How to boot PC XP and Intel OSX from external drive?

October 10, 2006 4:55 PM

How do I configure a 2.5" 60 gig usb external drive to boot Windows XP on a PC as well as be able to boot Mac OS X 10.4 on an Intel MacBook?
posted by h2 to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Intel Macs require a GPT partition table, PCs usually require an MBR partition table. Unless you have a PC that can boot off GPT (I have no idea if such things exist), it can't be done.
posted by cillit bang at 5:05 PM on October 10, 2006

I don't know diddly about macs, but supposedly with "Boot Camp", a mac program, you can dual boot on intel macs. you might look into that and see if it would fulfill your needs. I believe it's free.

Actually, looking at the page I found on google it doesn't look like it will help you with a seperate pc. But you might want to check it out for kicks.
posted by ScotchLynx at 7:37 PM on October 10, 2006

According to Microsoft, 32-bit Windows XP can't boot off a GPT drive. Vista will be able to.
posted by flabdablet at 7:04 AM on October 11, 2006

I was afraid of the GPT/MBR issue, but I was hoping someone had a workaround for it.

I currently run boot camped xp on the macbook. It comes in handy when one has to manage multiple platform sites.

Its time to buy another external drive, I guess.

Thanks to those who responded.
posted by h2 at 6:53 PM on October 12, 2006