I am still running the Mojave, but am considering upgrading to Big Sur. What does the group think about creating a flash drive with the Mojave OS for those times when I want to quickly reboot into Mojave to run an old app? I'm thinking it could be a smallish drive (500GB?) for just the system and the 32-bit apps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2020 01:45PM by jonny.

If by flash drive you mean an SSD, then yes that will work great.

Personally, I hate the idea of having two boot drives because everything I need can't be put onto just one. It depends entirely on what the app is that you are going through all this trouble for. I would instead come here asking for replacement recommendations for that app.

If I really had to have a second OS drive, I would probably put in on a small laptop so I could just turn away from the main computer for just a moment or two, do the thing then get back to the main machine.

I rarely use these apps. Most of them I have 64-bit replacements. But there are a handful, and they are keeping me from upgrading.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2020 01:53PM by jonny.

If you really use them rarely and they won't created large files, then I don't see why a 64/128GB SSD shouldn't be enough. The OS plus MS Office is less than 15GB.

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PeterW
If by flash drive you mean an SSD, then yes that will work great.

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hal
If you really use them rarely and they won't created large files, then I don't see why a 64/128GB SSD shouldn't be enough. The OS plus MS Office is less than 15GB.

Good point. I was guessing it might be hard to find fast smaller drives these days.

I haven't come across a flash drive that isn't dog slow. Don't do it to yourself! There are tons of capable SSD external drives out there that will run quick enough that you'll remain sane.

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hal
Personally, I hate the idea of having two boot drives

This, x100. No app is worth the headache, IMHO.


256 GB , $30 -- 480 GB $44

[www.amazon.com]

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

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jdc

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hal
Personally, I hate the idea of having two boot drives

This, x100. No app is worth the headache, IMHO.


256 GB , $30 -- 480 GB $44

[www.amazon.com]

Thanks for the link. You recommend this over NvME? They don't cost that much more.

I'm curious to see how Parallels will run old OS's on a SoC Mac. The whole OS would be running under Rosetta 2.

I rarely use these apps. Most of them I have 64-bit replacements. But there are a handful, and they are keeping me from upgrading.


I've used flash drives for a different boot OS, and a 'fast' 3.1 SanDisk was tolerable, but noticeably slower.

Your call in whether you use 2.5" or NVMe SSDs.

The price delta may be small enough, depending on your budget.

2.5": small, for the OS and rarely used apps, less expense for the drive and box
NVMe: futureproofing, for that time when you don't need those apps anymore, if that time comes
a small drive now may be too small when it's time to move forward
more money, for the drive and the box, your call

If you want the cheapest way to go, small 2.5" SSD, for a long term workaround.

If you want to futureproof, and this is a short term workaround, larger NVMe.

If you wait on the NVMe because of how long you'll need this workaround, the prices of NVMe drives may drop – more drive less money, the longer you wait.

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jonny
Thanks for the link. You recommend this over NvME? They don't cost that much more.

Assuming your mac is old enough to run Mojave, it doesn't have USB C and you will be using USB 3. Since this is for occasional use -- faster NVMe wont make a difference.

A NVMe case (not a B-SATA) is $25 to start... no drive.

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

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rz
I'm curious to see how Parallels will run old OS's on a SoC Mac. The whole OS would be running under Rosetta 2.

I wonder how long Apple will support Rosetta2. They only supported Rosetta (1) Mac OS X.6, and it was gone with Lion.

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