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Drop bootable WinXP drive into a Mac without reformat?

scottness

scottness

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 18, 2009
1,368
5
Room 101
Anybody know if it's possible to drop my office (WindowsXP) hard drive into my Mac without reformatting it with BootCamp? I'd like to be able to do this without my IT guy knowing about it and freaking out. (He'll never physically see it, he's in another state). I just don't want to take two computers with me when I leave for an extended trip out of country. Help?
 
It might work. The only thing I can think of as a problem would be the lack of drivers. You'll have to run the BootCamp driver package from your Mac re/installation disc to get everything working right.
 
Intell said:
Not all Windows needs BIOS now days and the EFI in Macs can emulate BIOS to make older operating systems and Windows happy.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks.
Anyway, it would be nice to know, what Mac the OP has, as the PC might have a different HDD size than the Mac accepts.
 
Intell said:
It might work. The only thing I can think of as a problem would be the lack of drivers. You'll have to run the BootCamp driver package from your Mac re/installation disc to get everything working right.
Click to expand...

Thanks! This should be fairly easy?

I'm going to Japan where space is very tight.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Anyway, it would be nice to know, what Mac the OP has, as the PC might have a different HDD size than the Mac accepts.
Click to expand...

Macs accept any drive size that's currently on the market, in both capacity and physical size.

OP: After re-reading your post, I don't think you'll get to far with Admin privileges. (I'm assuming you don't have them.) Also, you'll have to reactivate Windows, this could be a hassle depending on which version on Windows it is.
 
You'll be able to read the files off of the Windows drive, but I don't believe you'll be able to boot off the drive without reinstalling Windows onto it after you swap it into your Mac.

Windows installations are generally specific to the hardware that they were installed on originally. It's not like OSX where you can basically boot any Mac from any OSX installation.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
Ah, thanks.
Anyway, it would be nice to know, what Mac the OP has, as the PC might have a different HDD size than the Mac accepts.
Click to expand...

I'm pulling a 2.5" Sata drive from the PC and dropping it into a Mac Mini. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. This doesn't bother me as much as taking two machines and living in ~100 sq ft of space.

Alternatively, I could if I could boot the Windows drive externally, that would be a lot easier--though I read somewhere that Windows doesn't boot externally.
 
scottness said:
I'm pulling a 2.5" Sata drive from the PC and dropping it into a Mac Mini. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. This doesn't bother me as much as taking two machines and living in ~100 sq ft of space.

Alternatively, I could if I could boot the Windows drive externally, that would be a lot easier--though I read somewhere that Windows doesn't boot externally.
Click to expand...

The largest problem with this is that you will deactivate Windows and Office by doing this, especially if it was pre-activated as installed by the OEM or your IT department. As Intell suggests, this may particularly be an issue if you don't have admin privileges on the box.

Read up on SYSPREP if you want to avoid BSODing when you move to different hardware.

NOTE: While you can't boot from the HDD externally in Boot Camp, you might well be able to do so in VMWare/Parallels/VirtualBox. Is a VM enough for your needs? If so can you just have your IT department work you up a dedicated VM for this?

Finally, let me suggest that (particularly in today's environment) pulling a fast one on your employer's IT department is a sure way to find yourself on a list you might not want to be on. If you want to mess with your employer's IT resources, do so only with the support of IT (ask them to do it) or at least the express written consent of your supervisor if you can't get IT support.

B
 
balamw said:
The largest problem with this is that you will deactivate Windows and Office by doing this, especially if it was pre-activated as installed by the OEM or your IT department. As Intell suggests, this may particularly be an issue if you don't have admin privileges on the box.

Read up on SYSPREP if you want to avoid BSODing when you move to different hardware.

NOTE: While you can't boot from the HDD externally in Boot Camp, you might well be able to do so in VMWare/Parallels/VirtualBox. Is a VM enough for your needs? If so can you just have your IT department work you up a dedicated VM for this?

Finally, let me suggest that (particularly in today's environment) pulling a fast one on your employer's IT department is a sure way to find yourself on a list you might not want to be on. If you want to mess with your employer's IT resources, do so only with the support of IT (ask them to do it) or at least the express written consent of your supervisor if you can't get IT support.

B
Click to expand...

Thanks for this... there's a lot of wisdom here. No, I don't want to lose my job over an IT preference. I talked to my IT guy and sounds like he might be ok if he could install PGP whole disk encryption, but unsure whether or not it would work with bootcamp or vm, and he's not excited about trying.

I acquiesced and just decided to take the darn tower he wants me to take with me. At least they're paying for shipping, and I'll just set my little mini on top of his tower so I can kvm-switch my way to the Mac when I want to do my personal stuff.

Thanks again, very helpful.
 
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