MacBook Pro Retina Late 2013 - Running Windows 7 VM on Micro SD

Discussion in 'MacBook Pro' started by vicfalc09, Mar 20, 2014.

Most Liked Posts
  1. vicfalc09, Mar 20, 2014

    vicfalc09 macrumors member

    vicfalc09

    Joined:
    May 22, 2008
    #1
    I searched for awhile on a specific thread for running a VMware Fusion 6 virtual machine of Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro Retina 13" off of a Micro SD card.

    Here is my setup:

    MacBook Pro Retina 13" Core i5 2.4 GHz 8 GB Ram 256 SSD

    Here is the Micro SD card i am using:

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DM1BDPK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


    My results with running my Windows 7 using VMware Fusion 6 from the Micro SD have been great. Quick start up and shut down of Windows 7. Programs launching and closing quickly. I am going to be putting this Micro SD into Nifty Mini Drive so it is seamlessly integrated into the MacBook Pro.

    I am assigning 1 GB of RAM to the VM and I have made the hard drive size 30GB of my 64GB micro SD card. I have also shut off hibernate to save battery life and have ran disk cleanup after the SP1 upgrade of Windows 7 to clear hard drive space in the VM.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. PeterBr1, Sep 13, 2014

    PeterBr1 macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    #2
    Battery life

    I have read that using an SD card can significantly reduce battery life on the Macbook. I have a MBP Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013 and I am currently using VMWare/Windows 7 and would like to use your technique. Thanks
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. gravio, Apr 25, 2015

    gravio macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2015
    #3
    PeterBr1 care to share directions on successfully running this "W7 on a VM on an SD" setup?

    I have been trying to find out how to 'dual boot' windows on my Macbook Pro with Windows but this VM solutions is equally enticing.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. snaky69, Apr 25, 2015

    snaky69 macrumors 603

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2008
    #4
    Dual booting is quite easy with bootcamp assistant. Launch it and read and follow on screen instructions. If you know how to read you have all the computer knowledge needed.

    As far as using a VM on a SD card:Using VMware or Parallels you'd simply have to follow on-screen directions, and when it asks to where to install the VM just point it to the card.

    It really isn't hard.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. yjchua95, Apr 25, 2015

    yjchua95 macrumors 604

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2011
    Location:
    GVA, KUL, MEL (current), ZQN
    #5
    It's really easy.

    Just buy Parallels or VMware, or if you're not looking to spend any money, just get VirtualBox (which is free). Then, follow the prompts to create a new virtual machine and then when prompted to select a location to save the VM, select your external device (SD card, external drive, etc).

    However, I would not recommend SD cards because their I/O performance, plus read/write speeds are pretty dismal compared to the average USB 3.0 external drive.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page