MacOS AND Win10 on external USB disk

Question

Level 1

8 points

MacOS AND Win10 on external USB disk

Sadly, I just broke my beloved MacBookPro A1286.

My wife has another MacBookPro, she has an A1502, model 11,1, with 8Gb RAM; unfortunately it has an already full SSD disk, and I can’t use it because I need a lot of disk space; moreover, sometimes I need to use some Windows10 apps, therefore I need to install Windows10, too. It would be simple for me to use an external SSD disk, using Boot Camp, with another OS X system installed on it, and in this way I wouldn’t modify my wife’s MacBook at all. BUT: what about Windows10, too, on the external disk? Is it possible? And, in this case, what would be the correct procedure in order to do this? Thanks in advance for your attention.

Best Regards

Maurizio, Rome, Italy

MacBook Pro

Posted on Mar 9, 2020 6:14 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 9, 2020 6:33 AM in response to MaurizioLuce

Running macOS on a Mac using an external disk is fully supported. The part that Apple does not support (based on Microsoft requirements) is running Windows on an external disk.

Windows2Go only works under Windows Enterprise licensing scheme, but driver differences between laptops requires careful backups of such an installation.

A1286 is a 2010-2012 model, while the A1502 is MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) - Technical Specifications. What year is the A1286? There are significant differences between the 2010-2012 and 2014 Macs, which impact Windows.

Reply

Answer 2

MaurizioLuce Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 9, 2020 8:28 AM in response to Loner T

Hey LonerT , thanks for your prompt answer.

A1286 (model 5,1) was my old mac, but I didn't have Win10 on it; it was powerful enough for my Mac apps, and actually I have Win10 on a separate machine: but now I'm investigating whether I can simplify the whole thing just putting both operating systems on the external disk. In fact, my wife is a little worried (..and a little jealous ;-) too) about her Mac, and best thing would be not to change anything on it; I suppose that if I can have both systems on the external disk I succeed in this idea. I wasn't thinking about windows2go, I (maybe I was wrong...) I was imaging bootCamp asking me, at the boot, which machine I want to use, among the three: one is my wife's O, second my MacOS onside, third Win10 on disk. I didn't consider windows2go, it's another way to fix the problem but, now I have another question: wouldn't it change the let's call it "my wife's system" or would it be left untouched?

Sorry for being so boring, and please forgive my basic english, I really appreciate your help.

Thanks

Maurizio, Roma, Italy

Reply

Answer 3

MaurizioLuce Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 9, 2020 8:31 AM in response to MaurizioLuce

sorry, i mistyped something;

"one is my wife's O, second my MacOS onside, third Win10 on disk"

I meant:

"one is my wife's Operating System, second is my MacOS on ext disk and third is Win10 on same ext disk."

Reply

Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 9, 2020 1:59 PM in response to MaurizioLuce

Your 5,1 is a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008) - Technical Specifications, very different from the 2014 model, but nevertheless and excellent Mac.

Let me suggest the following. If you do not use for any significant GPU-intensive/CPU-intensive work, it may be worth using a Virtualization engine, cloning your Windows/2008 installation to an external disk and using it as a VM, instead of trying to boot it natively in Bootcamp. This would leave your wife's Mac relatively 'untouched', except for the installation of VM software. The same disk can also have a macOS installation for natively booting from 'your' copy of macOS, instead if your wife's macOS installation. If you encrypt your external macOS installation via FileVault, it will protect the macOS and the virtual disk clone of your Windows/2008 installation. There are other variants of a similar solution.

Another option is to use the disk as is, in an external enclosure. You can use your Windows machine to boot the external disk's Windows installation, while the macOS part of the external disk can be booted on the 2014 Mac. However, you give up portability of Windows, if your current Windows machine is a desktop. You would also lose any portability, the moment your wife needs to use the 2014 Mac for herself.

Reply

MacOS AND Win10 on external USB disk

Similar questions