How reliable is running OS X from external HD?

D

d54321k

Registered
I have a G4 running OS 9, with decent processer and lots of RAM. But the hard drive is only 9 gigs. No space for OS X with all the projects and stuff.

Rather than getting another internal drive, I want to get an external one, and install OS X on it.

Would it be ok to boot from this external hard drive and work in OS X on a regular basis? I can't think of anything that could be wrong with it, seems just like hooking up two systems. Any cons?
 
it'll be a little bit slower at times. what would make more sense is to put os x on the internal and move the projects to the external. works the same in saving space. and apps will run smoother off the external than they will off the system running off it.
and yes, i also have os x on one of my externals and i do boot from it occassionally so i'm giving you my subjective opinion from my experience.
 
Just to be contrary :) I am running my TiBook totally off of an external firewire drive until I can get the internal HD fixed. The external Firewire disk runs circles around the internal one, it is like twice as fast. Now that is a bit of a special case since laptop drives are comparatively slow but there is now reason the external drive should be any slower. In both cases it will be the physical device that is the bottle neck.

-Eric
 
Another contrarian opinion: Replace the internal drive with a much larger one (WD120GB/8MB cache for about $150). Also buy a $50 firewire enclosure. Put the 9GB in the enclosure. Setup the FW drive to be your "emergency" with OSX, OS9.2, and all the utilities (Norton, Disk Warrior, etc.). 9GB is plenty of space for such an "emergency" drive.
 
The G4 will hold at least 4 hard drives, and internals are cheaper, why not go that way.
 
not to mess with installation of the internal drive.

plus, I can move the external drive to work on other systems in the office, etc.
 
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