Is it possible to use Boot Camp with Windows 10 from an external HDD?

Question

I need to run Visual Studio on my MacBook Pro and I need Windows to do that. The easiest and well known way to install Windows on a Mac is by running the Boot Camp app on the Mac and let it do what's necessary. The problem is that I don't want to partition the Internal SSD so the remaining option is to install Boot Camp Windows 10 on an External Drive and boot it every time I need it by plugging in my external USB 3.0 HDD. Is this achievable?

Answer 1

Here's an updated procedure for Windows 10, based on orkoden's excellent answer.

I tested this process on a MacBookPro11,1 running OS X 10.11.5 (15F34). Throughout the process, directly connect all devices to your Mac. I found that certain operations failed more frequently if I used the USB hub in my monitor.

In addition to the external drive that will host your Windows installation (the "destination drive"), you will need another USB drive (the "driver drive") to temporarily store the Boot Camp drivers.

I used these parts:

• Destination drive: Samsung T3 Portable 500GB USB 3.0 External SSD (MU-PT500B/AM)
• Driver drive: SanDisk Extreme 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ80-032G-GAM46)

Here are the steps:

1. Install VMware Fusion 8.1.1 from VMware's site
   • The non-professional free evaluation version is sufficient
   • VMware Fusion 7.1.3 couldn’t connect my external USB disk to my Windows VM
   • I downloaded VMware-Fusion-8.1.1-3771013.dmg (SHA256: 29cad381a36374e58a85fb58f7aaad8cae41ad50ef07fdda0db6d782c95c0a95)
2. Download the Windows 10 ISO file from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO
   • I chose Windows 10, English, 64-bit
   • I downloaded Win10_1511_1_English_x64.iso (SHA256: cf5cff9e23c853fed769cf382e18b29889dcc0055b69226f0164ab51eca3069c)
3. Download the Windows 7 Automated Installation Kit from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753
   • I downloaded KB3AIK_EN.iso (SHA256: c6639424b2cebabff3e851913e5f56410f28184bbdb648d5f86c05d93a4cebba)
4. Prepare the driver drive.
   1. Run diskutil list to determine the device name. In my case, the device name was /dev/disk2.
   2. Erase the disk using diskutil eraseDisk fat32 DRIVERS MBR /dev/disk2
   3. Open Boot Camp Assistant
      1. In "Introduction", click "Continue"
      2. In "Select Tasks":
         1. Uncheck "Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk"
         2. Check "Download the latest Windows support software from Apple"
         3. Uncheck "Install Windows 7 or later version"
         4. Click "Continue"
      3. In "Save Windows Support Software", choose the driver drive, and click "Continue".
      4. Wait for the process to complete.
   4. Eject the driver drive: diskutil eject /dev/disk2
   5. Disconnect the driver drive.
5. Prepare the temporary Windows VM. We’ll use the temporary Windows VM to write the disk image to the destination drive. In VMware Fusion:
   1. Create a new VM:
      1. File > New
      2. In "Select the Installation Method", choose "Install from disc or image", and click "Continue".
      3. In "Create a New Virtual Machine", choose "Use another disc or disc image…", locate Win10_1511_1_English_x64.iso, and click "Continue".
      4. In "Microsoft Windows Easy Install", uncheck "Use Easy Install", and click "Continue".
      5. Click "Finish".
   2. Start the VM and complete Windows Setup. The settings don’t really matter, because we’re just using this VM to write the disk image.
      1. Choose "Next"
      2. Choose "Install now"
      3. Choose "I don’t have a product key"
      4. Choose "Windows 10 Pro"
      5. Choose "I accept the license terms"
      6. Choose "Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)"
      7. Choose "Drive 0 Unallocated Space" and click "Next"
      8. Choose "Use Express settings"
      9. Choose "I own it"
      10. Choose "Skip this step"
      11. Enter a username
   3. Install the Automated Installation Kit:
      1. From the "Virtual Machine" menu, choose "CD/DVD (SATA)" > "Choose Disc or Disc Image...". Select KB3AIK_EN.iso.
      2. From the Start menu, choose "File Explorer", and then "This PC". Double-click "DVD Drive (D:) KB3AIK_EN".
      3. Choose "Yes"
      4. Choose ".NET Framework Setup"
      5. Choose "Download and install this feature"
      6. After installation completes, choose "Close"
      7. Choose "Windows AIK Setup"
      8. Choose "Next"
      9. Choose "I agree"
      10. Choose "Next"
      11. Choose "Next"
      12. After installation completes, choose "Close"
6. Prepare and image the destination drive:
   1. From the Start menu, choose "All apps". Choose "Microsoft Windows AIK". Right-click "Deployment Tools Command Prompt". Choose "More", then choose "Run as administrator". Choose "Yes".
   2. Prepare the destination drive:
      1. Run diskpart
      2. Plug in the destination drive. In the "Choose where you would like to connect " prompt, choose "Connect to Windows"
      3. Run list disk to determine the disk number of the destination drive. In my case, the disk number was 1.
      4. Run: select disk 1
      5. Run: clean
      6. Run: create partition primary
      7. Run: format fs=ntfs quick
      8. Run: assign
      9. Run: active
      10. Run: list volume
      11. Note the drive letter for the selected volume (marked with a *); this is the drive letter of the destination drive. In my case, the letter was "E".
      12. Run: exit
   3. From the "Virtual Machine" menu, choose "CD/DVD (SATA)" > "Choose Disc or Disc Image...". Select Win10_1511_1_English_x64.iso.
   4. Run: imagex /check /verify /apply d:\sources\install.wim "Windows 10 Home" e:
      • Use "Windows 10 Pro" to install Pro
   5. Run: bcdboot e:\windows /v /s e:
   6. Run: shutdown /p
   7. Quit VMware Fusion
7. Restart into Windows to complete installation
   1. Restart the Mac while holding the Option key
   2. When the startup disk list appears, use the arrow keys to choose Windows. Complete Windows Setup. If Windows restarts during Setup, restart again while holding the Option key to return to Windows.
   3. Insert the driver drive. Open the Start menu, choose “File Explorer”, choose “DRIVERS (E:)”, open the “BootCamp” folder, and open “Setup”. Complete the installation.

