What about using the external drive to store windows APPS, not the OS?

[redsteven]

So we've established that with extra work, it is possible to get Windows installed on an external drive.

But what about this:
What if I set aside 5-10 gigs or so for a windows installation on my internal drive... and then I just install all my Windows games on an external drive?

That'll work, right?

 

[aki]

that is exactly what i do and yes works great...my advice... make sure you do give enough space for your OS install partition as if u need more space later its not fun...

almost all installers have options to change the install dir so just change your local drive letter to the external drive letter

i usually install system/OS stuff on the bootcamp partition like winrar or whatever and media players and stuff and just games and things on external

no problem at all after a few months

 

[redsteven]

Alright, thanks for the reply. Also, is it possible to partition the external drive so that part of is can be used by OS X and the other half by Windows?

 

[aki]

im trying to think if i have done it ever.... i dont thiiiink so......hm but anyway i think it should work ok... just partition from disk utility and then see if windows can see and format your empty partition

u have to test and see.... please tell us

 

[Neil321]

Yes it can be done in disk utilities format say half HFS+ ( this can also be used for time machine ) the other half FAT32 ( MAC-DOS ) or format it all FAT32 ( just remember your limited to 4GB file transfers). Their are other alternatives but they involve third party progs such as MacFuse or HFSExplorer

 

[redsteven]

Why would I use FAT32 over NTFS for the windows parition? Just so that OS X could write to it also?

 

[Neil321]

Why would I use FAT32 over NTFS for the windows parition? Just so that OS X could write to it also?

Correct OS X can both read/write to FAT32 volumes natively,like i posted their are alternatives but those involve third party software

 

[aki]

obviously dont go fat32 unless you really really need the readwrite

 

[dotdotdot]

It is incredibly easy to accomplish this, but worth noting that if it is an intense application, a USB hard drive would be pretty slow as USB speeds are nowhere near the SATA that connects your internal hard drive.

 

[redsteven]

Well if I were to do it in the future it would be with a macbook pro so i'd try to use either firewire 400, ethernet, or something i could connect through a card in the express slot.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

It would be primarily for games. Do you think firewire 400 would be significantly slower than the internal drive?

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Also, even though Windows needs 4 gigs min to run, it really needs more like 8 minimum to run smoothly, and then if you install anti-virus, and there's a few other programs that MUST be installed on the boot drive. I wouldn't go below 12 gigs, even if you install your games on an external drive.

P.S. iPod's are great for that. I used to run WoW off of my iPod, back when my mini's hard drive was only 40gb's.

 

[aki]

thejadedmonkey is right.....u need to be litttttle careful with space for os install as some software has to be on that partition and windows needs some space to work in so dont go too low..... i cant remember now what i gave mine but generous i think about x2 what people said u need min for vista

dotdotdot and speeds....i dont really know....sorry icant remember if my game ntfs drive is fw400 or usb2 i have to check later its at home but i thiiiiiiink i did fw400 because i worried about speeds but anyway i have had no problems with any speed at all with heavy gaming.....yes internal is faster but my external runs exactly same games same speeds

i will check if its fw or usb and edit post later

UPDATE: yes its def usb2 and no speed issue with games