Replace optical drive with SSD

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MBP 13" early 2011 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
I have to sometimes use Windows for work, despite my kicking and screaming. I'm thinking of swapping out my optical drive with an SSD drive and running Windows on it. I'm wondering if I can have both Mac OS and Windows running at the same time if I do this. Mac OS from my main hard drive and Windows from the new drive. Anyone care to comment? Any concerns I should be aware of? Thanks!
 

chscag

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2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
We have seen numerous threads in our forums proposing to do exactly what you describe: Run OS X on the main drive and Windows on the second drive. Before you begin, you should know that if you remove your optical drive, install a SSD in its place and attempt to install Windows on the SSD, that it will not install. Windows will only install and boot from the main drive.

If you only need to run Windows sometimes for work, it's probably best to install virtual software (Parallels, Fusion or the free VirtualBox) and install Windows in a VM. That's a lot easier to do and does not require a reboot. If your current hard drive is not large enough, replace it with a larger one or a large SSD and leave the optical drive in place. (That's my opinion.)
 
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Thanks so much for the quick reply. I realized after I posted that I should have done a bit of research on the site first. Newbie mistake. Think I'll keep everything as is.
 

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