installing windows xp in external hard drive

July 28, 2008

is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make works

normally

as it was install in internal hard drive

please help i am new at this

July 28, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Doing that will not boot your computer. In other words the answer is No

--

Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others

Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make works

> normally

> as it was install in internal hard drive

>

> please help i am new at this

July 28, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

> works

> normally

> as it was install in internal hard drive

>

> please help i am new at this

July 28, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

> All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

> that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>

> "wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>> works

>> normally

>> as it was install in internal hard drive

>>

>> please help i am new at this

>

July 28, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Some claim you can clone a working XP image onto a USB drive.

However, XP's installer will never recognize a USB drive as a

possible destination for installing. SATA, eSATA and SCSI drives

in an external enclosure appear to XP as "Fixed" drives and are

candidates for installing to. It's not that the drives are external so

much as to XP they appear "Removable".

"John" <a> wrote in message news:eEXby7P8IHA.3260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

> Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

> should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

> supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>

> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

> news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>> Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>> All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>> that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>

>> "wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>>> works

>>> normally

>>> as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>

>>> please help i am new at this

>>

>

July 28, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Good to know. Thanks.

"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

news:%23CLWDAQ8IHA.1200@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Some claim you can clone a working XP image onto a USB drive.

> However, XP's installer will never recognize a USB drive as a

> possible destination for installing. SATA, eSATA and SCSI drives

> in an external enclosure appear to XP as "Fixed" drives and are

> candidates for installing to. It's not that the drives are external so

> much as to XP they appear "Removable".

>

> "John" <a> wrote in message news:eEXby7P8IHA.3260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>> Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

>> should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

>> supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>

>> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>> news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>> Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>> All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>> that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>

>>> "wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>> news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>>>> works

>>>> normally

>>>> as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>

>>>> please help i am new at this

>>>

>>

>

July 29, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In

other words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the

external booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for

something of limited use.

John wrote:

> Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

> should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

> supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>

> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

> news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>

>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>

>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>

>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>>>works

>>>normally

>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>

>>>please help i am new at this

>>

>

July 29, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

> works normally

> as it was install in internal hard drive

>

> please help i am new at this

Only if there is a BIOS setting where you can tell it to boot from an

external drive and the type of connection it uses: eg USB.

July 29, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Huh ???

--

Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others

Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"Twayne" <nobody@devnull.spamcop.net> wrote in message news:ueB9MAZ8IHA.3260@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>> is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>> works normally

>> as it was install in internal hard drive

>>

>> please help i am new at this

>

> Only if there is a BIOS setting where you can tell it to boot from an

> external drive and the type of connection it uses: eg USB.

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

*TimDaniels*

"Bob I" wrote:

> Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In other

> words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the external

> booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for something of

> limited use.

>

> John wrote:

>

>> Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we should

>> be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS supports

>> booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>

>> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>> news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>

>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>

>>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>

>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make works

>>>>normally

>>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>

>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>

>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Windows will not install and boot on a USB drive unless you hack the

installation. If you do some searching on the net you will find reports

of some who have attempted to do this and the reports are mostly ones of

failures or of less than spectacular results. To get this to work you

have to change the way that Windows initializes the USB stack, a main

problem being that the Session Manager creates the pagefile before the

USB stack is fully initialized. It's an installation that isn't

supported by Microsoft, but as I said, if you search the net you will

find reports from some who claim to have done it along with their

installation recipe.

John

Timothy Daniels wrote:

> By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

> startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

> the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

> boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

> that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

> media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

> external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

> from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

> devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>

> *TimDaniels*

>

> "Bob I" wrote:

>

>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In other

>>words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the external

>>booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for something of

>>limited use.

>>

>>John wrote:

>>

>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we should

>>>be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS supports

>>>booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>

>>>"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>>>news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>

>>>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>>

>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make works

>>>>>normally

>>>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>

>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>

>>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

How about if one installed the OS to an internal hard drive and then

cloned it to an external USB hard drive, or if the internal hard drive

were merely physically moved to the external USB drive enclosure?

