max11 Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Booting Leopard on windows 7 from Original Macbook Pro Hard drive using it as external USB drive Hi... I recently upgraded my Macbook pro hard drive with a 500GB one .. I have taken the old hard drive (it has Mac OS X and Windows 7 using Bootcamp) which is in Perfect working condition and connected it to My Windows 7 PC using USB .. The drive is getting detected when i connect it using USB plus i can also browse the contents of the MAC partition using the MacDrive software ... Now what I would like to do is find some way so that i can boot my PC into this Mac OS on this external drive .. Is it possible? What all do i need to do? Some kinda bootloader? I am a total n00b at this .. so I would highly appreciate if some of you Pros could help me... Thanks! Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
madd!n Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I dont think its possible. And even if it was, there would be a lot of work to do, so to keep your data, it is a lot safer to install OSX on a seperate (internal) harddisk. Of course you have to make sure your hardware is compatible.. Its easy to use the OSX86 wiki which you can find here: http://wiki.osx86project.org/ Then do some research in installing OSX86 (use the board search / tutorials) and if youve got questions left ask again. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384415 Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekreid Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 It should be just like modifying a retail installation. If you have common hardware, there should be guides around...if not, check the OSX86 wiki HCL like madd!n said. You'll need the Chameleon bootloader as well. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384424 Share on other sites More sharing options...
max11 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hey guys thanks for the response... umm not possible sine the Mac Installation is already there isnt there some way where i can make some changes so that on boot It boots from that USB Drive? Can I use EasyBCD? will it be possible using easyBCD? and regarding your suggestion that it ll be better if i go ahead with a new installation on a Internal drive .. Yes I can do that .. but the only reason I want to use this Particular Hard drive is .. my macbook pro is conked out and I wanted to use this particular hard drive and use mac OS on my PC... Also this is diff topic .. But if u guys can help .. My macbook pro display is Blank (complete black) but i hear the startup chime.. the keyboard light works etc etc ... is it the NVDIA issue? logicboard needing replacement? anyway I can troubleshoot this? I tried connecting an external monitor suing a DVI cable but nothign .. are there any specific key combos i need to use on the MBP so that it detects the external monitor? or will it auto detect it? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384454 Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekreid Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 When your machine starts up, you should be able to hit a key (F8 or something, depends on your BIOS) to choose your boot device. Your USB drive should be there. This is where Chameleon and modifying your OS to run on non-Apple hardware comes in, now that you've pointed the machine at the USB drive. Do some searching and reading, and if you run into problems post your hardware. About the MBP display, maybe this will help : http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384484 Share on other sites More sharing options...
max11 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Thanks so much for guiding me Derek I have come across Chameleon while researching ... I have spent 5 hours trying to find answers But gave up and posted here for help ... Can u plz if Possible send me the link where I can read about chameleon and the steps involved? I did the f8 thing earlier and yes it shows the USB drive .. now i jus need ti know more on how to setup chameleon... If u can send me the link it wud be great! Thanks so much! And thanks for the Apple link I appreciate ur help! When your machine starts up, you should be able to hit a key (F8 or something, depends on your BIOS) to choose your boot device. Your USB drive should be there. This is where Chameleon and modifying your OS to run on non-Apple hardware comes in, now that you've pointed the machine at the USB drive. Do some searching and reading, and if you run into problems post your hardware. About the MBP display, maybe this will help : http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1478474 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384493 Share on other sites More sharing options...
derekreid Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 A good search engine for OSX86 info : http://www.osx86search.co.nr/ Chameleon : http://www.google.com/search?client=safari...-8&oe=UTF-8 The simplest way to install Chameleon would be to connect the USB drive to a working Mac and use the GUI installer. Do you have access to a working Mac? Just download the newest release of Chameleon, run the installer and point it at the USB drive. Going through the Mac to patch your system would probably be easiest as well. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/207129-is-this-possible-booting-leopard-from-external-drive/#findComment-1384723 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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