Can I install Windows onto my iPod?

[yettimillan]

Hi, I have some games I want to play but I don't want to use bootcamp.

Can i install windows onto my 80gb iPod Classic then plug it in, and boot windows at startup from the iPod by pressing the options key?

My think is that it will just be like installing windows onto a separate hard drive.
Thanks

Btw this may be the wrong forum, but since i have a macbook i posted it here.

 

[yettimillan]

Oh and a seperate question but ill use the same thread..

Can I use my iPod for a time machine backup?

Thanks

 

[macdim]

Even if one could, I wouldn't do it. iPods are not meant for constant read/writes like an operating system needs. They are slow drives, and are enclosed in a tiny space which would build up heat very quickly. This is bad for the drive and will undoubtedly reduce its lifetime. So it would be too slow for an OS, and too unreliable for your oh-so-important backup.

Also, I think you'd find it difficult to install Windows on there without some mild hacking.

Hope this helps

 

[old-wiz]

Windows runs on Intel x86 chips. The iPod uses a different family of chips. There is no way to load x86 code onto the iPod. The iPhone/iPod Touch developer kit prepares binaries in x86 for testing on the Mac and in iPod binary for actually running on the iPod. Never mind the screen or disk; with different architectures on the CPU, you can't do it.

 

[Hellhammer]

It's possible but stupid. Here are some reasons:

- Speed: iPod Classic uses 1.8" HD which runs at 4200rpm (or slower). Also, USB is very slow for OS
- Heat: As macdim said, iPod isn't meant for constant writing and reading what OS needs. iPod doesn't have a fan so sooner than later, HD will die, and so do your whole iPod.

It's not good to use external HD as boot drive, unless it's eSATA one.

Partition your HD to two partition so you can install Windows to other partition.

 

[macdim]

Windows runs on Intel x86 chips. The iPod uses a different family of chips. There is no way to load x86 code onto the iPod. The iPhone/iPod Touch developer kit prepares binaries in x86 for testing on the Mac and in iPod binary for actually running on the iPod. Never mind the screen or disk; with different architectures on the CPU, you can't do it.

He doesn't want to USE Windows on the iPod itself... he wants to use it as an external drive to plug into his mac and boot off of it.

 

[Samuriajackon]

He doesn't want to USE Windows on the iPod itself... he wants to use it as an external drive to plug into his mac and boot off of it.

I remember seeing somone doing this with OS10.3 on an old iPod the trick was the fool the computer into thinking the iPod was a bootable drive, this was easy with FireWire on a Mac Pro...can you boot from USB2 devices?

 

[macdim]

I remember seeing somone doing this with OS10.3 on an old iPod the trick was the fool the computer into thinking the iPod was a bootable drive, this was easy with FireWire on a Mac Pro...can you boot from USB2 devices?

You can boot from a USB2 drive easily on a mac, but I think getting windows to install TO it would be difficult. I've tried this on a PC laptop and the Windows installer wouldn't budge. Either way, doing this on an iPod that you actually care about is just a bad idea.

 

[patrixl]

Barring crazy messing around with Windows's installer, and boot files, no you cannot install Windows to any external drive, or at least USB I don't know about firewire.