[pknoot]

I got a great 48GB ExpressCard SSD (115/65 MBps R/W), thinking I could install Windows 7 on it and use it in a dual-boot configuration. I can't seem to get this to work and was wondering if anyone could help. I've successfully used BootCamp to set up the correct partitions on my HD for OS X and Win7 64bit; no problems here. But BootCamp refuses to recognize the ExpressCard SSD. I also tried to clone my Win7 partition from the HD to the SSD using Winclone, but no success here either. I would appreciate a good step-by-step instruction sequence!

Thanks,

Peter

[ghporter]

The problem is that Win 7, like all its predecessors, does not natively boot from an external drive. Worse, most ExpressCard ports use the USB bus, which is a major issue for booting Windows from. You see, Windows' boot loader re-enumerates all ports during the boot process (it ignores what BIOS says and checks each one itself), thus losing the connection to the drive.

There are ways around this. Do you feel up to rolling up your sleeves and actually HACKING some Windows boot files? It's not for the faint of heart, but it can be done.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by ghporter 

There are ways around this. Do you feel up to rolling up your sleeves and actually HACKING some Windows boot files? It's not for the faint of heart, but it can be done.

Or you could get a Mac.

Oh, wait, nevermind

-t

[pknoot]

Thanks for the quick response, ghporter! It certainly explains what I'm seeing. And yes, I'm ready to hack some Windows boot files. Please show me how!

[ghporter]

I'll have to dig it up. And that won't be easy with my time constraints. Here's what I did for a starter: I Googled "boot windows usb" and got this nice long set of hits. Dig in!

[The Godfather]

When you can boot Windows 7 from the SSD, post it in this thread and I will tell you how to boot it from VirtualBox.

[pknoot]

There appears to be a very basic problem with the Wintec Filemate ExpressCard SSD, namely that Windows 7 on the MBP simply refuses to recognize it. The card performs flawlessly in OS X; it is actually reported as SATA under an "Unknown AHCI Standard Controller", as opposed to an ExpressCard SDHC card reader, which is recognized under "USB High-speed Bus". In Windows 7 however, the ExpressCard SSD is not recognized; the card reader is again treated as a USB device, just like in OS X.

Thinking that the problem may be a Windows 7 driver, I searched the Wintec site, but it wasn't obvious that there was any available. I have Snow Leopard on the MBP now and installed the Bootcamp 3.0 drivers, but still no luck getting Win 7 to see the SSD ExpressCard. I'm under the impression that if I could get Windows 7 to see the card as SATA, booting from it should be straight forward (certainly easier than if it was considered USB - right now I'd settle for either of them!). Does that seem correct?

I wonder if the driver should be sourced by a) Wintec, b) Apple - Bootcamp, or c) Microsoft? Any guidance here would be greatly appreciated!

[schalliol]

Anyone have luck here? I pulled my optical drive and did a RAID, so I can't use Boot Camp on it, and I no longer am booting from the SSD, so it would be great to use it for Windows if possible like regular Windows users have.