Windows 8 on external SSD hangs after deleting internal Boot Camp partition.

[Furiogiunta]

As the the subject heading suggests, I am unable to run Windows 8 from an external SSD.

Specs of the hardware:

Late 2013 27 inch iMac
Seagate STAE133 External Thunderbolt Adapter
1.5ft Thunderbolt cable
240GB Intel 520 Series SSD

Goal: Run Windows 8 solely from external SSD, with not Boot Camp partition on the internal drive.

Using Boot Camp, I installed Windows 8 on the internal drive. I downloaded all the updates for Win 8, updated the Nvidia drivers, and activated Windows 8. I was able to boot into Windows 8 without any issues. It was stable and perfectly responsive.

With the goal of running Windows 8 exclusively from the external SSD using a Thunderbolt adapter, I purchased Winclone and followed these instructions:

http://twocanoes.com/winclone/suppo...n-external-drive-using-winclone-4.3-and-later

The Windows 8 partitions are visible. Using Boot Camp Assistant, I delete the Boot Camp partition on the internal drive and reboot.

Upon restart, the Windows 8 partition on the external drive is still visible and I select it.

Then the Windows 8 start-up screen appears with "Welcome" then "Preparing Windows" for several minutes. Then a black/blank screen with a visible and moveable mouse cursor appears. Nothing else happens. I reboot the computer again, same problem.

I've tried the above same procedure three times (the third time using a pre-release version of WinClone 4.4), to no avail.

ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hkoster1]

Why not try the direct method, as in my post https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1705504/? It should also work on the iMac. It uses Boot Camp Assistant only for preparing the USB sticks containing the driver software and (possibly) the Windows installer.

 

[mcarlie]

Either remove the internal partition before booting the external one or go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\MountedDevices, find the internal drive and rename it so that it has a different letter. Then find the external drive and rename it so that it has the letter that the internal drive had and reboot.

I had the same problem as you and it turned out to be that the internal drive has the letter C which means that a lot (but not all) programs/services detect the internal drive as the windows drive even though you're booting off of the external.

 

[biohead]

There's a thread on here someone... basically the internal partition is necessary for it to work - but you can reduce it to around 700MB or so in size.

 

[Furiogiunta]

Thank you for all your ideas.

I will let you know what happens.

 

[hfg]

I have used the WinClone method to move an internal Windows installation to a external drive several times ... I always simply delete the internal Windows partition prior to running the external version. I have not had to leave a small partition as some suggest.

You do have to connect the Thunderbolt enclosure while running Windows internally so that the Thunderbolt drivers will be installed prior to taking your WinClone image.

Note that not all Thunderbolt drives or enclosures are capable of booting Windows. However, the Seagate Thunderbolt Adapter is one that has worked fine for me (the LaCie "Rugged" also works fine).


-howard

 

[Alexis1537]

I have used the WinClone method to move an internal Windows installation to a external drive several times ... I always simply delete the internal Windows partition prior to running the external version. I have not had to leave a small partition as some suggest.

-howard

Hi Howard, I had the same problem as Furiogiunta. Looks like I skipped the step of deleting the internal BC partition before booting into the migrated external BC drive (which I had successfully moved using Winclone).

Is it just a case of running BC assistant and removing the BC partition (last option in the three menus)?

Thanks!
Alex

 

[hfg]

Hi Howard, I had the same problem as Furiogiunta. Looks like I skipped the step of deleting the internal BC partition before booting into the migrated external BC drive (which I had successfully moved using Winclone).

Is it just a case of running BC assistant and removing the BC partition (last option in the three menus)?

Thanks!
Alex

Yes .. that is the cleanest way to remove it and reclaim all the space back to OS X. As you probably found out, the external installation will not run if the internal installation is still available.

 

[WilliamG]

Hey guys, did any of you figure out how to fix this issue?

I had Windows 8 on internal. I cloned to external Thunderbolt SSD. Then, deleted the internal partition, and I get stuck on the "Preparing..." when booting into Windows 8 off the Thunderbolt SSD..

Thanks for any help!

 

[hfg]

Hey guys, did any of you figure out how to fix this issue?

I had Windows 8 on internal. I cloned to external Thunderbolt SSD. Then, deleted the internal partition, and I get stuck on the "Preparing..." when booting into Windows 8 off the Thunderbolt SSD..

Thanks for any help!

As I recall ... that can take a LONG time to complete. Did you let it run for a while?

 

[WilliamG]

As I recall ... that can take a LONG time to complete. Did you let it run for a while?

No, I didn't.... how long is a while? I probably left it 10-15 mins or so?

*Update*

So now the screen has gone completely black, after waiting about 15 mins...

Yeah, this isn't going well.

Any other ideas?

 

[hfg]

No, I didn't.... how long is a while? I probably left it 10-15 mins or so?

I didn't actually time it ... but it seems that there were an endless series of long "Preparing xxxxxx" and "Getting Ready xxxxx" sequences on the initial boot. I probably went and had a cup of coffee and caught up on MacRumors while it did all that. Oh ... and there will be the requisite reboot or two as well ... you know, typical Windows stuff!

