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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,787
132
From my late 2009 macMin, i want to ask if its possible to boot into windows, but not having Windows on the system drive... i want to have them on a flash disk or an external drive... is this possible?
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,787
132
So I can have Windows running from a FlashDrive or ExtHdDrive that will be mounted on a USB port of my MacMini?
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,749
4,572
Delaware
That will work...
You would probably need the bootcamp drivers to add to the Rufus Windows install.
 

zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
4,787
132
You mean i have to install Bootcamp on my MacMini first?
 

DeltaMac

macrumors G5
Jul 30, 2003
13,749
4,572
Delaware
No, I don't mean that you have to install BootCamp.
But, you will need the bootcamp drivers, which support the Windows install on Mac hardware.
You can get the driver install that you need using brigadier.
 
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arinamichel911

macrumors member
May 4, 2023
52
11
Yeah, It is possible to install and run Windows on an external drive or a USB flash disk on your late 2009 Mac mini. The process typically involves using Apple's Boot Camp Assistant.
 

DaveFromCampbelltown

macrumors 68000
Jun 24, 2020
1,779
2,874
You can set up Windows 10 or 11 onto an external USB drive (I heartily recommend a good USB 3 SSD) using either Hasleo's WinToUSB (via another Windows machine) or Twocanoes' Winclone on a Mac.

Download and burn the Windows ISO to your drive via either of the two programs.
When finished, insert the drive into your Mac, hold down the Option Key and select the Windows drive.
Boot into Windows, configure as desired, run updates, etc, etc, etc.

You need to separately download the Windows Support folder (which you can do via the Bootcamp app) and install it once your Windows is up and running.

I have been doing this for several years, as my iMac has a Fusion drive, and when Bootcamp partitions it, it only partitions the HDD part of the drive. Consequently Windows is running from a HDD and is very slow. Installing to an external SSD is much faster.

BTW, burning a Windows ISO to a SSD via WinToUSB will give you a drive that will boot up either a Mac or PC.
 

startergo

macrumors 603
Sep 20, 2018
5,019
2,282
From my late 2009 macMin, i want to ask if its possible to boot into windows, but not having Windows on the system drive... i want to have them on a flash disk or an external drive... is this possible?
 
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