Win 7 on External HDD

Discussion in 'Windows, Linux & Others on the Mac' started by aceuk, Mar 21, 2014.

Most Liked Posts
  1. aceuk, Mar 21, 2014

    aceuk macrumors newbie

    aceuk

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    #1
    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
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. aceuk, Mar 24, 2014

    aceuk thread starter macrumors newbie

    aceuk

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    #2
    Any help on this.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. freeuser, Mar 24, 2014

    freeuser Suspended

    Joined:
    Apr 8, 2013
    #3
    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!
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. noodle654, Mar 24, 2014

    noodle654 macrumors 68020

    noodle654

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2005
    Location:
    Never Ender
    #4
    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.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. aceuk, Mar 25, 2014

    aceuk thread starter macrumors newbie

    aceuk

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2014
    #5
    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.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page