Boot Camp External Hard Drive Mac

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Mar 22, 2012  The best ways to format an external drive for Windows and Mac. Compare the different options for formatting an external hard drive to work with Windows and Mac. Jan 06, 2020 Skip this step on Mac. If you want to set your computer to boot from an external hard drive, you'll need to access the BIOS, which is a control panel that you open by pressing repeatedly a key (usually a function key such as F12) as your computer starts up. You can usually find out what key to use by doing the following. Dec 29, 2018 Install Windows on the external SSD/HDD for your Mac. Tom Nelson has composed an excellent article on how to use Boot camp on an external drive and my post is a filter of followup comments.

Apr 06, 2020 By default, your Mac starts up from its built-in hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your Mac. For example, if you install macOS on an internal or external drive, your Mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up. First boot and driver installation Plug the external hard drive into your Mac. Start your Mac and hold the ALT (⎇) key to choose the Windows Drive you just installed. Windows will boot, and then will reboot the computer. Once on the Windows desktop appears, plug in your Apple Windows Drivers USB.

Apple is trying to get us to dongle attach 'all the things' but what happens when that philosophy doesn't jive with all of your computing needs? One such situation is when wanting to run Windows 10 natively on your Mac (in my case my Mac mini). The 'normal' method would be to use Boot Camp to repartition your internal hard drive to make room for Windows 10. However, in some instances, repartitioning may not be an option. For example due to disk size limitations. Attaching a Thunderbolt 3 connected drive is the obvious solution but Windows 10 does NOT like to be installed onto detachable devices. Here's how to force the install of Windows 10 onto your externally attached drive!

What you'll need

Hardware

Of course you'll need an externally connected drive. I went with a 240GB SATA SSD ($30) that I placed into Thunderbolt 3 capable external SATA enclosure ($9).

Software

First up we'll need an ISO copy of Windows 10.

  1. Navigate to the Windows 10 Download site.
  2. Select Windows 10 as the edition.

  3. Click Confirm.

  4. Select the Language you want.
  5. Click Confirm.
  6. Click the 64-bit Download.
  7. And the download will now begin.

Next, you can download the 30 day free trial of VMware Fusion.

  1. Navigate to the VMware Fusion download site.
  2. Click Download Now.
  3. Allow the download to complete.

Next, we'll need to get a Windows utility called Win-to-USB. Although there is a free version, installing Windows latest 1809 October update will require use to but the non-free version ($30). You are free to use the free version for older Windows 10 ISO's suck as 1803.

  1. Navigate to the Win-to-USB site.
  2. Select Upgrade to buy a license. (or if using an older Windows 10 ISO simply click Download for the free version).
  3. Click Download to get the software.

External Hard Drive Mac Format

Finally, we'll need the Boot Camp Windows support files.

  1. Start Boot Camp Assistant from Spotlight.
  2. From the menu bar at the top of your screen click Action.

  3. Select Download support software.

  4. Choose a Download location and click Save.

The setup

The external drive

  1. Attach your external drive to your Mac.
  2. Start Disk Utility from Spotlight.
  3. Select your external drive.
  4. Click Erase.
  5. Rename the drive to Boot Camp.
  6. Ensure that the Format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

  7. Ensure the Scheme is set to GUID Partition Map.

  8. Click Erase.

VMware Fusion

  1. Install the VMware Fusion software we downloaded earlier by double clicking the DMG file.
  2. Double click the Installer.
  3. Enter your Password.
  4. Agree to the user agreement and select *try VMware Fusion for 30 days**.
  5. Create a New Virtual Machine.
  6. Drag and drop the Windows ISO file you downloaded earlier onto the VMware Fusion Window.

  7. Click Continue.

  8. Select your Windows Version to install. I use Windows 10 Home.
  9. Click Continue.
  10. Click Continue without key.
  11. Select More isolated.
  12. Click Continue.
  13. Click Finish.
  14. Click Save to allow the software to install Windows 10 in a virtual machine.
  15. Allow the Virtual Machine to boot into a Windows 10 desktop.

Windows 10 VM

Your Windows 10 VM should now be up and running. We will now prepare the external drive and put a basic installation of Window s10 on it.

  1. Click the Wrench Icon to start VM Settings.

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  2. Click USB & Bluetooth.

  3. Check your external drive (here called Boot Camp).

  4. Click OK.

  5. Right-click the Windows Icon.

  6. Select Disk Management.

  7. Right-Click the Primary Partition of the attached drive.

  8. Select Delete Volume.

  9. Click Yes.
  10. Right-Click on the new Unallocated disk partition.

  11. Select New Simple Volume.

  12. Click Next.
  13. Click Next again.
  14. Again click Next.
  15. Change the Volume Label to Boot Camp.
  16. Click Next.
  17. Click Finish.

Next, we need to attach our Windows ISO to the Windows 10 VM.

  1. From the menu bar select Virtual Machine > CD/DVD SATA > Choose Disk or Disk Image.

  2. Select the Windows 10 ISO we downloaded.
  3. Click Open.
  4. From the menu bar select Virtual Machine > CD/DVD SATA > Connect CD/DVD.