IOW, if one separated the installation and bootup procedures - could

the OS on the external USB hard drive be booted without a "whack"?

*TimDaniels*

"John John (MVP)" wrote:

> Windows will not install and boot on a USB drive unless you hack the

> installation. If you do some searching on the net you will find reports of

> some who have attempted to do this and the reports are mostly ones of failures

> or of less than spectacular results. To get this to work you have to change

> the way that Windows initializes the USB stack, a main problem being that the

> Session Manager creates the pagefile before the USB stack is fully

> initialized. It's an installation that isn't supported by Microsoft, but as I

> said, if you search the net you will find reports from some who claim to have

> done it along with their installation recipe.

>

> John

>

> Timothy Daniels wrote:

>

>> By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

>> startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

>> the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

>> boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

>> that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

>> media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

>> external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

>> from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

>> devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>>

>> *TimDaniels*

>>

>> "Bob I" wrote:

>>

>>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In other

>>>words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the external

>>>booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for something of

>>>limited use.

>>>

>>>John wrote:

>>>

>>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

>>>>should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

>>>>supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>>

>>>>"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>>>>news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>>

>>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>>

>>>>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>>>

>>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>>>>>>works

>>>>>>normally

>>>>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>>

>>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>>

>>>>

>>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

No, you will need to break, modify, hack or alter (whack) Windows so

that it can no longer handle USB storage as a removable drive. In other

words what you are doing is making it appear to Windows that the USB

attached drive you want to boot from is really an internal drive. BUT

that prevents you from using any other USB attached storage work

normally. And the purpose of booting from the external drive would be?

You can't move from system to system unless they were darn near

identical systems. And if it was for security purposes, say locking up

the harddrive in a safe at night to prevent theft of intellectual

property, well a SATA, SCSI or IDE drive caddy or laptop drive is way

more convenient and doesn't require hacking the operating system.

Timothy Daniels wrote:

> By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

> startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

> the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

> boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

> that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

> media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

> external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

> from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

> devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>

> *TimDaniels*

>

> "Bob I" wrote:

>

>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In other

>>words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the external

>>booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for something of

>>limited use.

>>

>>John wrote:

>>

>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we should

>>>be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS supports

>>>booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>

>>>"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>>>news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>

>>>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>>

>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make works

>>>>>normally

>>>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>

>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>

>>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

No, that won't work, you still need to change the way the USB stack is

initialized.

John

Timothy Daniels wrote:

> How about if one installed the OS to an internal hard drive and then

> cloned it to an external USB hard drive, or if the internal hard drive

> were merely physically moved to the external USB drive enclosure?

> IOW, if one separated the installation and bootup procedures - could

> the OS on the external USB hard drive be booted without a "whack"?

>

> *TimDaniels*

>

> "John John (MVP)" wrote:

>

>>Windows will not install and boot on a USB drive unless you hack the

>>installation. If you do some searching on the net you will find reports of

>>some who have attempted to do this and the reports are mostly ones of failures

>>or of less than spectacular results. To get this to work you have to change

>>the way that Windows initializes the USB stack, a main problem being that the

>>Session Manager creates the pagefile before the USB stack is fully

>>initialized. It's an installation that isn't supported by Microsoft, but as I

>>said, if you search the net you will find reports from some who claim to have

>>done it along with their installation recipe.

>>

>>John

>>

>>Timothy Daniels wrote:

>>

>>>By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

>>>startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

>>>the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

>>>boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

>>>that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

>>>media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

>>>external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

>>>from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

>>>devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>>>

>>>*TimDaniels*

>>>

>>>"Bob I" wrote:

>>>

>>>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally. In other

>>>>words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and then the external

>>>>booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's value for something of

>>>>limited use.

