with that.