Move files into the VM

Boot Camp External Hard Drive Mac Download

  1. Drag and drop the WinToUSB_Free.exe file we downloaded earlier into the Windows 10 VM window.
  2. Drag and drop the WindowsSupport file we downloaded from Boot Camp earlier into the Windows 10 VM window.

Install Win-to-USB in the Windows 10 VM

  1. Double-Click the WinToUSBFree.exe in Windows.
  2. Install Win-to-USB with all of the defaults in your selected language.

Next, we run Win-to-USB.

  1. Double-Click the desktop Icon for Win-to-USB.
  2. If you bought a License to install 1809 October update, click Upgrade now.
  3. Enter your license key and click Register.
  4. Restart Win-to-USB.
  5. Select the CD/DVD icon.
  6. From the drop down list select your attached Windows 10 ISO.

  7. Select the version of Windows 10 you wish to install.

  8. Click Next.
  9. From the drop down list select your attached drive.
  10. Select the EFI partition (The smaller partition).
  11. Select the boot partition (The larger partition).
  12. Click Next.
  13. Allow the installation to complete.
  14. Click Exit.

Copy the WindowsSupport files from Boot Camp onto the newly updated windows partition on your externally attached drive.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Navigate to the Boot Camp E: drive.
  3. Move the files onto the Boot Camp E: drive.

Finally, shut down VMware Fusion.

  1. Select Virtual Machine > Shut Down.

Mac OS changes

Now we can set the boot order to boot from the external drive.

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Select Startup Disk.
  3. Click the Lock.
  4. Enter your Password.
  5. Select Boot Camp Windows.
  6. Click Restart.

Finishing up

That's it! Once the machine reboots you'll be presented with a Windows 10 install sequence. Follow the prompts like you normally would and you'll be able to run Windows 10 natively on your Mac. Here are some notes to follow up on.

  1. Once your windows installation is complete, remember to navigate into file explorer and install the Boot Camp drivers for your machine. That will setup your network card, display, and other Apple-centric devices. This will also install the Boot Camp program to help you reboot into macOS.
  2. If for some reason you have troubles, power down your Mac and simply detach your external drive. You should be able to simply reboot into macOS.
  3. If that fails, hold Command-Option-P-R all at once and wait until you hear two chimes. Once done, you'll be able to boot back into macOS.

Final comments

Now you can run native Windows 10 and native macOS Mojave. The best of both worlds with little compromise. If you have any tips on getting this working in a better or faster way. Please let us know in the comments!

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By default, your Mac starts up from its built-in hard disk, but a startup disk can be any storage device that contains an operating system compatible with your Mac. For example, if you install macOS on an internal or external drive, your Mac can recognize that drive as a startup disk. You can then follow the steps in this article to start up from it.

Use Startup Disk preferences

When you use Startup Disk preferences to select a startup disk, your Mac starts up from that disk until you choose a different one.

  1. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Startup Disk.
  2. Click the lock and enter your administrator password.
  3. Select your startup disk, then restart your Mac.

If you see a message that your security settings do not allow this Mac to use an external startup disk, check the External Boot setting in Startup Security Utility.

Use Startup Manager

When you use Startup Manager to select a startup disk, your Mac starts up from that disk once, then returns to using the disk selected in Startup Disk preferences.

  1. Press and hold the Option (Alt) key immediately after turning on or restarting your Mac.
  2. Release the Option key when you see the Startup Manager window.
    If your Mac is protected by a firmware password, you can release the key when you're asked to enter the password.
  3. Select your startup disk, then click the arrow under its icon, or press Return.
    If you press and hold the Control key during this step, your selection is saved in Startup Disk preferences, so it persists until you change it.

If your Mac is using OS X Lion 10.7.3 or later, you can also use this method to start up from your Time Machine backup disk. Startup Manager identifies your Time Machine backup as ”EFI Boot.”

If you can't select your startup disk or start up from it

Check for these possibilities if you can't see your disk in Startup Disk preferences or Startup Manager, or your Mac won't start up from it.

Check for a compatible operating system on the startup disk

Make sure that your startup disk is using a version of macOS that is compatible with your Mac.

To start up from an external disk with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, the disk must connect via USB-A, USB-C, or Thunderbolt, not FireWire.

Check startup security settings

If you're using a Mac that has the Apple T2 Security Chip, check the settings in Startup Security Utility. These settings determine whether your Mac can start up from another disk.

Check for Option ROM firmware

If you're in Startup Manager and can't see a third-party startup disk, the startup disk could be using Option ROM firmware. To enhance system security, Mac computers with up-to-date software don’t show devices that use Option ROM firmware until you load their firmware. To do that, press Option-Shift-Command-Period while in Startup Manager. If your startup disk appears, do that each time you want to start up from it or from another disk connected to it.

Install Bootcamp External Drive

If you're using a firmware password, the ability to load Option ROM firmware is disabled as an additional security protection.