Boot from USB-Harddisk ?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".

--
Bjarne Duelund

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

The thing to do is to try it. Then report back here with your finding to
help others with the same question. I suspect that, if it works, it will
only be good for the computer that installed the O/S on the USB hard drive.

Try to use it on another computer (this is your ultimate intention, right)
and the hardware will be incorrect and prevent booting.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

"Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
news:eYGaDv4fEHA.3632@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>
> --
> Bjarne Duelund
>

 

[bar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Good in theory, very slow performance will be the result. So don't impede
the performance of your computer.

If you want to have a 'portable' Windows environment, get a removable hard
disk caddy. This will connect to the IDE interface on the motherboard.

They cost about $10.00.


"Richard Urban" wrote:

> The thing to do is to try it. Then report back here with your finding to
> help others with the same question. I suspect that, if it works, it will
> only be good for the computer that installed the O/S on the USB hard drive.
>
> Try to use it on another computer (this is your ultimate intention, right)
> and the hardware will be incorrect and prevent booting.
>
> --
> Regards:
>
> Richard Urban
>
> aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard
>
> "Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
> news:eYGaDv4fEHA.3632@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> > Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
> > The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
> >
> > --
> > Bjarne Duelund
> >
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
news:eYGaDv4fEHA.3632@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>
> --
> Bjarne Duelund

It maybe possible but I have tried and have not been able to do so. Based
upon what I have tried, including disconnecting my fixed disk drives to make
the USB-HDD the only HDD on the system, I think the only way it can be done
is to mount the HDD as a fixed drive, load XP onto it then remove the drive
and instal it into an enclosure. Think it should be OK then. I suspect
WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive. If anyone
has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.

>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:O9X5bP5fEHA.1644@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> The thing to do is to try it. Then report back here with your finding to help others with the
> same question. I suspect that, if it works, it will only be good for the computer that
> installed the O/S on the USB hard drive.

I can not try it, since I don't have the MB (yet).

> Try to use it on another computer (this is your ultimate intention, right) and the hardware
> will be incorrect and prevent booting.

Actually not - It is my experience that external USB drives are more silent than internal
harddisks, and I would build a total silent PC with a fanless mini-Itx motherboard.

--
Bjarne Duelund

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

What you want to do is totaly possible as long as your Motherboard
supports it. My ASUS P4P800 is one of them that does. As for running
things more quietly, you can buy or make sound proof casings for your
hard drive inside the case. Personally, I use foam packaging material
and have my drive standing upright. I can barely hear it when I am
defragging or other things that make a lot of HD noise.

----
Nathan McNulty


Bjarne Duelund wrote:
> "Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:O9X5bP5fEHA.1644@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>
>>The thing to do is to try it. Then report back here with your finding to help others with the
>>same question. I suspect that, if it works, it will only be good for the computer that
>>installed the O/S on the USB hard drive.
>
>
> I can not try it, since I don't have the MB (yet).
>
>
>>Try to use it on another computer (this is your ultimate intention, right) and the hardware
>>will be incorrect and prevent booting.
>
>
> Actually not - It is my experience that external USB drives are more silent than internal
> harddisks, and I would build a total silent PC with a fanless mini-Itx motherboard.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:O9Zf5r5fEHA.140@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
>> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
>> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>>
> I suspect WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive. If anyone has
> installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.

Probaly so. But why can you select "Boot from USB-HDD" if it's not possible ?

--
Bjarne Duelund

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I can boot from the USB-HDD but not WINXP. I can boot to DOS and I am
pretty sure all the DOS based Windows versions, but not WINXP. If I could
load WINXP onto the external HDD it would boot but I can't even load WINXP
onto the external drive, the loading sequence gets to a point when it
reboots and promptly crashes.


"Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
news:uVY0O35fEHA.3700@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>
> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
> news:O9Zf5r5fEHA.140@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>>
>>> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
>>> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>>>
>> I suspect WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive.
>> If anyone has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.
>
> Probaly so. But why can you select "Boot from USB-HDD" if it's not
> possible ?
>
> --
> Bjarne Duelund
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I am unsure to whom you are responding but if you are responding to the
effect it is totally possible to boot from a USB HDD to WINXP (provided your
HDD allows booting from an USB-HDD, as does mine), do you know how to load
WINXP onto the USB-HDD directly? While I would agree that it seems possible
to boot into WINXP from a USB-HDD, the problem is, at least for me, how to
load WINXP onto the external drive directly. What I mean by directly is
without having to install the HDD as a fixed drive then after loading WINXP
remove it and reinstall it to an external enclosure.

