BootCamp + External Drive

[spriter]

Now where did they put the Convert Post to Guide button!

These last two posts finally give me confidence that it can be done if you put all the pieces together. They should definitely become a Guide and/or a sticky!

B

It took me around 90 minutes and I was taking my time, double-checking I'd done everything correctly. The guide at http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176 looks daunting but is less work than it looks. You only need to modify the disc once and then you're done for good if you need to reinstall or want to put it on a different USB drive.

I use Parallels but it's well worth doing this if you want to dive in and out of Windows natively without sacrificing internal HD space and the chance of BootCamp or the Windows partition messing up your OSX install.

 

[Lessthntim]

Rock N' Roll!

Now where did they put the Convert Post to Guide button!

These last two posts finally give me confidence that it can be done if you put all the pieces together. They should definitely become a Guide and/or a sticky!

B

I hear that, finally got windows on my external running like a charm, (although it DID take a lot of work). Thanks mrichmon and balamw for your helpful posts. There IS that pesky paging file issue going on in windows, but oh well, maybe there'll be some sore of firmware adjustment for that too in the future. Thanks again!

 

[Timah]

Does anyone know if its possible to put Xp on a second internal hard drive? Im buying a Mac pro and have an extra 160gb hard drive im going to install. So Im hoping to have the original 250gb hard drive for Mac and the 160 hard drive for windows. Does anyone know if thats doable?

 

[balamw]

Does anyone know if its possible to put Xp on a second internal hard drive? Im buying a Mac pro and have an extra 160gb hard drive im going to install. So Im hoping to have the original 250gb hard drive for Mac and the 160 hard drive for windows. Does anyone know if thats doable?

People have been reporting issues with Boot Camp on the Mac Pro, and I don't know if they've been resolved yet...

Windows itself doesn't generally have issues with booting off of secondary internal drives, only with removable ones, so once Boot Camp (particularly the drivers) is updated for the Mac Pro it should work.

B

 

[bearbo]

anybody successfully installed xp on external drive, how's the speed compare to xp on internal, esp on cpu intensive applications, e.g. adobe suite, games, etc?

and btw, so the consensus is that firewire would not be able to boot windows xp from external, but usb 2.0 could, right?

 

[Lessthntim]

Paging File Problem

Ok, so windows runs great from the external, but i am unable to get through loading some games because windows keeps telling me i have NO virtual memory. I've tried to change the settings in the system advanced tab, and still no results, and no paging file. Is there any known way to resolve this issue? and is the reason i'm getting this message because i am running windows off an external hard drive? I love having windows separate from OSX and didn't want to install windows internally. Hopefully it's something dumb i overlooked, but if anyone has any answers i'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[bearbo]

Is there anyway that I can install two copies for windows xp via bootcamp (or other hacks), so one runs from internal, one runs from external?

 

[shadowmoses]

Does anyone know if its possible to put Xp on a second internal hard drive? Im buying a Mac pro and have an extra 160gb hard drive im going to install. So Im hoping to have the original 250gb hard drive for Mac and the 160 hard drive for windows. Does anyone know if thats doable?

I'm pretty sure it is possible, without any hacking or anything simply choose that disk as the one you wan't to install to in XP installer and after the install choose the correct startup disk.....

Have fun with the Mac Pro!!

SHadoW

 

[mrichmon]

Ok, so windows runs great from the external, but i am unable to get through loading some games because windows keeps telling me i have NO virtual memory. I've tried to change the settings in the system advanced tab, and still no results, and no paging file. Is there any known way to resolve this issue? and is the reason i'm getting this message because i am running windows off an external hard drive? I love having windows separate from OSX and didn't want to install windows internally. Hopefully it's something dumb i overlooked, but if anyone has any answers i'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Windows will not allow you to create a paging file on an external drive. If you have sufficient RAM installed then this is not a problem since Windows only uses the page file if it runs out of physical RAM. If you have less than 1GB (more realistically 2GB) of RAM then you will always have this problem if you run Windows from an external drive.

 

[mrichmon]

Is there anyway that I can install two copies for windows xp via bootcamp (or other hacks), so one runs from internal, one runs from external?

Yes. Install Windows using BootCamp onto the internal drive. Follow the instructions posted earlier in this thread to install onto an external USB drive.

 

[L int.]

I got two questions I'd like to be answered:

- if one day i could manage to boot XP or vista from an external HDD - would the speed be significantly lower compared to the internal HDD (Imac just supports USB 2.0 and firewire 400 respectively)?

- does anyone know if it is possible to use an external graphic card in case the original one wouldn't fit my needs?