Windows is now installed and ready.

• To restart into OS X, click the Boot Camp icon in the notification area and choose “Restart in OS X…”.
• To restart into Windows, open “System Preferences” from the Apple menu, choose “Startup Disk”, choose “BOOTCAMP”, and then choose “Restart…”.
• To choose an OS at boot time, hold down the Option key.

Answer 2

Yes, you can do it. The instructions are originally for Windows 8. Some terminal commands might be a little different for Windows 10.

You will need :

1. Windows 10 x64 ISO file
2. a running Windows installation real or virtualised
3. a blank external hard drive
4. Apple Bootcamp drivers (obtained from the BootCamp setup) on USB key
5. Microsoft AIK

Format and prepare external drive

1. launch the CMD line tool (click on the Start menu, in the search bar type CMD, then launch it)
2. type DISKPART
3. type LIST DISK It will list all drives (DISK 0 ; DISK 1; DISK # ; etc...)
4. Choose the disk you want Windows installed onto and type accordingly SELECT DISK # (# being the number of the disk you want to use (e.g. SELECT DISK 2)
5. Type LIST DISK again, and you will see a * in front of the disk to be erased.
6. Type CLEAN
7. Type CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
8. Type SELECT PARTITION 1
9. Type ACTIVE
10. Type FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
11. Type ASSIGN
12. Type EXIT or close the window

Install Windows with AIK

1. install AIK
2. Mount the Windows 10 ISO image as a drive. VMWare etc. can do that, otherwise use a tool like PowerISO.

3. Note your drives letters before proceeding. Change the letters for your system accordingly. - Drive letter for Windows ISO? Here E: - Drive letter for empty hard drive? Here G:

4. Open CMD tool as an Administrator: click on the Start menu, type CMD, right click and select Run as Administrator

5. Type C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Amd64\imagex.exe /APPLY E:\sources\install.esd 1 G:\ (change the letters to fit your setup)
6. Make the USB Drive Bootable. Type BCDBOOT G:\WINDOWS /S G:

First boot and driver installation

1. Plug the external hard drive into your Mac.
2. Start your Mac and hold the ALT (⎇) key to choose the Windows Drive you just installed.
3. Windows will boot, and then will reboot the computer. At the boot chime hold ALT key and again choose the Windows drive.
4. Once on the Windows desktop appears, plug in your Apple Windows Drivers USB keydrive and install the Bootcamp drivers.

After the installation, reboot Windows. Hold ALT again at startup to choose the Windows drive.

