Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

rybuda

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 1, 2006
2
0
In order to keep my MBP free from the hazards of Windows, I want to install Windows on a separate external HD. I am at a loss as to what sort of HD to buy since I read that FireWire drives cannot boot Windows. I would preferibly want an external HD that does not need an external power source, but it's ok as long as they can boot Windows. Any advice?
 
rybuda said:
In order to keep my MBP free from the hazards of Windows, I want to install Windows on a separate external HD. I am at a loss as to what sort of HD to buy since I read that FireWire drives cannot boot Windows. I would preferibly want an external HD that does not need an external power source, but it's ok as long as they can boot Windows. Any advice?

In short, I don't think there is an easy/any way to do this.

As far as I know, Windows can't be installed and booted from an external USB or firewire HD. I know it can be installed on a SCSI external drive. Possibly a SATA external drive. You would need an Express/34 SATA card.
 
BootCamp only supports the primary internal drive at the moment. No matter what sort of external drive you but it won't work.
 
skubish said:
In short, I don't think there is an easy/any way to do this.

As far as I know, Windows can't be installed and booted from an external USB or firewire HD. I know it can be installed on a SCSI external drive. Possibly a SATA external drive. You would need an Express/34 SATA card.
Most PCs can also boot off USB. You can install Windows on external drives as long as the Windows installer supports the USB chipset out of the box and it finds the drive obviously.

I also believe the MBP is able to boot from USB so I see no reason why it wouldn't be possible to install Windows on an external drive. All BootCamp does is partition your internal drive (which you won't need to do if you install on an external drive) and burn a drivers CD.

That said I've not tried it so while theoretically it's possible I can't confirm that it will work.
 
Check out this thread......

It outlines goes into the topic in great detail to sum up apparently it IS possible but read the thread for more details,

ShadoW
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.