Bootcamp Issues: Installing windows on a second drive.

[polinux]

Hello everyone.

I know there is very complex debate online about those issues with second hard drive in a macbook's and even to the point of needing to edit plist file in the bootcamp app itself.

So to make things clear for everyone how to deal with this issue I'll let you know how I finally found a way around it

What i have is: MacBook Pro Late 2011 17" with i7 CPU 2860Qm and I have removed DVD drive and mounted caddy to place my main 750HD into this one and Putting Samsung 840Pro as my main system Drive.

Prerequisites:
Tuxera NTFS
Parallels
Windows 8.1 iso image.
USB Caddy for Hard Drives
WinToUSB

Idea: Installing Windows 8.1 on the second drive(750GB) partitioned in this way:
1st partition 250GB NTFS (Name: Win81)
2nd partition 500GB NTFS (Name DATA)

1. Remove hard drive from MacBook
2. Put it into USB Caddy
3. On Windows computer (or Parallesl runing Windows) reformat The drive acordingly to what you have planned (250GB+500GB) all NTFS
4.Next download WinTOUSB
and follow the instructions of the program to dump windows iso file into the 250GB partition on the hard drive you have just formatted.
5. Put the hard drive back into MacBook
6. Boot with option key pressed and select Windows Partition1 to boot.
7. Install Windows 8.1 + Bootcamp Drivers
8. Enjoy having fully working Windows 8.1

Hope that helps.

If you will have any problems with this PM me and I'll try to help.

PS. If something is not clear in this steps please let me know and I'll edit this to make it more clear.

 

[saturnotaku]

So this method bypasses Boot Camp Assistant all together, correct? Are there any issues with the GPU and/or audio? These can be problematic when attempting a straight EFI install of Windows.

 

[polinux]

Nope no issues whatsoever I have this on my macbook pro and official ATI Drivers are working out of the box.

I can finally play my BF4 on My macbook pro

Oh yeah one thing. Install bootcamp drivers 5.0 under windows so all your drives will be accessible.
No problem with the sound.

 

[djkiuru]

Just done this

I was able to do this i talked to apple "senior" representatives who said that this was impossible and that apple didnt approve that and a bunch more things but finally after trying different methods i was able to install windows (bootcamp) on a secondary hdd.

1) first i downloaded a image of windows


2) i created a bootable usb drive with windows usb/dvd boot tool


3) if you have a hard drive on the optical bay and thats the one that you want to install windows to you must remove it and install it into the hdd bay remember that to isntall windows u must have only one!!!! Hard drive inside the computer so you must remove all other hdd including the one that has os x on.


4) after the drive that is going to have windows is installed in the hdd bay plug in your usb bootable windows drive and turn on the mac holding down the option key.


5) an option of bootable devices must appear select the windows usb drive and the installation process should start.


6) after you are done with the windows installation and you have installed all the bootcamp drivers into your new windows hdd re-install the mac os x hdd into the optical bay. Now remember that the mac os x drive must!!!!!be in the optical bay and the windows one in the hdd bay if not windows wont boot !!! For a secury and anti piracy police windows doesnt boot from secondary hdds.


7) after re installing the mac os x hdd you should be good to go! I have done this myself and it works its a little bit of work but its worth it everything runs super fast on my macbook pro 9,2 with os x yosemite installed in a samsung 840 evo 1tb and so does windows on the original 500gb 5200rpm hdd from the mac


if you have any quesiton just reply

 

[1122ads]

What About putting bootcamp on my little SSD along with MacOS

Hello Y'all

You seem to know much about bootcamp, and about the challenge of installing windows into a hard drive that is in the optical bay on a MBP.

Awhile back, I installed a 240GB SSD into my mainHD bay, and a 1Tb drive into my optical bay. It's a great system that way, but now I want to install windows. i don't use windows often, and don't want to use a virtual machine, as I'm concerned it will slow my I5 2.3 with 8Gb RAM.

I tried to use bootcamp to install windows 7 HP, and stumbled around with the 'black screen blinking cursor' for awhile, going down blind alleys, until I came to the support posts that say that bootcamp won't install into the HD in the optical bay, period.
OK, that explains the problem.
So one workaround that is oft-repeated, is to switch the 1Tb drive back into the main bay, install windows off a boot disc or USB, and then switch it back.
I'm not so confident about that process and don't want to mess around with it.

