MBP 2nd HDD... how to install windows on it?

Hello,

I have a MacBookPro5,2 that I've recently installed a 2nd HDD using an optibay caddy where the superdrive had been.

I would like to have Windows 7 running natively on that 2nd drive. Can I do this via Bootcamp? Or do I use the OS X Disk Utility app to format it as FAT and then proceed to install the windows OS without using bootcamp? I assume I would then need to install the apple drivers that are on my snow leaopard install disk.

Is that about right? Will I be able to selective boot by holding the Opt key at bootup jsut as if I had used bootcamp?

ANy links or comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

ben

 

I would do it in Parallels if I were you. What advantage does running it natively offer anyway?

You will seriously miss not being able to switch between OSX and Windows 7 on the fly ... Assuming of course, that you actually use OSX and didn't get a Mac for reasons other than the OS.

 

I agree with you, it is great and I love being able to have OS X running at same time. And yes, I love OS X.

I have windows XP running in parallels and it is perfect for what I use it for (business and Oracle Apps development environment).

I still would like to try out Windows7 Natively. I have a few different reasons for this:
- testing migration of my Oracle dev environment to Windows7 from XP
- possibly try to use the Win7 "xp" mode or whatever they call it (basically an XP VM inside of Windows 7)
- install Office 2010 Beta in windows7
- games... you knew I was going to say that some of my PC games stink in a vm.

I can do all of those things listed (except for maybe the gameing and xp mode/vm stuff) using parallels. But since I've got a bare/clean 2ND drive I thought it would be nice to set it up in bootcamp/native instead of via parallels.

If all goes well, then I plan to migrate my other "strictly business" PC machines and a few of my other business partners from XP to Windows 7. I have XP running on a high end DELL laptop at the moment (in my sig). It is capable of 16GB ram and has an i7 920XM but I'm only running it with 4GB and XP... seems a waste of a nice machine like that. I'd like to migrate it to Windows 7 64 bit and max out the RAM. Then I could run XP in possibly multiple VMs inside of that Win7/64 environment for my clients that require XP for development. But first I want to test out a similar environment on my MBP... and it is fun. I may end up trashing it all after I've tested using the win7 environment and using the 2nd drive for some other purpose. But for now I'd like to install Win7 on it.

Thanks,

Ben


* okay, we've got my "Whys" out of the way

 

you simply leave the drive blank... start Boot Camp Assistant, and select that drive with all space to use... and go through a normal installation. Bootcamp supports installing to any drive in the machine.

 

Cool, thanks! sounds easy. I had read that bootcamp assistant would only alow installing the primary/main drive... but that was probably an old old thread (an earlier version of bootcamp) when I read that.

 

yep, a long time ago that was true, mainly during bootcamp beta. But I know it works fine now since I've done it before... I have Win7 installed to its own drive in my MBP