Running Windows 8 on USB for a MacBook with dead HDD

[piatti]

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Data...ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329580319&sr=1-7

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329582535&sr=1-1

If I install W8 on 32GB USB, could I boot up W8 from it for my dead White MB? Or do I need to somehow install Bootcamp drives on the USB stick too? (Which I don't know how to do) Or even boot up Mac OS from the USB stick? (Is 32GB enough? What about 16GB?)

I was reading how to boot up from an external drive here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNPfgufrVRA

Do you need to have a partition reserved for the OS only?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Probably, if the HDD is the only thing, that is kaputt/dead in that MB, but know, that most USB flash memory thumb drives have an abysmal read and write speed (5 to 20 MB/s), thus an external USB HDD or Firewire 400 HDD or even a new internal HDD would be much better.

 

[old-wiz]

Hmm.... I thought Windows refuses to boot from external HDDs; saw it mentioned elsewhere in the forum.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Hmm.... I thought Windows refuses to boot from external HDDs; saw it mentioned elsewhere in the forum.

Windows 8 seems to be a bit different.

 

[piatti]

Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Could I run W8 on PS3 on a USB stick?

No, as the PS3 uses the PPC architecture and Windows 8 does not run on that.
And as I already said, a USB flash memory thumb drive is quite slow to run a complex OS like Windows. A small Linux distro might work with that, but Windows would be slow, slow, slow.

 

[piatti]

Would it be best to install puppy linux?

What kind of Linux is best to install on a USB disk stick, and could I boot my MB from that?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

What kind of Linux is best to install on a USB disk stick, and could I boot my MB from that?

What do you want to accomplish?

 

[balamw]

Wouldn't it just be easier to replace the HDD in your white MB?

You should be able to pick up a working drive for the same price as the USB drives....

B

 

[piatti]

What do you want to accomplish?

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.

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Wouldn't it just be easier to replace the HDD in your white MB?

You should be able to pick up a working drive for the same price as the USB drives....

B

same price? where?

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Would this be good enough? http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Fujitsu-60-...3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5841&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.

As mentioned repeatedly, a USB flash memory thumb drive would be too slow for this. Even in Linux.

Just everyday stuff. Watching HD movies.Would this be good enough? http://www.ebay.com/ctg/Fujitsu-60-...3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A5841&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Yes.

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[piatti]

What about Puppy linux would that be fast enough to play HD movies?

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Would 40GB of HD be enough? http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...ie=UTF8&qid=1329598792&sr=1-16&condition=used

I remember if your HD was too full it started to lag. Maybe I should just install Linux on this small of a HD? It had a 320 GB before I think and it seemed to fill up pretty quick.

 

[balamw]

[/COLOR]Would 40GB of HD be enough? http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...ie=UTF8&qid=1329598792&sr=1-16&condition=used

That's a 3.5" (desktop) PATA/IDE drive you (probably) want a 2.5" SATA drive for a white MacBook.

Would help if you told us what specific model...

B

 

[piatti]

The MB White was bought on summer of 2008.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The MB White was bought on summer of 2008.

Then get a 2.5" S-ATA HDD with a maximum height of 9.5 mm.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD​

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​

 

[piatti]

I searched for some 2.5 but they all seem to be too expensive. What would happen if I tried to do it with one of those very cheap used HDs? Would it just not work?

If I just tried to have two tabs in a browser in puppy Linux would that be fast? (no HD movies)

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I searched for some 2.5 but they all seem to be too expensive. What would happen if I tried to do it with one of those very cheap used HDs? Would it just not work?

If you mean the HDDs on eBay you linked to in post #11, then yes.

MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD​

How to format a new HDD/SSD to install Mac OS X or make a bootable copy onto​

If I just tried to have two tabs in a browser in puppy Linux would that be fast? (no HD movies)

You have to try that for yourself, but it should work, if you can install Puppy. Maybe go to the Puppy Linux message board to get more Puppy specific help.