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AldenGrove's avatar
AldenGrove
Iron Contributor
Sep 10, 2025

Read Error HDD

I'm currently using a 2013 21.5inch iMac booting windows 10 via an external SSD, CristalDiskMark has flaged the internal Apple HDD as having a read error rate. My question is when the internal HDD fails can I still boot to the windows 10 SSD?

 

2 Replies

  • Tovar's avatar
    Tovar
    Iron Contributor
    Sep 15, 2025

    Yes, you'll still be able to boot into Windows 10 from your external SSD even if the internal HDD fails, as long as 

    The SSD is properly configured as a bootable drive . 

     Your IMac's firmware/boot manager can still recognize and select it 

    The failing internal HDD won't stop the system from running off the external drive, though you may want to disable it in windows to avoid hangs from OS trying to read it. 

  • Sendall's avatar
    Sendall
    Iron Contributor
    Sep 15, 2025

    If the internal HDD fails, you should still be able to boot Windows 10 from the external SSD, assuming it's functioning properly. The internal drive is only used for the macOS boot process; the external SSD is where Windows 10 is installed. A failing internal drive will not affect booting from the external drive.

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