Install
  1. Best Mac Compatible External Hard Drive
  2. Booting Mac From External
  3. Install Boot Camp On Mac External Hard Drive Mac
  4. Boot Mac From External Hd
  1. Jul 26, 2018 Neither Microsoft nor Boot Camp support installing Windows natively on an external drive. Of course there is a version of Windows that does support this and if you want to know more the Microsoft site would be the place to get additional information.
  2. Installing Boot Camp on Mac Pro 7.1 with PCIe drives. I needed to disconnect all external drives before the Boot Camp Assistant would run. But it's hard to.

Apple is trying to get us to dongle attach 'all the things' but what happens when that philosophy doesn't jive with all of your computing needs? One such situation is when wanting to run Windows 10 natively on your Mac (in my case my Mac mini). The 'normal' method would be to use Boot Camp to repartition your internal hard drive to make room for Windows 10. However, in some instances, repartitioning may not be an option. For example due to disk size limitations. Attaching a Thunderbolt 3 connected drive is the obvious solution but Windows 10 does NOT like to be installed onto detachable devices. Here's how to force the install of Windows 10 onto your externally attached drive!

What you'll need

Mar 20, 2019 Navigate to the Boot Camp E: drive. Move the files onto the Boot Camp E: drive. Finally, shut down VMware Fusion. Select Virtual Machine Shut Down. Mac OS changes. Now we can set the boot order to boot from the external drive. Open System Preferences. Select Startup Disk. Click the Lock. Enter your Password. Select Boot Camp Windows. Click Restart.

Hardware

Of course you'll need an externally connected drive. I went with a 240GB SATA SSD ($30) that I placed into Thunderbolt 3 capable external SATA enclosure ($9).

Software

First up we'll need an ISO copy of Windows 10.

  1. Navigate to the Windows 10 Download site.
  2. Select Windows 10 as the edition.

  3. Click Confirm.

  4. Select the Language you want.
  5. Click Confirm.
  6. Click the 64-bit Download.
  7. And the download will now begin.

Next, you can download the 30 day free trial of VMware Fusion.

  1. Navigate to the VMware Fusion download site.
  2. Click Download Now.
  3. Allow the download to complete.

Next, we'll need to get a Windows utility called Win-to-USB. Although there is a free version, installing Windows latest 1809 October update will require use to but the non-free version ($30). You are free to use the free version for older Windows 10 ISO's suck as 1803.

  1. Navigate to the Win-to-USB site.
  2. Select Upgrade to buy a license. (or if using an older Windows 10 ISO simply click Download for the free version).
  3. Click Download to get the software.

Finally, we'll need the Boot Camp Windows support files.

  1. Start Boot Camp Assistant from Spotlight.
  2. From the menu bar at the top of your screen click Action.

  3. Select Download support software.

  4. Choose a Download location and click Save.

The setup

The external drive

  1. Attach your external drive to your Mac.
  2. Start Disk Utility from Spotlight.
  3. Select your external drive.
  4. Click Erase.
  5. Rename the drive to Boot Camp.
  6. Ensure that the Format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

  7. Ensure the Scheme is set to GUID Partition Map.

  8. Click Erase.

VMware Fusion

  1. Install the VMware Fusion software we downloaded earlier by double clicking the DMG file.
  2. Double click the Installer.
  3. Enter your Password.
  4. Agree to the user agreement and select *try VMware Fusion for 30 days**.
  5. Create a New Virtual Machine.
  6. Drag and drop the Windows ISO file you downloaded earlier onto the VMware Fusion Window.

  7. Click Continue.

  8. Select your Windows Version to install. I use Windows 10 Home.
  9. Click Continue.
  10. Click Continue without key.
  11. Select More isolated.
  12. Click Continue.
  13. Click Finish.
  14. Click Save to allow the software to install Windows 10 in a virtual machine.
  15. Allow the Virtual Machine to boot into a Windows 10 desktop.

Windows 10 VM

Your Windows 10 VM should now be up and running. We will now prepare the external drive and put a basic installation of Window s10 on it.