If you have actually achieved this I, and others I am sure, would like to
know how it is done. I think I have tried 'very trick in the book'
including trying to install from the i386 folder on the fixed HDD but
without success, that is the installation proceeds to a certain point thern
the system crashes with a 'protection' error (BSD).



"Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:eipCsC9fEHA.2536@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>I can boot from the USB-HDD but not WINXP. I can boot to DOS and I am
>pretty sure all the DOS based Windows versions, but not WINXP. If I could
>load WINXP onto the external HDD it would boot but I can't even load WINXP
>onto the external drive, the loading sequence gets to a point when it
>reboots and promptly crashes.
>
>
> "Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
> news:uVY0O35fEHA.3700@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>>
>> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:O9Zf5r5fEHA.140@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>>> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
>>>> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>>>>
>>> I suspect WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive.
>>> If anyone has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.
>>
>> Probaly so. But why can you select "Boot from USB-HDD" if it's not
>> possible ?
>>
>> --
>> Bjarne Duelund
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Edward W. Thompson wrote:
> I am unsure to whom you are responding but if you are responding to
> the effect it is totally possible to boot from a USB HDD to WINXP
> (provided your HDD allows booting from an USB-HDD, as does mine), do
> you know how to load WINXP onto the USB-HDD directly? While I would
> agree that it seems possible to boot into WINXP from a USB-HDD, the
> problem is, at least for me, how to load WINXP onto the external
> drive directly. What I mean by directly is without having to install
> the HDD as a fixed drive then after loading WINXP remove it and
> reinstall it to an external enclosure.
>
> If you have actually achieved this I, and others I am sure, would
> like to know how it is done. I think I have tried 'very trick in the
> book' including trying to install from the i386 folder on the fixed
> HDD but without success, that is the installation proceeds to a
> certain point thern the system crashes with a 'protection' error
> (BSD).

Could you make something like a BartPE boot medium for a USB device?

--
<- Shenan ->
--
The information is provided "as is", with no guarantees of
completeness, accuracy or timeliness, and without warranties of any
kind, express or implied. In other words, read up before you take any
advice - you are the one ultimately responsible for your actions.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
news:uVY0O35fEHA.3700@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> >> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk ?
> >> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".

> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message:
It maybe possible but I have tried and have not been able to do so. Based
upon what I have tried, including disconnecting my fixed disk drives to make
the USB-HDD the only HDD on the system, I think the only way it can be done
is to mount the HDD as a fixed drive, load XP onto it then remove the drive
and instal it into an enclosure. Think it should be OK then. I suspect
WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive. If anyone
has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.

I suspect WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive. If
anyone has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.

Bjarne Dueland response:
> Probaly so. But why can you select "Boot from USB-HDD" if it's not
possible ?
-
> Bjarne Duelund

Bjararne:
My experience parallels Ed's. First of all, I've never been able to directly
install XP to a USB external hard drive. Secondly, while I routinely clone
(using Ghost 2003) the contents of an internal fixed hard drive to a USB
external drive, I have never been able to boot with the external drive. I've
used a number of different motherboards that contain a BIOS item with an
option to boot (such as the one you mention) from the USB external hard
drive, but I've never been able to do so. I've communicated with Symantec,
Western Digital, and Maxtor re this issue and was told by each that a USB
external HD is not bootable, period. I might mention that I'm routinely able
to
clone back the previously-cloned contents of an external HD to the fixed
internal HD, and under those circumstances the internal drive is bootable.

Time & time again I've seen postings on various newsgroups as well as
statements on various web sites that a USB external hard drive containing
the XP OS is bootable as long as this capability is supported by one's
motherboard. But I've yet to achieve this "holy grail". If anyone reading
this has PERSONALLY been able to boot from a USB external hard drive
containing the XP OS, or has definitive information that this is possible, I
(and I'm sure others,
including Ed) would be grateful to learn about it.

