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If I were to use a portable ssd as the bootcamp partition, would I be able to use it on different mac computers?

bmike
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user1164937
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1 Answers1

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No, that will not work.

  • The windows drivers most likely will not be the same between Macs.
  • Windows will know you have changed computers and will not boot.

Also, have you investigated just how must effort is involved in installing Windows on an external drive? You can not use the normal Windows installer. You have to install Windows from the command line.

I suppose you could manually install all the drivers you would need for all the Macs you wish to boot from. Then you could run SysPrep to generalize before switching Macs, but this was not what Microsoft intended. Also, which Mac do you intent to be connected to when you Active the software?

Windows does have a feature called Windows to Go, that can be used between computers, but I believe you will not have access to each computers internal drives. I also believe you need special hardware which comes at a premium price.

If you are still determined to try, then please report back your results.

If you get stuck at some point, please let me know. I might know how to proceed.

This is my answer to the question Is it possible to use Boot Camp with Windows 10 from an external HDD?. Of course, there are also many other opinions on how to succeed.

Below is some information on the Boot Camp Support Software.

Some the the websites are: Download Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5769, Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5640, Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621 and Boot Camp Support Software 4.0.4033. Those are for the older Macs. For the newer Macs, you can only download the Boot Camp Support Software by using the Boot Camp Assistant application. If you have to, you can use the Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 drivers to install Windows 10.

Each Mac is assigned only one unique Boot Camp Support Software package. When installing Windows, only the required drivers are installed. No Boot Camp Support Software package is an replacement or upgrade from any previous package.

Updates for the Boot Camp Support Software is delivered by either Windows Update or by Apple Software Update. These updates will download after you have installed Windows.

David Anderson
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  • There is very little effort involved. Also, windows to go's purpose is to switch between computers. – user1164937 Feb 18 '18 at 20:51
  • I don't think I'm really concerned about mac drivers (since I'm booting up on windows). I'm mainly concerned about the drivers on windows. But with bootcamp support software, I'm guessing that's a universal package across different updated systems. But that's my hunch, confirmation would be appreciated. – user1164937 Feb 18 '18 at 20:53
  • The truth is the opposite of your hunch. The Boot Camp Support Software is not universal. – David Anderson Feb 18 '18 at 20:56
  • https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1837?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

    This in theory suggests otherwise since there is only one software that contains the drivers you need to run windows on mac's, but I have yet to test it myself.

     – user1164937 Feb 18 '18 at 20:59
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    Thanks, I'll try reporting it. After some thought, I realized it's actually necessary for me to do this for at least one macbook. Might as well see if this works while I'm at it. – user1164937 Feb 18 '18 at 21:45
  • Sorry for the delay. I needed the original setup for school and didn't want to waste time setting it up again if something went wrong (e.g., driver conflict, licensing issues). Well, it worked! I'm talking about between a 2012 macbook air and a 2017 macbook pro. Windows did install some drivers, but other than that, it had everything that I installed and configured. – user1164937 May 11 '18 at 13:48
  • I suppose I should modify my answer. Before I do, would you mind answering a few questions? Which computer did you originally use with the external drive? On the second computer you externally booted Windows 10, do any conflicts appear in the Device Manager? Does this computer report Windows 10 as activated? Does this computer already have Windows 10 installed on an internal drive? Can you access any internal volumes while booted from the external drive? – David Anderson May 11 '18 at 18:38
  • 2017 mbp. No driver conflicts. Remains activated (I have heard that it shouldn't, but I have windows 10 education edition which is close to the enterprise version, and I think it does this by design). No windows in either internal drives. Can't access internal volumes at least by normal means. – user1164937 May 11 '18 at 21:50
  • It's not worth it imo. I found out in order to update, you have to go through a series of additional steps. Someone said that you have to have a windows system to do this (I'm not sure if VM will work). It really is meant for corporations with a dedicated IT team. – user1164937 May 19 '18 at 13:53
  • When I purchased my 2015 MBP I wrote this up on my success of using an external ssd to boot windows: https://blog.brettski.com/2015/11/08/booting-a-macbook-pro-to-windows-using-an-external-ssd/. Though the drive is not seen by other computers if I hold down Option during boot. Even a another 2015 MBP – Brettski Jan 18 '19 at 17:20