So I'm wondering to myself, can I put windows on to my 240 SSD, which is in my main HD bay? I probably have about 60-80Gb of space on it. Can I use Bootcamp to partition that, even though its got alot of other stuff in there, without messing up my OS and associated files. Do ALL my windows programs and files need to go in that partition, or can I install the operating system there, and use the other SATA hard drive that is in the optical bay (perhaps with a windows-compatible partition) to keep programs and files that I would use with windows? How much free space do I need to leave on the SSD, to make sure it keeps functioning properly?

thanks much!

Andrew

 

[djkiuru]

Hello Y'all

You seem to know much about bootcamp, and about the challenge of installing windows into a hard drive that is in the optical bay on a MBP.

Awhile back, I installed a 240GB SSD into my mainHD bay, and a 1Tb drive into my optical bay. It's a great system that way, but now I want to install windows. i don't use windows often, and don't want to use a virtual machine, as I'm concerned it will slow my I5 2.3 with 8Gb RAM.

I tried to use bootcamp to install windows 7 HP, and stumbled around with the 'black screen blinking cursor' for awhile, going down blind alleys, until I came to the support posts that say that bootcamp won't install into the HD in the optical bay, period.
OK, that explains the problem.
So one workaround that is oft-repeated, is to switch the 1Tb drive back into the main bay, install windows off a boot disc or USB, and then switch it back.
I'm not so confident about that process and don't want to mess around with it.

So I'm wondering to myself, can I put windows on to my 240 SSD, which is in my main HD bay? I probably have about 60-80Gb of space on it. Can I use Bootcamp to partition that, even though its got alot of other stuff in there, without messing up my OS and associated files. Do ALL my windows programs and files need to go in that partition, or can I install the operating system there, and use the other SATA hard drive that is in the optical bay (perhaps with a windows-compatible partition) to keep programs and files that I would use with windows? How much free space do I need to leave on the SSD, to make sure it keeps functioning properly?

thanks much!

Andrew

yes according to what i know you should be able to install windows in ur 240ssd however im not sure about how much space u need i think its 20gb but im not 100% sure and about the program files that im not sure because if the 1tb hdd its formatted to work with OS X then idk if windows will let you install a program there u might be able to partition it in 2 and have one partition for windows and one for mac but im not sure. also if u change the 1tb to the main bay to install windows u MUST LEAVE IT THERE windows won't boot if its install in the optical bay so onces u change it to the main one to install it you must leave it there and put the one with OS X in the optical bay....this won't hurt anything also i don't know why but when i changed my 1tb ssd to the optical bay cause my 500gb hdd had windows on the ssd had better read and write speeds than when it was in the main bay. if u need anything else lmk and however u proceed with this let me know what ur results are !!! thanks !!!

 

[hntr-ak]

I have just purchased a Mac Pro with a 256 SSD, and 2 1t hard-drives. I've been trying to install the bootcamp partition on one of the 1t hard drives and end up getting the gray screen. If I'm understanding this correctly, I need to remove the main HD (the 256 SSD) and put one of the 1T drives in its place. Then boot up holding down option key, and install win 7 on the 1T drive with either a usb install (not quite sure how to get the usb set up) or will it also work from the dvd? I would appreciate any answers - comments on how to get things up and running. Thx!

 

[djkiuru]

I have just purchased a Mac Pro with a 256 SSD, and 2 1t hard-drives. I've been trying to install the bootcamp partition on one of the 1t hard drives and end up getting the gray screen. If I'm understanding this correctly, I need to remove the main HD (the 256 SSD) and put one of the 1T drives in its place. Then boot up holding down option key, and install win 7 on the 1T drive with either a usb install (not quite sure how to get the usb set up) or will it also work from the dvd? I would appreciate any answers - comments on how to get things up and running. Thx!

I never tried dvd drive but it should work and with the usb setup bootcamp assistant should help u create one.....regarding the drive....which ever drive u want to have windows on MUST BE THE PRIMARY DRIVE IN THE BUILD

 

[hntr-ak]

I'm just trying to make sure I understand correctly. Once I've installed the windows version that I'm seeking to load with Bootcamp, I wil return the drives to their original configuration? I'm new to this, and don't want to jump in half cocked and ruin something. Thx for the quick answer!