  1. Click the Wrench Icon to start VM Settings.

  2. Click USB & Bluetooth.

  3. Check your external drive (here called Boot Camp).

  4. Click OK.

  5. Right-click the Windows Icon.

  6. Select Disk Management.

  7. Right-Click the Primary Partition of the attached drive.

  8. Select Delete Volume.

  9. Click Yes.
  10. Right-Click on the new Unallocated disk partition.

  11. Select New Simple Volume.

  12. Click Next.
  13. Click Next again.
  14. Again click Next.
  15. Change the Volume Label to Boot Camp.
  16. Click Next.
  17. Click Finish.

Next, we need to attach our Windows ISO to the Windows 10 VM.

  1. From the menu bar select Virtual Machine > CD/DVD SATA > Choose Disk or Disk Image.

  2. Select the Windows 10 ISO we downloaded.
  3. Click Open.
  4. From the menu bar select Virtual Machine > CD/DVD SATA > Connect CD/DVD.

Move files into the VM

  1. Drag and drop the WinToUSB_Free.exe file we downloaded earlier into the Windows 10 VM window.
  2. Drag and drop the WindowsSupport file we downloaded from Boot Camp earlier into the Windows 10 VM window.

Install Win-to-USB in the Windows 10 VM

  1. Double-Click the WinToUSBFree.exe in Windows.
  2. Install Win-to-USB with all of the defaults in your selected language.

Next, we run Win-to-USB.

  1. Double-Click the desktop Icon for Win-to-USB.
  2. If you bought a License to install 1809 October update, click Upgrade now.
  3. Enter your license key and click Register.
  4. Restart Win-to-USB.
  5. Select the CD/DVD icon.
  6. From the drop down list select your attached Windows 10 ISO.

  7. Select the version of Windows 10 you wish to install.

  8. Click Next.
  9. From the drop down list select your attached drive.
  10. Select the EFI partition (The smaller partition).
  11. Select the boot partition (The larger partition).
  12. Click Next.
  13. Allow the installation to complete.
  14. Click Exit.

Copy the WindowsSupport files from Boot Camp onto the newly updated windows partition on your externally attached drive.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Navigate to the Boot Camp E: drive.
  3. Move the files onto the Boot Camp E: drive.

Finally, shut down VMware Fusion.

  1. Select Virtual Machine > Shut Down.

Mac OS changes

Now we can set the boot order to boot from the external drive.

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Select Startup Disk.
  3. Click the Lock.
  4. Enter your Password.
  5. Select Boot Camp Windows.
  6. Click Restart.

Finishing up

That's it! Once the machine reboots you'll be presented with a Windows 10 install sequence. Follow the prompts like you normally would and you'll be able to run Windows 10 natively on your Mac. Here are some notes to follow up on.

  1. Once your windows installation is complete, remember to navigate into file explorer and install the Boot Camp drivers for your machine. That will setup your network card, display, and other Apple-centric devices. This will also install the Boot Camp program to help you reboot into macOS.
  2. If for some reason you have troubles, power down your Mac and simply detach your external drive. You should be able to simply reboot into macOS.
  3. If that fails, hold Command-Option-P-R all at once and wait until you hear two chimes. Once done, you'll be able to boot back into macOS.

Final comments

Now you can run native Windows 10 and native macOS Mojave. The best of both worlds with little compromise. If you have any tips on getting this working in a better or faster way. Please let us know in the comments!

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Vintage Fun

Watch this dongle flex allow a Mac Pro to work with 3 ancient Mac displays

The Pro Display XDR isn't Apple's first obscenely costly monitor. Watch some of the others be hooked up to a Mac Pro.

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Boot Camp Assistant User Guide

You need an external USB drive to install Windows on older Mac computers. To find out whether you have a Mac that requires an external USB drive, see the “Learn more” section in the Apple Support article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant. If your Mac is a newer model that doesn’t require a USB drive, follow the instructions in Install Windows on your newer Mac using Boot Camp instead.

What you need

  • The keyboard and mouse or trackpad that came with your Mac. (If they aren’t available, use a USB keyboard and mouse.)

  • A blank 16 GB or larger external USB 2 flash drive, formatted as MS-DOS (FAT).

