Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Can you install programs on a external sdd or hdd using thunderbolt

Hey,

I was wondering if on the new Macbook Pro, If you can install programs on a external HDD or SSD? Would it affect the performance of the programs? What would be the best way to add storage?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Mac OS X (10.7.4)

Posted on Jul 12, 2012 6:34 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jul 12, 2012 7:28 AM

It really depends on the program. Some programs do not like being put anywhere but the boot hard drive's Applications folder, and won't update themselves unless that's where they are installed. External hard drives tend to be better as backup drives, than as primary storage drives. If you use them as primary storage, you'll need another drive or disc for backup.

11 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jul 12, 2012 7:28 AM in response to Cammy1230

It really depends on the program. Some programs do not like being put anywhere but the boot hard drive's Applications folder, and won't update themselves unless that's where they are installed. External hard drives tend to be better as backup drives, than as primary storage drives. If you use them as primary storage, you'll need another drive or disc for backup.

Jul 12, 2012 8:35 PM in response to Cammy1230

like Brody said but here's the thing: OS X is really UNIX, and as such all programs are self-contained and can technically be put anywhere, BUT OS X expects all the apps to be in particular directories, so if you put them on external drives, you more than likely won't be able to find them as easily (such as in the Applications folder, or Launchpad--Spotlight MIGHT find it). You can still get to it of course by just find the app in Finder and/or making an alias to it in one of the above mentioned places.

Jul 12, 2012 9:02 PM in response to Cammy1230

As others have mentioned, I would use an internal HD or SSD to store all applications - that's where OS X expects them to be.


However, you mention the possibility as to adding a Thunderbolt HD or SSD... I've seen a few Thunderbolt HD's (from LaCie and Pegasus(? not sure about that last one)) and LaCie, in my opinion, makes great drives for Macintosh. They are expensive right now but, as more Windows PCs adopt Thunderbolt I expect that the pricing will drop in the next year or so. As you can daisy-chain Thunderbolt devices, there would be no reason why you couldn't have one as a back-up and one as a scratch/work drive. Or even partition one large drive to do double duty.


At some point - when prices come down - I expect that I will be looking at Thunderbolt drives rather than the FW800's that I'm using now. At least one, anyway!


Clinton

Jul 12, 2012 9:28 PM in response to Cammy1230

I'm assuming you have the non-Retina display? If so, you can upgrade your internal HD to a fast 7200rpm larger drive or go with a SSD (around 512GB, say) to speed everything up.


Applications (programs) are not really internal drive memory hogs - depending on which application you're using, it's the scratch files, video, audio, etc., that can really add up. Those could be written to a fast external drive.

And you must have either a back-up drive that is either a partitioned or expressly used for back-ups. I recommend Time Machine, since it's free from Apple and has worked amazingly well for me since I began using it with Snow Leopard.


There have been a lot of users here having trouble with the USB 3.0 ports on the new 2012 models. I expect that a fix will be coming along at some point. Until then, read this Apple FAQ - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5172#12 - about using USB 3.0 ports on the new machines.


Good luck,


Clinton

Jul 12, 2012 9:55 PM in response to Cammy1230

Just to give you an example - I have a lot of Applications installed: a lot. But they only take up 50.7 GB on my hard drive - not even 1/10 of my 512GB capacity. If you're looking at a Retina I would get at a minimum to 512GB flash drive and 16GB of Ram because, unlike non-Retina machines, the flash drive is not, as of this writing, upgradeable and the RAM is soldered onto the logic board.


Program space is not a problem - having gigabytes and gigabytes of photos, music, video, etc., is. And they can easily be placed on an external drive (that's what I do with my 1 terabyte - I use my 2 terabyte for Time Machine back-ups and have an ancient LaCie 250GB that I just use as a 'holding' area.


If you want to play games, Mac's aren't the best way to go. To get around this you can either use Boot Camp, from Apple, to create a bootable partition for Windows 7 or 8, or use a virtual machine such as Parallels Desktop or VMFusion to play your Windows games. Now I'm not saying that Mac's don't have games - there are a slew of them - just not as many as on the Windows side.


Good luck - hope that this was of some help - call back with any other questions,


Clinton

Jul 12, 2012 10:13 PM in response to Cammy1230

As I said, you can always try out Parallels and VMFusion. Parallels has a free 14-day trial and VMFusion has a 30-day free trial. Before going the Boot Camp route, I'd try one of these and see if they fit your needs.


Storage is a big deal for me, too. That's why I have 3 devices! But most important to me is having, at least, daily back-ups, which is why I use Time Machine on one of my externals (if I had an office to go to every day, I'd likely have two back-ups).


Hopefully, you'll be able to use Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 devices. Yeah, the Thunderbolts are pricey but they're fast and they work, whereas I've seen numerous posts with people with 2012 models having problems getting USB 3.0 to recognize external drives.


Clinton

Can you install programs on a external sdd or hdd using thunderbolt

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.