Bootcamp on thunderbolt external SSD

Hi all, I'm kind of desperate on this one so I'm posting my problem in case anyone managed to solve it.


I have a 2018 Macbook Pro running Bootcamp using an external SSD over USB 3.1. It was running perfectly until now but I decided to go ahead and purchase a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure to take advantage of the full speed of the SSD.


My issue is that the enclosure seems to work fine on Mac, but when I install Windows on it, I'm unable to successfully boot up Windows. I get a BSOD during the Windows loading screen with the message DRIVER_VERIFIER_DMA_VIOLATION.


I then installed Windows on my Mac's internal SSD and boot it up perfectly, then connected my TB3 enclosure and got the same error screen.


If I boot up Windows from a USB drive and then connect the TB3 enclosure, it seems to work fine.


Something I've noticed is that when I'm using a USB drive, the icon on Mac is yellow, whereas the Bootcamp partition on the Mac's SSD and the TB3 enclosure show up in white. (Although I'm guessing this only means external drive vs internal drive)


I've seen people running Bootcamp on TB3 SSDs on Youtube (not sure if I'm allowed to post links here but they're easy to find). So I'm trying to understand if my enclosure is defective or Bootcamp cannot run on a TB3 SSD.


Any help is appreciated.

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.6

Posted on Sep 28, 2022 2:54 AM

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Sep 28, 2022 6:56 AM in response to BobTheFisherman

Whereas I appreciate the comment, it doesn't really help me much in understanding what's happening.


Windows installation might not be officially supported but the reality is that many of us have this configuration and it has been working well until now using an USB external drive. Perhaps I can't have a Windows installation on a TB3 SSD in the same way and I'm willing to accept that if that's the answer to my problem (although your reply doesn't seem to fully suggest that).


Thanks for your response regardless.

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Bootcamp on thunderbolt external SSD

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