    To format an external USB drive as MS-DOS (FAT), use Disk Utility, located in /Applications/Utilities. Quicken download for mac 2015. In Disk Utility, choose View > All Devices, select the USB drive in the sidebar, then click Erase in the toolbar. In the dialog, enter a name for the drive, choose MS-DOS (FAT) from the Format pop-up menu, choose Master Boot Record from the Scheme pop-up menu, then click Erase.

  • A full-installation, 64-bit version of Windows 10 on a disk image (ISO file) or other installation media.

    You can download a Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) from Microsoft.

  • Sufficient free storage space on your startup drive. For information about the amount of free space needed, see the Apple Support Article Install Windows 10 on your Mac with Boot Camp Assistant.

Before you begin

Before you install Windows, make sure you back up important files.

You can use Time Machine or any other method to back up your files. For information about backing up files, see Back up your files with Time Machine and Ways to back up or protect your files.

Perform the installation

Do the following steps in order.

Step 1: Check for software updates

Before you install Windows, install all macOS updates.

  1. On your Mac, log in as an administrator, quit all open apps, then log out any other users.

  2. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Software Update, then install all available updates.

    If your Mac restarts after installing an update, open Software Update again to install any additional updates.

Step 2: Prepare your Mac for Windows

Boot Camp Assistant prepares your Mac by creating a new partition for Windows named BOOTCAMP and downloading the Boot Camp support software.

Best Mac Compatible External Hard Drive

Important: If you’re using a portable Mac, connect it to a power source before continuing.

Booting Mac From External

  1. Connect an external USB drive or insert a flash drive into the USB port on your Mac; keep it connected or inserted while you install Windows and the Windows support software.

  2. On your Mac, open Boot Camp Assistant , located in /Applications/Utilities.

  3. At the introduction screen, click Continue.

    The system is checked for total available disk space. Older Time Machine snapshots and cached iCloud files are removed to make space for Boot Camp. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to skip this process).

  4. At the Select Tasks step, select all the tasks, then click Continue.

  5. At the Create Bootable USB Drive for Windows Installation step, choose the Windows ISO image and the USB drive, then click Continue.

    The Windows files are copied to the USB drive. This process may take a long time to complete (you can click the Stop button to interrupt this process).

  6. /auto-tune-pro-antares.html. At the Create a Partition for Windows step, specify a partition size by dragging the divider between the macOS and Windows partitions. If you have multiple internal hard drives, you can select a different hard drive from the one running macOS and create a single partition on that drive to use solely for Windows.

  7. Click Install.

When this step is complete, the Windows installer starts.

Step 3: Install Windows

  1. In the Windows installer, follow the onscreen instructions.

  2. When you’re asked where to install Windows, select the BOOTCAMP partition (you may need to scroll through the list of partitions to see it), then click Next.

    WARNING: Do not create or delete a partition, or select any other partition. Doing so may delete the entire contents of your macOS partition.

  3. Continue following the onscreen instructions to finish installing Windows.

    After you install the Windows software, your Mac automatically restarts using Windows.

  4. Follow the onscreen instructions to set up Windows.

Step 4: Install Boot Camp on Windows

After installing Windows, Boot Camp drivers that support your Mac hardware start installing.

Install Boot Camp On Mac External Hard Drive Mac

Note: If the support software doesn’t install automatically, you need to install it manually. For instructions, see the Apple Support article If the Boot Camp installer doesn't open after using Boot Camp Assistant.

  1. In the Boot Camp installer in Windows, follow the onscreen instructions.

    Important: Do not click the Cancel button in any of the installer dialogs.

    If a message appears that says the software you’re installing has not passed Windows Logo testing, click Continue Anyway.

    You don’t need to respond to installer dialogs that appear only briefly during installation, but if a dialog asks you to install device software, click Install.

    If nothing appears to be happening, there may be a hidden window that you must respond to. Look behind open windows.

  2. When the installation is complete, click Finish, then click Yes to restart your Mac.

  3. After your Mac restarts, follow the instructions for any other installers that appear.

Boot Mac From External Hd

See alsoGet started with Boot Camp on MacTroubleshoot Boot Camp Assistant problems on MacApple Support website: Boot Camp Support