If I Instal Vmware on a Windows 7 PC and install a copy of Windows 7 on a external HDD(USB 3.0) , will my IMac( late 2013 version) with Vmware see the drive and run the Windows 7 on it when connected. Also Do I need to have the same version of Vmware on both machines. Will the proformance/speed be ok for running windows games (not FPS) and office work . Thanx
can't help you on installing Win7 on an external harddisk because it's known not an easy way and for me to much hassel. but maybe this will be a solution for you too, what I have done: installed Mavericks on an external Thunderbolt SSD, installed Parallels 9 with Windows 8.1 in it, and it's running great!
I just tried to do the same using USB 3. Does not work, however I have seen that it does with Thunderbolt. Really unfortunate that Windows 7 doesn't support this. Windows 8 now supports external booting via Windows-to-go. There are some hacks and ways around this but to me it just wasn't worth it. For your scenario I am not sure if Windows 7 will boot from a PC to Mac even in VMWare because of hardware differences. Might be wrong on this.
Thanks for your input. So It looks like I'll have to get a Thunderbolt drive if I want to do this. That has put the price up. I was looking at getting a Hard disk enclosure(£30) and putting my 1TB drive in it.