Thank you,

Joey

 

[mrichmon]

I got two questions I'd like to be answered:

- if one day i could manage to boot XP or vista from an external HDD - would the speed be significantly lower compared to the internal HDD (Imac just supports USB 2.0 and firewire 400 respectively)?

If this is a PPC iMac then you will never be able to install Windows XP -- not on an internal drive nor on an external drive.

If this is an Intel iMac then you can install Windows XP on an external drive and for the most part it would only be slower to boot off the external drive but shoudl not have a noticable slowdown after it has booted. (This is assuming you have enough memory installed -- at least 1GB, preferably 2GB.)

The main difficulty with an iMac is that you need to remove the internal drive to install Windows it is not easy to remove the iMac drive. As an alternative you might be able to get away with using a MacBook to install Windows onto an external drive then move the external drive over to the iMac.

- does anyone know if it is possible to use an external graphic card in case the original one wouldn't fit my needs?

I'm not sure what you mean by an external graphic card. In general graphics cards do not come as external devices because the ports available on a computer do not pass data in and out of the computer at a fast enough rate. Graphics cards need very, very, high data transfer rates between the graphics card, main memory and the CPU.

Can you post a link to what you mean by an "external graphics card"?

 

[L int.]

If this is a PPC iMac then you will never be able to install Windows XP -- not on an internal drive nor on an external drive.

If this is an Intel iMac then you can install Windows XP on an external drive and for the most part it would only be slower to boot off the external drive but shoudl not have a noticable slowdown after it has booted. (This is assuming you have enough memory installed -- at least 1GB, preferably 2GB.)

The main difficulty with an iMac is that you need to remove the internal drive to install Windows it is not easy to remove the iMac drive. As an alternative you might be able to get away with using a MacBook to install Windows onto an external drive then move the external drive over to the iMac.



I'm not sure what you mean by an external graphic card. In general graphics cards do not come as external devices because the ports available on a computer do not pass data in and out of the computer at a fast enough rate. Graphics cards need very, very, high data transfer rates between the graphics card, main memory and the CPU.

Can you post a link to what you mean by an "external graphics card"?

I'm considering an imac (fully upgraded RAM), once the updated versions are available - you are talking about removing the HDD for installing purpose - wouldn't that void my warranty? If yes, I was wondering if I could do the trick you were suggesting also with my current PC instead of a macbook...

By external graphics memory(since it can't be changed to another one) i meant a more capable one than the one that comes included (ATI Radeon1600, 256). If I would like to do solidworks for instants.
I know that the MacPro would be the better solution for such things, but wanted to check the possibilities first.

appreciater your help...

 

[mrichmon]

I'm considering an imac (fully upgraded RAM), once the updated versions are available - you are talking about removing the HDD for installing purpose - wouldn't that void my warranty? If yes, I was wondering if I could do the trick you were suggesting also with my current PC instead of a macbook...

Removing the hard drive will not void the waranty of your iMac so long as you do not damage anything in the process. However, with the iMac it is difficult to remove the hard drive so it is not a recommended operation unless you really know what you are doing.

You might be able to install Windows onto an external drive and then switch the drive over to your iMac. If you try this approach you should not perform the Windows activation until you are booting off the iMac. Also, you should not install additional device drivers when you are still booting from the PC.

By external graphics memory(since it can't be changed to another one) i meant a more capable one than the one that comes included (ATI Radeon1600, 256). If I would like to do solidworks for instants.
I know that the MacPro would be the better solution for such things, but wanted to check the possibilities first.

The graphics card in the iMac is embedded as part of the main logic board. There are no options for exchanging the graphics card or using an alternative card.

 

[L int.]

ok - i will wait what apple comes up with in the next weeks, and then decide - thank you...

 

[aggo]

Steps:

1. Modify Windows install CD to support booting off a USB drive. (Instructions are on the web and have been posted to these forums several times.)
2. Remove internal hard drive from MacBook.
3. Connect external USB drive to MacBook.
4. Boot from modified Windows install CD.
5. Progress through Windows install, creating partitions and formating the partitions as you see fit. In most of my installed I partitioned the drive under OS X using a firewire connection to the drive since Disk Tool isn't always happy partitioning USB drives. I have also successfully used a GParted boot disk to partition an external USB drive and then running the Windows installer without modifying the partition table on the external drive.
6. Wait for about 34 minutes for the Windows install to finish.
7. Reboot into Windows on the external drive.
8. Install the Apple device drivers for windows.
9. Replace internal drive.