EDIT: Did you allow your internal installation to boot and run while your external TB enclosure was attached to allow the drivers to be installed? What TB enclosure are you using?

 

[WilliamG]

I didn't actually time it ... but it seems that there were an endless series of long "Preparing xxxxxx" and "Getting Ready xxxxx" sequences on the initial boot. I probably went and had a cup of coffee and caught up on MacRumors while it did all that. Oh ... and there will be the requisite reboot or two as well ... you know, typical Windows stuff!

Yep, see above. Screen goes black, and I can't see anything.

It did boot BEFORE I deleted the internal Boot Camp partition, so I don't know what to do now..

 

[hfg]

Yep, see above. Screen goes black, and I can't see anything.

It did boot BEFORE I deleted the internal Boot Camp partition, so I don't know what to do now..

It may have been actually running the internal installation even though you booted from the external.

You can either re-do the external load (are you using WinClone?) ... or ... you can always re-install your WinClone image to the internal drive again to be sure your image was good.

Did you allow the drivers to load prior to starting save and clone operation?

 

[WilliamG]

It may have been actually running the internal installation even though you booted from the external.

You can either re-do the external load (are you using WinClone?) ... or ... you can always re-install your WinClone image to the internal drive again to be sure your image was good.

I'm using WinClone, yes. I know I was booting from the external. I checked (not that the speed didn't give it away).

I'll try and put the image back on the external SSD again now and see what happens...

 

[WilliamG]

I'm using WinClone, yes. I know I was booting from the external. I checked (not that the speed didn't give it away).

I'll try and put the image back on the external SSD again now and see what happens...

Yep, something must have gotten messed up when I removed the Boot Camp partition. Re-installing the image to the external SSD (1TB Thunderbolt Samsung Evo, fyi) and it booted first time in Parallels.

 

[hfg]

Yep, something must have gotten messed up when I removed the Boot Camp partition. Re-installing the image to the external SSD (1TB Thunderbolt Samsung Evo, fyi) and it booted first time in Parallels.

Parallels?? ... but does it also cold boot properly?

Don't forget to load the Apple drivers (BootCamp drivers) once it is up and running to get the peripherals enabled.

 

[WilliamG]

Parallels?? ... but does it also cold boot properly?

Don't forget to load the Apple drivers (BootCamp drivers) once it is up and running to get the peripherals enabled.

I had already installed the BootCamp drivers. Yes, Parallels. And yes it cold boot properly.

I knew it was going to work since when it didn't work, I didn't have that funky pretty-colored screen before the login screen. When I re-imaged it, I had the pretty swirls on the clock screen before login, and it booted right in.

 

[hfg]

I had already installed the BootCamp drivers. Yes, Parallels. And yes it cold boot properly.

I knew it was going to work since when it didn't work, I didn't have that funky pretty-colored screen before the login screen. When I re-imaged it, I had the pretty swirls on the clock screen before login, and it booted right in.

Great ... glad you are up and running!

 

[WilliamG]

Great ... glad you are up and running!

Yep, cheers! Good to note for people with the same issue that after making an image of the internal Boot Camp installation, be sure to remove that Boot Camp installation BEFORE putting the image on the external disk.

 

[yjchua95]

Hey guys, did any of you figure out how to fix this issue?

I had Windows 8 on internal. I cloned to external Thunderbolt SSD. Then, deleted the internal partition, and I get stuck on the "Preparing..." when booting into Windows 8 off the Thunderbolt SSD..

Thanks for any help!

I got it figured:

Connect external drive to Windows VM. You must have a Windows VM in VMware/Parallels/VBox, or a Windows PC. Any existing Windows environment will do.

What you need:
install.wim file (obtain this from your Windows ISO)

Open elevated cmd.exe (run as admin)

Note: All commands aren't case sensitive, including pathway to files.

Type diskpart
Type list disk
Take note of the disk you want to select
Type select disk 1 (if your disk is Disk 1)
Type clean
Type convert gpt
Type create partition EFI size=100
Type format quick fs=fat32 label=EFI
Type assign letter=S
Type create partition primary
Type format fs=ntfs quick label=W2G (or any other name you wish for label)
Type assign letter=E
Type exit

Open up File Explorer. In your C drive, create a new folder named WIN2GO.
Put the install.wim file in this folder

Back in cmd.exe:
Type dism /apply-image /imagefile:C:\WIN2GO\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:E:\ (this process will take quite a while)
Type E:\Windows\System32\bcdboot E:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI

Restart your entire Mac. After the chime, hold down Option and when prompted to select your boot drive, select EFI Boot.

Proceed installation normally.

After installation, install Boot Camp drivers. Feel free to trash the VM once you're done too.

For best results, use USB 3/Thunderbolt. If you don't have USB 3, use Thunderbolt. If you have neither, stick back to the internal drive

This method is free, and above all, it installs in a UEFI environment regardless of whether you're using a UEFI-compliant Mac (Haswell and later) or just a plain old EFI Mac (Ivy Bridge and earlier)

 

[WilliamG]

Thank you for the reply, but this is already solved. Cheers, though.