How to run OS off external drive

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Level 1

114 points

How to run OS off external drive

I've upgraded my internal hard drive once already for lack of space, but my iTunes library just keeps getting bigger. If I buy a 2TB external 800 FireWire drive, and install 10.6 on it, can my MacBook pro boot and run off the external OS?

Thanks in advance!

iPad 64GB, Macbook Pro 2.4Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6.4), 4 GBs of ram

Posted on Aug 7, 2010 1:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Niel

Level 10

727,259 points

Aug 7, 2010 1:36 PM in response to Enio Rigolin2

If I buy a 2TB external 800 FireWire drive, and install 10.6 on it, can my MacBook pro boot and run off the external OS?

Yes.

(53224)

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Answer 2

Enio Rigolin2 Author

Level 1

114 points

Aug 7, 2010 1:53 PM in response to Niel

Thanks for the fast reply, Neil! Here's a follow-up question...

If I buy TWO 1TB external 800 FireWire drives and initialize them as a single "striped" drive, can I still install the OS? Or does the startup drive always have to be initialized as "Mac OS Extended?"

If striping is out, could I use the MacBook Pro's internal drive to run the OS, and somehow designate my iTunes library to the external 800 fw?

P.S. Because of a broken screen, my Macbook Pro is now a desktop, so I don't have to worry about the cables disconnecting.

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Answer 3

iVmichael

Level 6

13,740 points

Aug 7, 2010 3:01 PM in response to Enio Rigolin2

I think the answer to your first question is yes, check out these pages for more details:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2559?viewlocale=en_US
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1013.html

You can locate the iTunes Library on any Volume and simply add an alias to it in the appropriate Boot volume location - e.g./Users/yourname/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library

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Answer 4

Enio Rigolin2 Author

Level 1

114 points

Aug 7, 2010 3:02 PM in response to iVmichael

Thanks iVmichael!!!

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