Would it be possible to install XP onto a USB drive through a separate Windows computer, disconnecting the internal drive and then use this on my Mac Mini? I'd be very nervous about trying to take the Mini apart. However, it's an OEM install disc so maybe I'd have to at least keep the 5GB partition on my internal drive.

 

[mrichmon]

Would it be possible to install XP onto a USB drive through a separate Windows computer, disconnecting the internal drive and then use this on my Mac Mini? I'd be very nervous about trying to take the Mini apart. However, it's an OEM install disc so maybe I'd have to at least keep the 5GB partition on my internal drive.

An OEM install disk will not work. You might be able to get something installed on an external drive using an OEM disk, but you would be inviolation of the OEM license for Windows. In addition, it is likely that Windows authentication would complain and/or you would have additional device drivers installed that may conflict with the MacMini hardware.

For what it's worth: I have not heard of anyone being able to install Windows onto a Mac using anything other than a Full Retail version of Windows XP SP2.

 

[balamw]

For what it's worth: I have not heard of anyone being able to install Windows onto a Mac using anything other than a Full Retail version of Windows XP SP2.

You haven't been looking too hard then.

I've reported on my success in using an upgrade CD (retail), while others have installed XP from OEM media, XP MCE, and of course Vista.

Furthermore, it is not a violation of the OEM/System Builder's license to install a copy of XP OEM that was purchased explicitly for your Mac.

B

 

[mrichmon]

You haven't been looking too hard then.

Yeah, I knew as I was typing the quoted text that someone would instantly prove me wrong.

 

[mac ified]

FIRMWARE booting windows

does this FIRMWARE windows thing work?

 

[mac ified]

The FIRMWARE upgrade is what allows Windows to run the Mac, not Boot Camp. Bootcamp is just a simple interface that guides you.

Once you install the firmware upgrade which allows for BIOS, then boot from the Windows CD (hold C during startup) and follow the regular Windows setup procedure while selecting your external drive partition to install Windows on to.

After installation, according to http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75459 "Press Option-Command-Shift-Delete during startup to Bypass primary startup volume and seek a different startup volume (such as a CD or external disk)". At this point, you'll be able to select your external drive to boot from. Since Windows will be installed there, you'll boot Windows.

Note: I would use Boot Camp to create the driver CD which will allow Windows to support your Mac's hardware properly.

i have a few qustions about this:

1) i have a maxtor 300GB external HD in a NFST format. will this work to install windows on?
2) is there anything i have to do so windows will reconize the drive during the set up?
3) am i able to get, say, Half Life 2 and some other apps to work if this process actually works?

i need this to be answered quickly, before the end of this week

 

[MRU]

i have a few qustions about this:

1) i have a maxtor 300GB external HD in a NFST format. will this work to install windows on?
2) is there anything i have to do so windows will reconize the drive during the set up?
3) am i able to get, say, Half Life 2 and some other apps to work if this process actually works?

i need this to be answered quickly, before the end of this week

1) NTFS will have no problems with windoes but getting it to boot from it is still tiresome / and a royal pain in the rectum. When you finally get it working you may end up with virtual memory errors regardless.

Best bet, allocate 5gb of space on your macintosh hd, and only install bare windows xp system on it. All your other programmes and stuff install them on your external drive. You will have no troubles that way and you wont end up with virtual memory errors and such.

2) Yes a lot of complicated stuff - read through some of the other posts. Cant make sense of it? That's because getting it to work it too much work..

3) All aplications will work from the external HD if you just dedicate a tiny partition to windows as outlined in 1.. It's the easiset, fastest and least hassle worth way of doing it....

 

[mac ified]

thx for the info, but i still have a question

i have a HP that is running windows Xp. i downloaded this thing that allows you to copy your HD and put the copy on an external HD. this in turn, allows you to have a bootable copy of your HD. i cleaned up my HP hard drive to get it to the lowest anount of GB i could get it without losing important stuff. would this bootable version of the HD work?

oh yah, one more question:
is it possable to copy windows off of the HD and place it on the extrnal HD? i heard it was possable but how?

 

[MRU]

Probably not. Windows XP when it sees a huge hardware change - in this case - everything - refuses to boot in most circumstances.

Besides it takes 30 minutes to install, and you would guarantee yourself a working fast copy with no registry problems. It's worth the 30 minutes here, than a couple of hours trying to get the other to work.

 

[balamw]

I just created an MR guide based on information in this thread to stop folks from asking the same question over and over. Please help me edit and complete it.

http://guides.macrumors.com/Boot_Camp_Windows_XP_On_External_Drive

Thanks!

Balam