Is it possible to run Bootcamp off an external hard drive?

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lNomNoml

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#251649 4-Jul-2019 19:16

Is it possible to run Bootcamp off an external hard drive?

Has anyone done this? can anyone help direct me to a working guide they used?

This is for WIndows 10 on a MacBook Air that has only 17GB free disk space but the user has a 1TB external hard drive.

Thank you

jamesrt

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#2270132 4-Jul-2019 20:03

Top Google result:

https://9to5mac.com/2017/08/31/how-windows-10-mac-boot-camp-external-drive-video/

lNomNoml

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#2270161 4-Jul-2019 21:31

jamesrt:

Top Google result:

https://9to5mac.com/2017/08/31/how-windows-10-mac-boot-camp-external-drive-video/

Yes but has anyone actually done it on this forum I can google also but looking for anyone who has experience with it and has done it.

lxsw20

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#2270165 4-Jul-2019 21:38

May not work on a machine with a T2.

What do you want to know? The post above has a guide, other than that Boot Camp is pretty standard. Long as you're using USB3/Thunderbolt and preferably an SSD it should be quick enough.

empacher48

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#2270225 5-Jul-2019 06:40

I do with a 2015 MacBook pro. I can’t remember how I did it, but I followed a couple of top hits on Google. Performance wise it takes a bit longer than you’re used to when it boots. But generally perform as ok.

Yogi02

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#2270276 5-Jul-2019 09:33

lxsw20:

May not work on a machine with a T2.

What do you want to know? The post above has a guide, other than that Boot Camp is pretty standard. Long as you're using USB3/Thunderbolt and preferably an SSD it should be quick enough.

Why would it not work with a T2? - Had a Macbook Air (Early 2015) for ages but have not used the T port for anything other than HDMI to a TV.

Brumfondl

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#2270290 5-Jul-2019 09:48

Yogi02:

lxsw20:

May not work on a machine with a T2.

What do you want to know? The post above has a guide, other than that Boot Camp is pretty standard. Long as you're using USB3/Thunderbolt and preferably an SSD it should be quick enough.

Why would it not work with a T2? - Had a Macbook Air (Early 2015) for ages but have not used the T port for anything other than HDMI to a TV.

T2 is a security chip, not a port. It can prevent you from booting off an external disk. https://support.apple.com/en-nz/HT208330 shows more about this.

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Shapenz

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#2270307 5-Jul-2019 10:23

I have it running off a USB-C SSD drive on my Mac Mini 2018 which has the T2.

You need a windows PC to install windows initially using Win2USB then just remove and plug into the Mac for stage two of the windows setup eg.. when it reboots after copying all the files.

Works really well for me.

Flick me a PM if you want any more info

Edit for link -

https://www.easyuefi.com/wintousb/

lNomNoml

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#2271220 6-Jul-2019 23:08

Ok thank you all for the replies, I'm going to see the user tomorrow and will see how far I get.

lNomNoml

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#2272075 8-Jul-2019 21:30

So I finally managed to get this working, surprisingly many guides online don't work, or don't work anymore.

I followed the guide from here: https://9to5mac.com/2017/08/31/how-windows-10-mac-boot-camp-external-drive-video/

Irritatingly the Bootcamp assistant wouldn't download the drivers onto my flash drive or external hard drive so I had to use this program: https://www.intowindows.com/brigadier-download-boot-camp-drivers-without-boot-camp-assistant/

It works amazingly well, auto detecting which exact Apple device you have and which drivers you need, you need to run it while in the Windows 10 and it must either be via VMware or while you are in the Windows via Bootcamp.

Running the program while in bootcamp didn't work as the WiFi driver wasn't installed, I managed to download this Bootcamp installer: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1837?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

The problem is that this Bootcamp support software isn't the correctly one but luckily for me the WiFi driver inside the installer worked when I installed it manually, I was then able to run Brigadier and get all the other drivers as it downloaded the correct Bootcamp support software for me.

So all in all I was successful, the Windows isn't a fully fledged install it's a Windows to Go install but as far as I can see this doesn't affect much, user seems happy so far.