Booting from External Drive

dcaubree · dcaubree #1 (**permalink**)

12-20-2010, 04:52 PM

I don't want to partition the hard drive on my 13'' MacBook Pro, so I've been thinking about running Windows 7 from an external hard drive.

My thought has been that I could boot from a Windows 7 live disc, then install the OS to my external drive, then I have the option to use the mac hotkeys at startup to boot from my USB drive.

Would this work?

I would just try it and find out, but while I'm waiting for my Windows disc to arrive I figured I'd ask anyway. What are your thoughts?

chscag · chscag #2 (**permalink**)

12-20-2010, 05:32 PM

Microsoft restricts booting Windows from internal drives only. This has been a restriction they imposed years ago, I believe starting with Win 95.

So the answer to your question is: While you can install Windows on an external drive, it won't be able to boot.

chscag #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008 Location: Fort Worth, Texas Posts: 32,387 Mac Specs: 21.5" iMac 2.5 GHz i5, iPad 3rd Gen., 3 iPods	12-20-2010, 05:32 PM Microsoft restricts booting Windows from internal drives only. This has been a restriction they imposed years ago, I believe starting with Win 95. So the answer to your question is: While you can install Windows on an external drive, it won't be able to boot. Community Guidelines
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dcaubree #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Nov 24, 2010 Posts: 20	12-20-2010, 04:52 PM I don't want to partition the hard drive on my 13'' MacBook Pro, so I've been thinking about running Windows 7 from an external hard drive. My thought has been that I could boot from a Windows 7 live disc, then install the OS to my external drive, then I have the option to use the mac hotkeys at startup to boot from my USB drive. Would this work? I would just try it and find out, but while I'm waiting for my Windows disc to arrive I figured I'd ask anyway. What are your thoughts?
	QUOTE Thanks

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