OSX on Existing Windows 7 System

[jakemichaelmorris]

So I am experimenting with having Windows and OSX on the same system. Here is what I'm thinking of doing. I already have a fully function version of Windows 7 and I have no interest in loosing years of data on the system. So my plan is to create a bootable USB where I can put the USB and run OSX right off the USB on my PC and then when I don't want to be on OSX I just turn off the computer, unplug and then turn it on and its windows.

How would I go about making a runable USB with OSX on it. I am also open to buying an external hard drive and installing it on that as well. I just want advice on how to go about doing it. Every install I have seen with dual booting involves formating the hard drive which would get rid of all my data on my drive which is a total no no.

Jake

 

[Going Bald]

So I am experimenting with having Windows and OSX on the same system. Here is what I'm thinking of doing. I already have a fully function version of Windows 7 and I have no interest in loosing years of data on the system. So my plan is to create a bootable USB where I can put the USB and run OSX right off the USB on my PC and then when I don't want to be on OSX I just turn off the computer, unplug and then turn it on and its windows.

How would I go about making a runable USB with OSX on it. I am also open to buying an external hard drive and installing it on that as well. I just want advice on how to go about doing it. Every install I have seen with dual booting involves formating the hard drive which would get rid of all my data on my drive which is a total no no.

Jake

If you have "years of data" on your system it may not be compatible with OS X. Please follow the forum rules and post your hardware in your profile - http://www.tonymacx86.com/faq.php

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[Hambone]

Is there something preventing you from using an SSD, SATA, internal drive? Are you on a laptop?

Are you sure that you want to run an OS from a USB?

OS X doesn't work natively with USB 3.0, though it can be enabled with some modified drivers (I've been experimenting with this off and on for years with mixed results [as a user not a developer], it's been a dubious affair)

So you might be facing a situation where you're running the OS through a USB 2.0 connection (top transfer speed = 480 Mbits/Sec). many applications, application support folders, system folders, drivers, codecs will need to be on this USB drive so there is a sizable amount of data that will be called upon by the OS and whatever programs you're running at various times, all of which will be trying to squeeze through the relatively narrow bandwidth of a legacy USB interface.

This is opposed to the speed and stability of a SSD or SATA drive, which can serve up and receive data at 3 Gb/sec to more than 6 Gb/sec.

The other problem is that, if I recall, the OS wants/demands to be on an internal drive, it "knows" based on the connection/signature of the hardware. There are kext (drivers) that you can employ to make OS X think that a drive is internal, but I have no experience with that or its potential to be successfully applied in this case.

If you are on a laptop that is a significant number of years old I presume that your internal hard drive is not so prohibitively huge that your important data can't be backed up on an external USB drive.

If the USB as a system drive method is an economic/monetary consideration then you are doing this at a fortunate point in time. There are many Black Friday sales in the US, some of which have even started already, where you can pick up a SATA drive for a very affordable price.

 

[Hambone]

Good News,

You really needn't wipe out your hard drive completely, if you have space on your existing drive. You only need a partition with enough space to fit OS X and its applications. Yes, this partition needs to be formatted as Mac OS Journaled, and if there was something on that partition before it would be wiped out.

If your current drive is just one big partition, there are programs that exist which allow you to shrink/"tailor" the size of an existing partition, so as to create blank space on your hard drive for a new partition. Or if you already have multiple partitions, you could move everything important to a different partition and/or an external drive first.

There is always some degree of risk to all of the partitions on a physical drive, even if you are just formatting one. Most of the risk is minimal and most often it comes in the form of user error (in my experience). Even less frequent are genuine hardware/software errors that might put your existing data in peril.

I have done it a hundred times, "it" being formatting (or re-formatting) partitions of a physical drive and/or rescaling the size of an existing partition. I have never accidentally wiped out anything (knock on wood).

 

[Going Bald]

Good News,

You really needn't wipe out your hard drive completely, if you have space on your existing drive. You only need a partition with enough space to fit OS X and its applications. Yes, this partition needs to be formatted as Mac OS Journaled, and if there was something on that partition before it would be wiped out.

If your current drive is just one big partition, there are programs that exist which allow you to shrink/"tailor" the size of an existing partition, so as to create blank space on your hard drive for a new partition. Or if you already have multiple partitions, you could move everything important to a different partition and/or an external drive first.

There is always some degree of risk to all of the partitions on a physical drive, even if you are just formatting one. Most of the risk is minimal and most often it comes in the form of user error (in my experience). Even less frequent are genuine hardware/software errors that might put your existing data in peril.

I have done it a hundred times, "it" being formatting (or re-formatting) partitions of a physical drive and/or rescaling the size of an existing partition. I have never accidentally wiped out anything (knock on wood).

If the HDD/SSD is partitioned with MBR file tables when Windows was installed then re-sizing the partition to make room on the drive for an OS X partition is useless.
OS X WILL NOT INSTALL ON MBR PARTITION TABLE FORMATTED HDD/SSD.
To change the partition tables from MBR to GUID requires some reformatting of the HDD/SSD.
That said, there are work-arounds to RESTORE an OS X partition image to a partition on an MBR formatted drive, but there are several downside effects - it is not as stable as an installation on a GUID formatted drive. OS X updates will definitely not work - you have to download the combo always.
Backup utility doesn't always act properly, app installation sometimes fails depending on the app.
Basically it is just not a good idea.