Running Windows 7 from your SD Card Slot
I run Windows 7 using Parallels from an Extreme III SD Card to isolate my mac from Windows and save HD Space (I have a 256 SSD). It was such a process to get it working though that I just wanted everyone to know what I have found out in working with Windows 7 on my Macbook from the SD Card slot:
1) Rated speed of the SD Card doesn't matter but brand does matter
I used 4 SD Cards before I found the right one. I first bought a 16gb "class 10" Adata card that just stopped working and it's replacement never worked. Amazon removed my negative review. I also have a Kingston Class 4, tried a Panasonic Class 10, and a SanDisk Class 10 Extreme III: All the speeds were nearly identical in the card slot but only the SanDisk and Kingston gave consistent non-jittery performance.
2) Don't Run ANY version of Fusion using the SD Card slot- not even 3.0. They all run UNBEARABLY SLOW using the slot. Parallels, including a test of the new 5.0 worked great- Like you are on a PC runs.
3) Don't expect the card reader to work at 480mb/s or even 240- peaks of 15megabytes per second is all you will see and usual 10/s. Thanks Apple for putting a substandard reader in the MacBook 😟. Here are some of my screenshots:
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=memorycards&thread .id=1098
4) Parallels needs your SD card to have a certain amount of free space in order to start up the virtual machine and I believe it's over 1GB. That means you need AT LEAST a 16gb card for just running Windows 7 and Enterprise Office on it- and you will need to often use Parallels Disk Imaging Tool to compact your virtual machine if you have the 16GB (which isn't a big deal for me). If you have more you need to do on it you can't get away with anything less than a 32GB SD Card.
I appreciate Apple putting this slot in the MacBook Pro (I could use the Express slot for eSata though) and Keeping windows on an SD Card, away from my mac is working great. Performance using Parallels is fast using the Extreme III Sandisk 16gb Class 10. Post with any questions you may have I just don't want anyone to go through the nightmares I did to get this working.
1) Rated speed of the SD Card doesn't matter but brand does matter
I used 4 SD Cards before I found the right one. I first bought a 16gb "class 10" Adata card that just stopped working and it's replacement never worked. Amazon removed my negative review. I also have a Kingston Class 4, tried a Panasonic Class 10, and a SanDisk Class 10 Extreme III: All the speeds were nearly identical in the card slot but only the SanDisk and Kingston gave consistent non-jittery performance.
2) Don't Run ANY version of Fusion using the SD Card slot- not even 3.0. They all run UNBEARABLY SLOW using the slot. Parallels, including a test of the new 5.0 worked great- Like you are on a PC runs.
3) Don't expect the card reader to work at 480mb/s or even 240- peaks of 15megabytes per second is all you will see and usual 10/s. Thanks Apple for putting a substandard reader in the MacBook 😟. Here are some of my screenshots:
http://communities.sandisk.com/sandisk/board/message?board.id=memorycards&thread .id=1098
4) Parallels needs your SD card to have a certain amount of free space in order to start up the virtual machine and I believe it's over 1GB. That means you need AT LEAST a 16gb card for just running Windows 7 and Enterprise Office on it- and you will need to often use Parallels Disk Imaging Tool to compact your virtual machine if you have the 16GB (which isn't a big deal for me). If you have more you need to do on it you can't get away with anything less than a 32GB SD Card.
I appreciate Apple putting this slot in the MacBook Pro (I could use the Express slot for eSata though) and Keeping windows on an SD Card, away from my mac is working great. Performance using Parallels is fast using the Extreme III Sandisk 16gb Class 10. Post with any questions you may have I just don't want anyone to go through the nightmares I did to get this working.
13'' Unibody MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 256 SSD, 4GB, 24'' CD, 1TB TC, 3G, M Stand, Pio SE-A1000's