Advice on Toshiba s855 laptop i7 2.4Ghz Windows 8.1

[JPM827]

1. Would like to know if anybody has any experience with this or similar computer for installing Maverick direcly.

Windows 8.1 64bit
Intel Core i7 3630Q, 2.40GH,,RAM 8Gb,z, Ivy Bridge, Socket 988B rPGA.4cores 8threads
Intel HD Graphics 4000,

one hardrive= 750Gb with hidden restore system partition about 60Gb,
Ports 1-USB2 + 2-USB3, VGA,HDMI out,
Intel Series Chipset SATA AHCI Controller,
Realtek High Audio,
Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 PCI-E G


2. Can I install MacOS on a USB drive IDE/PATA?
3. will the bootloader change my internal drive that has Windows 8.1?
4 Can the bootloader easily be removed if things go wrong?
5. My BIOS has few things that can be changed there is no option for settings to AHCI but the specs above do mention SATA AHCI controller (maybe that is the default setting). It is already set for booting priority 1=USB,2=CD,3=HDD

Please advice
Thank you

 

[RehabMan]

1. Would like to know if anybody has any experience with this or similar computer for installing Maverick direcly.

Windows 8.1 64bit
Intel Core i7 3630Q, 2.40GH,,RAM 8Gb,z, Ivy Bridge, Socket 988B rPGA.4cores 8threads
Intel HD Graphics 4000,

one hardrive= 750Gb with hidden restore system partition about 60Gb,
Ports 1-USB2 + 2-USB3, VGA,HDMI out,
Intel Series Chipset SATA AHCI Controller,
Realtek High Audio,
Qualcomm Atheros AR8161 PCI-E G


2. Can I install MacOS on a USB drive IDE/PATA?
3. will the bootloader change my internal drive that has Windows 8.1?
4 Can the bootloader easily be removed if things go wrong?
5. My BIOS has few things that can be changed there is no option for settings to AHCI but the specs above do mention SATA AHCI controller (maybe that is the default setting). It is already set for booting priority 1=USB,2=CD,3=HDD

Please advice
Thank you

1. Run of the mill Ivy/HD4000 laptop. Should be no problem. See here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/laptop-compatibility/106791-laptop-compatibility.html

2. USB may work, but would be very slow. Not recommended.

3. You will need to re-install Win8.1. See: http://www.tonymacx86.com/multi-booting/96000-guide-dual-booting-mountain-lion-windows-8-a.html

4. Things will go wrong (as this sounds like your first time doing this). You could always re-install Windows. You should prepare recovery media/backups prior to attempting.

5. All modern laptops are set to AHCI or a compatible RAID mode (with injector kext) to begin with.

If you wish to preserve your Windows install untouched, remove the HDD and replace it with a spare. If you want/need to go back, just re-install the original drive.

 

[JPM827]

If I decide to practice the Maverick installation on an external USB drive (IDE-PATA),would I need to install a bootloader? It doesn't seem necessary if you set the booting order in the BIOS to boot from USB first. It should boot from the USB drive containing MacOS rather than choosing the internal Win8 drive. When I disconnect the MacOS USB drive then it should boot normally from the internal Win8. I'm inclined to do it this way until I see what problem I run into with needed patches such as kext and DTS..whatever . Doesn't this seem a better/safer strategy for a newbie? Even if the computer is set to EFI settings will MacOS X boot from the external USB drive? I know that an external hdd drive will run MacOS X slower than an internal drive but it should be much better than VirtualBox emulation.

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​

In the future, since my laptop only has one hdd slot internally, I would be forced to partition the drive for Windows 8 and MacOS. Where does the bootloader reside? In which partition? (assuming that the first partition contains Win8).

I don't have a Win8 installer disk since most new computers don't provide one. The recovery Win8 partition or recovery Win8 USB will wipe your drive clean loosing all data and installing only the factory/bundled programs, so it will not be a good idea to use. I need to preserve all the installed programs and documents (data). The only way is to get a new hdd and re-image from the original hdd to the new and then install MacOs on the third partition.

I would have to get a new hdd drive and obtain an image of my Win8 partition and the recovery partition from the old drive transfer those two images to the new hdd drive and create a third partition on the new drive for MacOS X. Does this make sense? If things don't work "good enough" what is the impact of the bootloader (Chameleon)? Is the bootloader easy to remove without impacting Win8 ?

What do you think?
​

Thankx

 

[RehabMan]

If I decide to practice the Maverick installation on an external USB drive (IDE-PATA),would I need to install a bootloader? It doesn't seem necessary if you set the booting order in the BIOS to boot from USB first. It should boot from the USB drive containing MacOS rather than choosing the internal Win8 drive. When I disconnect the MacOS USB drive then it should boot normally from the internal Win8. I'm inclined to do it this way until I see what problem I run into with needed patches such as kext and DTS..whatever . Doesn't this seem a better/safer strategy for a newbie? Even if the computer is set to EFI settings will MacOS X boot from the external USB drive? I know that an external hdd drive will run MacOS X slower than an internal drive but it should be much better than VirtualBox emulation.

========
​

In the future, since my laptop only has one hdd slot internally, I would be forced to partition the drive for Windows 8 and MacOS. Where does the bootloader reside? In which partition? (assuming that the first partition contains Win8).

I don't have a Win8 installer disk since most new computers don't provide one. The recovery Win8 partition or recovery Win8 USB will wipe your drive clean loosing all data and installing only the factory/bundled programs, so it will not be a good idea to use. I need to preserve all the installed programs and documents (data). The only way is to get a new hdd and re-image from the original hdd to the new and then install MacOs on the third partition.

I would have to get a new hdd drive and obtain an image of my Win8 partition and the recovery partition from the old drive transfer those two images to the new hdd drive and create a third partition on the new drive for MacOS X. Does this make sense? If things don't work "good enough" what is the impact of the bootloader (Chameleon)? Is the bootloader easy to remove without impacting Win8 ?

What do you think?
​

Thankx

You can attempt to install to USB if you wish, but of course you'll need to install a bootloader to the USB just as you would using the internal HDD. OS X does not boot on PCs without a bootloader.

How you deal with an existing installation of Windows and trying to setup dual boot without destroying it is complex and requires technical skills (and understanding of how the bootloader process works, etc.). It can be done, but if you are new at it and don't have the knowledge it is likely it won't go well and your Windows install could be unbootable or worse a mistake could wipe it out. This is why I recommend having a backup and a plan to re-install if necessary.