>>>>

>>>>John wrote:

>>>>

>>>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive we

>>>>>should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as long as BIOS

>>>>>supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>>>

>>>>>"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message

>>>>>news:%23snkU1P8IHA.3736@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

>>>>>

>>>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>>>

>>>>>>"wannabegeek" <wannabegeek@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>>>>news:62B161BE-F735-47CE-8EF8-B4F8CA5F1643@microsoft.com...

>>>>>>

>>>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and make

>>>>>>>works

>>>>>>>normally

>>>>>>>as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

Interesting. The Dell "Level II" tech reps insisted that their systems

that could boot from USB "devices" could boot from USB hard drives.

But they didn't say *how* to boot them from a USB hard drive. It

appears now that they were saying "if you hack the OS in one of our

USB-bootable systems (and thus void the warranty), the system can

be booted from a USB hard drive".

Does this mean that if one sets the BIOS to boot from a USB RAM

stick that one cannot use USB for a plug-n-play device while that

setting is in effect?

*TimDaniels*

"John John (MVP)" wrote:

> No, that won't work, you still need to change the way the USB

> stack is initialized.

>

> John

>

> Timothy Daniels wrote:

>

>> How about if one installed the OS to an internal hard drive and then

>> cloned it to an external USB hard drive, or if the internal hard drive

>> were merely physically moved to the external USB drive enclosure?

>> IOW, if one separated the installation and bootup procedures - could

>> the OS on the external USB hard drive be booted without a "whack"?

>>

>> *TimDaniels*

>>

>> "John John (MVP)" wrote:

>>

>>>Windows will not install and boot on a USB drive unless you hack the

>>>installation. If you do some searching on the net you will find reports of

>>>some who have attempted to do this and the reports are mostly ones of

>>>failures or of less than spectacular results. To get this to work you have

>>>to change the way that Windows initializes the USB stack, a main

>>>problem being that the Session Manager creates the pagefile before the

>>>USB stack is fully initialized. It's an installation that isn't supported by

>>>Microsoft, but as I said, if you search the net you will find reports from

>>>some who claim to have done it along with their installation recipe.

>>>

>>>John

>>>

>>>Timothy Daniels wrote:

>>>

>>>>By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

>>>>startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

>>>>the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

>>>>boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

>>>>that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

>>>>media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

>>>>external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

>>>>from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

>>>>devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>>>>

>>>>*TimDaniels*

>>>>

>>>>"Bob I" wrote:

>>>>

>>>>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally.

>>>>>In other words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and

>>>>>then the external booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's

>>>>>value for something of limited use.

>>>>>

>>>>>John wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive

>>>>>>we should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as

>>>>>>long as BIOS supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>>>>

>>>>>>"R. McCarty" wrote:

>>>>>>

>>>>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>"wannabegeek" wrote:

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and

>>>>>>>>make works normally as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>>>>

>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

You can boot from a USB "device". You can boot on a USB floppy or a USB

CD-ROM and install Windows to another non-USB hard disk when you boot

with another device, but at the present time you cannot install any

Windows desktop/server version to a USB hard disk without hacking the

installation files and hacking the way Windows boots and

loads/initializes the USB drivers. You may be able to install and boot

other operating systems to a USB drive but this is not supported out of

the box for Microsoft desktop/server operating systems, Microsoft does

not support this boot method.

As for the RAM stick question I think it would still be able to boot the

computer and that you could use the USB drive, you can boot a PE version

on a USB stick, the difference is that when you boot with the RAM stick

you don't need to retrieve and write files to the USB hard disk while

the computer is booting, once the OS on the stick is loaded if it has

USB drivers then it should be able to read write to the USB hard drive.

You should be able to find information about that on Bart's PE site

and user forums, or on the Ultimate Boot Disks for Windows site.

You can get a idea of what needs to be done to install and boot Windows

on a USB drive here: http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

As Bob mentioned in his post, unless someone has very specific needs I

don't much see the use of this booting method, not to mention that USB

drives are about the slowest hard drives available, performance wise not

the best for the operating system.

