Using boot camp to install windows on a second hard drive

[rmssch89]

I'm building a custom computer that I would like to run both OSX and Windows 7 on. At the moment I am trying to decide between installing 1 2TB hard drive or 2 1TB hard drives. I would preferably do the latter since I would like each OS to be on its own drive. OSX will be my primary OS.

If I go for the 2 drive option they will be 2 seperate drives, not in a RAID config.

Getting OSX onto the machine is simple enough for me if not a little roundabout. My main concern is Windows 7.

Will bootcamp allow me to install Windows to it's own dedicated drive without having to partition the OSX drive? In my case would I even need to use bootcamp? Would holding down the "alt" key as done with bootcamp detect a second bootable disk even if Windows was not installed through bootcamp?

 

[bmcgonag]

I'm building a custom computer that I would like to run both OSX and Windows 7 on. At the moment I am trying to decide between installing 1 2TB hard drive or 2 1TB hard drives. I would preferably do the latter since I would like each OS to be on its own drive. OSX will be my primary OS.

If I go for the 2 drive option they will be 2 seperate drives, not in a RAID config.

Getting OSX onto the machine is simple enough for me if not a little roundabout. My main concern is Windows 7.

Will bootcamp allow me to install Windows to it's own dedicated drive without having to partition the OSX drive? In my case would I even need to use bootcamp? Would holding down the "alt" key as done with bootcamp detect a second bootable disk even if Windows was not installed through bootcamp?

If you're building a custom system, install windows on it's own drive, then OS X, then dual boot. Just be aware that OS X TOS state that you will not install it on hardware that it was not intended for.

 

[rmssch89]

Thanks! I own a macbook pro and, and love it, but I've been wanting a desktop (more power and versatility, games, etc.) and I just can't see myself paying apple prices when I can get a much better machine for so much less, haha.

OSX boots fine on a homebuilt machine if it's the primary OS. Will it still do the same if I install it after Windows, then set it as the primary boot disk in the Windows settings?

 

[bmcgonag]

Thanks! I own a macbook pro and, and love it, but I've been wanting a desktop (more power and versatility, games, etc.) and I just can't see myself paying apple prices when I can get a much better machine for so much less, haha.

OSX boots fine on a homebuilt machine if it's the primary OS. Will it still do the same if I install it after Windows, then set it as the primary boot disk in the Windows settings?

You're getting a bit beyond my abilities now. You can check over at OSX86 site and see what they say on the subject.

I thought you needed the EFI boot loader thing inside the pc to get a non-mac to boot without hacking the system. So not sure what that will do to windows install, much less how it would affect mac performance installed after windows.