Answer 3

It is very simple. If you have Parallels or VMWare simply get hold of two free Windows Utilities, miniTools (to format and set up the external drive) and WintoUSB.

Put the ISO of Windows 10 or 8.1 into the VM as you will need this when installing with WintoUSB. I've done this about 30 times already, and never had a problem. Using miniTools is the hardest part and that is simple once you figure it out.

It's best to format the new drive with the Mac as ExFAT first. Once you mount this in Parallels and run miniTools simply make the first partition (the small one you will see) Fat32 and make it primary and Active.

The second large partition make NTFS and primary also.

Once this is done WintoUSB is simple to use, select the ISO then the new external and check the EFI and main partitions as the destination.

That's it. I run Paragons NTFS utility on my Mac so I can write to an NTFS disk this way I can copy all the things I need such as Bootcamp drivers, AMD drivers are whatever from the Mac but if you just boot (hold option on start up) to the new disk it will install drivers in Windows itself.

I bought Windows 10 from Amazon (Home Edition) and every one of these I make is automatically authorized as licensed by Microsoft without any problem. The caveat is only to the same Mac (in my case a new Mac Pro).

BTW I can do all this above with El Capitan and macOS Sierra (I have a dev account at Apple).

Answer 4

This is basically Alex Lambert's answer from above with a a few updates. You don't need the Automated Installation Kit, you can use commands which are in the ISO. And the install.wim file is no longer included in the ISO so I've added the steps to convert the install.esd into install.wim.

Here are my updates to his post above:

You don't need AIK so delete step 3, step 5.3, and step 6.1.

Here is the updated 6.2 with chrishiestand's correction.

6.2

1. Prepare the destination drive:
2. Run diskpart
3. Plug in the destination drive. In the "Choose where you would like to connect" prompt, choose "Connect to Windows"
4. Run list disk to determine the disk number of the destination drive. In my case, the disk number was 1.
5. Run: select disk 1
6. Run: clean
7. Run: create partition primary
8. Run: select partition 1
9. Run: format fs=ntfs quick
10. Run: assign
11. Run: active
12. Run: list volume
13. Note the drive letter for the selected volume (marked with a *); this is the drive letter of the destination drive. In my case, the letter was E.
14. Run: exit

Do step 6.3 to mount the ISO to the VM.

Here's my update to step 6.4:

1. You’ll need to convert the install.esd file to install.wim.
2. Copy d:\sources\install.esd to somewhere on your hard drive (I used the Documents folder).
3. Copy d:\sources\dism.exe to the same directory.

4. Get details about what images are inside the ESD file with the following command. We'll need to take note of the index No. that we need by running:

   dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:install.esd
   

5. Take note of the index of the particular OS version you'd like to install (in case the esd has many images inside it) the number is what is inserted in the SourceIndex. I am choosing index 1 (Windows 10 Professional)

   dism /export-image /SourceImageFile:install.esd /SourceIndex:1 /DestinationImageFile:install.wim /Compress:max /CheckIntegrity**
   

6. After the progress reaches 100% and integrity checks are through, you'll have a WIM file alongside the ESD file. Run:

   Dism /apply-image /imagefile:install.wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:E:\ /CheckIntegrity** 
   

(thanks David Anderson for the DISM command to write to the destination drive)

Continue on from step 6.5 and everything should work great.

I really appreciate everyone posting as it got me very close and was able to figure out the couple other steps to get this working and wanted to post them here to help the next person trying this process.

Answer 5

This is all once upon a time. Apple's new SIP security would complicate matters. OS X 10.11.4 open Bootcamp Utility and

Action > Download Windows Support Software

Disk Utility to prepare external T2 SSD as exFAT, then run Windows Support Software. Select your external drive. Then Bootcamp Utility would pick up where your manual preparation ended, and install a Bootcamp Windows 10 on the external drive. Or it might install internal. Try it. See what your hardware supports. Bootcamp quickly removes accidents, or Disk Utility "-" delete and First Aid.

SIP may not support Windows 8 external Bootcamp. and older hardware. You can read more on that at Two Canoes Blog, How El Capitan Boot Camp is Affected by Apple’s New System Integrity Protection (SIP).

How long until Bootcamp evolves into Mission Control Windows widget. Something like that at University Hospital for decades now (1996-present). SIP is helping to make Bootcamp more fluid than it used to be.