 

[djkiuru]

I'm just trying to make sure I understand correctly. Once I've installed the windows version that I'm seeking to load with Bootcamp, I wil return the drives to their original configuration? I'm new to this, and don't want to jump in half cocked and ruin something. Thx for the quick answer!

No the windows drive always has to be in the primary bay

 

[hntr-ak]

I've put the Bootcamp drive in the primary bay, but I still get a grey screen. I have a 3.2 ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon running OS X Yosemite (10.10.3). I'm open to suggestions as what to do, installing windows through bootcamp is a must! Thanks for your help!

 

[yjchua95]

I've put the Bootcamp drive in the primary bay, but I still get a grey screen. I have a 3.2 ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon running OS X Yosemite (10.10.3). I'm open to suggestions as what to do, installing windows through bootcamp is a must! Thanks for your help!

You could try treating the secondary drive (the drive you want Windows to be installed on) as an external device with these steps:


Connect external drive to Windows VM. You must have a Windows VM in VMware/Parallels, or a Windows PC. Any existing Windows environment will do.

Note: If you’re using a 32-bit ISO, your Windows environment used to do these commands have to be 32-bit. And if it’s a 64-bit ISO, the environment has to be 64-bit.

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 (do this and then stop at this point if you're using a drive with a Thunderbolt port. If installing in BIOS-CSM, type convert mbr and then stop at this point if you’re using a drive with a Thunderbolt port)
Type create partition EFI size=100 (skip if installing in BIOS-CSM)
Type format quick fs=fat32 label=EFI (skip if installing in BIOS-CSM)
Type assign letter=S (skip if installing in BIOS-CSM)
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 (use this one for UEFI installation)
Type E:\Windows\System32\bcdboot E:\Windows /s E: /f ALL (use this one for BIOS-CSM installation)

Restart your entire Mac. After the chime, hold down Option and when prompted to select your boot drive, select EFI Boot (or whatever else that comes up for a BIOS-CSM installation).

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

Don’t use a USB stick.

Note: This method involves reformatting the entire external drive.

For Thunderbolt drives, just boot from the Windows USB installer and install directly onto the TB drive. Windows sees TB drives as an internal PCIe connection. However, you must format the TB drive as GPT first.

CAUTION: Windows can only be installed in UEFI flawlessly on Haswell Macs and later. Ivy Bridge and earlier Macs can only run Windows in BIOS-CSM flawlessly. Attempts to boot a UEFI installation of Windows on an Ivy Bridge or earlier Mac will result in driver issues.

These steps do not work with Windows 7, as it lacks the dism.exe utility.

UEFI-compatible Macs:
MacBook Air (mid-2013 and later)
iMac (late-2013 and later)
Retina MacBook Pro (late-2013 and later)
Mac Pro (trashcan shape, however, the classic MPs without the Cirrus audio controllers seem to work with UEFI just fine)
Mac Mini (late-2014 and later)

Long story short, only Macs with PCIe SSDs support UEFI. Non-retina MBPs, along with other Macs not listed above (basically all Ivy Bridge and older Macs), are not UEFI compatible.

WinToUSB basically does the same thing, but doesn’t always work because WinToUSB doesn’t really take into account between BIOS-CSM and UEFI Macs; it only uses one method for all (which may result in boot failures and other problems).

I run Windows off a single Transcend 960GB JetDrive and constantly use it between Macs without problems.

 

[hntrak-again]

Okay so I've tried the above instructions - but when I get to listing the drives I only see the drive that Parallels is on ... I have the hard drive partitioned so that I can install windows on the other part ... Thank you for your help, but this is rather frustrating. How am I able to see or type in the drive when it doesn't show up.
Thanks!

 

[hntr-ak]

am having problems with "Error: 87 The apply-image option is unknown."

When I type "dism /apply-image /imagefile:C:\WIN2GO\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:E:\"

 

[doynton]

am having problems with "Error: 87 The apply-image option is unknown."

When I type "dism /apply-image /imagefile:C:\WIN2GO\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:E:\"

What version of windows are you using? As mentioned in post #12 this doesn't work on 7 or earlier. You would have to use imageX not DISM or a different PC if so.