John

Timothy Daniels wrote:

> Interesting. The Dell "Level II" tech reps insisted that their systems

> that could boot from USB "devices" could boot from USB hard drives.

> But they didn't say *how* to boot them from a USB hard drive. It

> appears now that they were saying "if you hack the OS in one of our

> USB-bootable systems (and thus void the warranty), the system can

> be booted from a USB hard drive".

>

> Does this mean that if one sets the BIOS to boot from a USB RAM

> stick that one cannot use USB for a plug-n-play device while that

> setting is in effect?

>

> *TimDaniels*

>

> "John John (MVP)" wrote:

>

>>No, that won't work, you still need to change the way the USB

>>stack is initialized.

>>

>>John

>>

>>Timothy Daniels wrote:

>>

>>>How about if one installed the OS to an internal hard drive and then

>>>cloned it to an external USB hard drive, or if the internal hard drive

>>>were merely physically moved to the external USB drive enclosure?

>>>IOW, if one separated the installation and bootup procedures - could

>>>the OS on the external USB hard drive be booted without a "whack"?

>>>

>>>*TimDaniels*

>>>

>>>"John John (MVP)" wrote:

>>>

>>>>Windows will not install and boot on a USB drive unless you hack the

>>>>installation. If you do some searching on the net you will find reports of

>>>>some who have attempted to do this and the reports are mostly ones of

>>>>failures or of less than spectacular results. To get this to work you have

>>>>to change the way that Windows initializes the USB stack, a main

>>>>problem being that the Session Manager creates the pagefile before the

>>>>USB stack is fully initialized. It's an installation that isn't supported by

>>>>Microsoft, but as I said, if you search the net you will find reports from

>>>>some who claim to have done it along with their installation recipe.

>>>>

>>>>John

>>>>

>>>>Timothy Daniels wrote:

>>>>

>>>>>By "whack", I believe you mean choosing the option in the BIOS at

>>>>>startup to boot from USB media. That "whack" would last only until

>>>>>the next startup. That a USB-linked IDE or SATA hard drive could

>>>>>boot an OS was confirmed to me by Dell's Tech Support, so I assume

>>>>>that any motherboard with a BIOS that enables booting from USB

>>>>>media would also accommodate booting from a USB-connected

>>>>>external hard drive. But it's not clear that setting the BIOS to boot

>>>>

>>>>>from USB would disable unused USB ports from use for plug-n-play

>>>>

>>>>>devices. Do you know this to be a fact?

>>>>>

>>>>>*TimDaniels*

>>>>>

>>>>>"Bob I" wrote:

>>>>>

>>>>>>Only if you "whack" the ability of Windows to handle USB normally.

>>>>>>In other words you prevent the normal Plug and play of USB and

>>>>>>then the external booting can be used. So you give up a lot of USB's

>>>>>>value for something of limited use.

>>>>>>

>>>>>>John wrote:

>>>>>>

>>>>>>>Really? I've always thought that if we can boot off USB flash drive

>>>>>>>we should be able to install Windows on external USB drive (as

>>>>>>>long as BIOS supports booting off USB). Maybe I'm wrong.

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>"R. McCarty" wrote:

>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>Only if the external drives are either SATA or SCSI hosted.

>>>>>>>>All USB peripherals are seen to Windows as removable. It's

>>>>>>>>that attribute that prevents installation on USB external drives.

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>"wannabegeek" wrote:

>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>is it possible to install windows xp in external hard drive and

>>>>>>>>>make works normally as it was install in internal hard drive

>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>please help i am new at this

>>>>>>>>

>

July 30, 2008

Re: installing windows xp in external hard drive

No the BIOS boot setting has nothing to with the Plug and Play feature

of Windows. WINDOWS CAN'T BE BOOTED AND RUN FROM A REMOVABLE DRIVE. You

CAN boot from some OTHER operating system on a removable drive and use

USB drives normally. JUST NOT WINDOWS. (caps for emphasis)