Boot MBA from USbB drive

[meryde]

can the MBA boot from the external USB drive, to run programs like Disk Warrior, or to boot from a backup drive?

 

[izibo]

can the MBA boot from the external USB drive, to run programs like Disk Warrior, or to boot from a backup drive?

Yes. I just did this Friday. I was exchanging my MacBook Air, and cloned the HD to an external USB. I got the new one, booted off the external HD, and cloned it back to the internal drive.

Worked just as you would expect (hold down option, select your boot device, and done).

 

[hephem]

Hi to all,

This might be a stupid question, but anyway, here I go:
A USB dongle has flash memory which could mean it is actualy faster than a HD. Could we install OSX in the USB dongle and therefor make the MBA boot from it?

Would it actualy worth?

Thanks for your answers.

Cheers

 

[iToaster]

Hi to all,

This might be a stupid question, but anyway, here I go:
A USB dongle has flash memory which could mean it is actualy faster than a HD. Could we install OSX in the USB dongle and therefor make the MBA boot from it?

Would it actualy worth?

Thanks for your answers.

Cheers

Yes, it is possible if the drive was large enough, however usb's transfer rate is not desirable for booting. The 4200 rpm 1.8" HD inside it would be faster for booting than any usb device.