Art.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Some other OS's might be able to boot from an USB HD , but I don't think it
can be done with any Windows.
At least I've _seen_ (as in a demo at school) it done with Mandrake 10


--
Tumppi
Reply to group
=================================================
Most learned on nntp://news.mircosoft.com
Helsinki, Finland (remove _NOSPAM)
(translations from FI/SE not always accurate)
=================================================

"Art" <noone@notanisp.com> kirjoitti viestissä
news:Oll7ILHgEHA.380@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> "Bjarne Duelund" <bdn@_REMOVE_maerskdata.dk> wrote in message
> news:uVY0O35fEHA.3700@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > >> Is it possible to install Windows XP on, and boot from, USB-harddisk
?
> > >> The motherboard BIOS support "Boot from USB-HDD".
>
> > "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message:
> It maybe possible but I have tried and have not been able to do so. Based
> upon what I have tried, including disconnecting my fixed disk drives to
make
> the USB-HDD the only HDD on the system, I think the only way it can be
done
> is to mount the HDD as a fixed drive, load XP onto it then remove the
drive
> and instal it into an enclosure. Think it should be OK then. I suspect
> WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive. If anyone
> has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.
>
> I suspect WINXP is coded to prevent it installing on a removeable drive.
If
> anyone has installed it on a USB HDD I'd very much like to know how.
>
> Bjarne Dueland response:
> > Probaly so. But why can you select "Boot from USB-HDD" if it's not
> possible ?
> -
> > Bjarne Duelund
>
> Bjararne:
> My experience parallels Ed's. First of all, I've never been able to
directly
> install XP to a USB external hard drive. Secondly, while I routinely clone
> (using Ghost 2003) the contents of an internal fixed hard drive to a USB
> external drive, I have never been able to boot with the external drive.
I've
> used a number of different motherboards that contain a BIOS item with an
> option to boot (such as the one you mention) from the USB external hard
> drive, but I've never been able to do so. I've communicated with Symantec,
> Western Digital, and Maxtor re this issue and was told by each that a USB
> external HD is not bootable, period. I might mention that I'm routinely
able
> to
> clone back the previously-cloned contents of an external HD to the fixed
> internal HD, and under those circumstances the internal drive is bootable.
>
> Time & time again I've seen postings on various newsgroups as well as
> statements on various web sites that a USB external hard drive containing
> the XP OS is bootable as long as this capability is supported by one's
> motherboard. But I've yet to achieve this "holy grail". If anyone reading
> this has PERSONALLY been able to boot from a USB external hard drive
> containing the XP OS, or has definitive information that this is possible,
I
> (and I'm sure others,
> including Ed) would be grateful to learn about it.
>
> Art.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I have an Archos 20 GB MP3 Player. This uses a laptop hard drive and is
connected through USB 2.0 to my computer. I am running an ASUS P4P800
(Intel i865 Chipset). I booted off my Windows XP CD, it gave me the USB
Drive as an option to install to. I swear I have done it before on my
friends external drive with this computer before, but I will grab a real
external drive tomorrow and see if I have time to do it again. I will
post back with the results and maybe even pictures . I will not
install to my MP3's drive because I am afraid it will write over the MBR
and possibly mess up my MP3 Player.

----
Nathan McNulty


Thomas Wendell wrote:
> Some other OS's might be able to boot from an USB HD , but I don't think it
> can be done with any Windows.
> At least I've _seen_ (as in a demo at school) it done with Mandrake 10
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

I have an 120 Gb Maxtor in in Techsolo Case USB 2.0 that I am trying to boot
from. I've managed to get Windows XP (with SP2 Slipstreamed) to initiate it's
installation, but after the first reboot, I get a Stop error regarding the
harddrive. It seems like the Windows installation doesn't recognize the drive
after rebooting. My thought was to provide extra USB drivers by pressing F6
during hardware inspection, but Windows then requests a disk with at least an
txtsetup.oem file. I've contacted the supplier of the HD casing, but have not
received a response yet. Guess I'm up to building my own .oem file..

"Nathan McNulty" wrote:

> I have an Archos 20 GB MP3 Player. This uses a laptop hard drive and is
> connected through USB 2.0 to my computer. I am running an ASUS P4P800
> (Intel i865 Chipset). I booted off my Windows XP CD, it gave me the USB
> Drive as an option to install to. I swear I have done it before on my
> friends external drive with this computer before, but I will grab a real
> external drive tomorrow and see if I have time to do it again. I will
> post back with the results and maybe even pictures . I will not
> install to my MP3's drive because I am afraid it will write over the MBR
> and possibly mess up my MP3 Player.
>
> ----
> Nathan McNulty
>
>
> Thomas Wendell wrote:
> > Some other OS's might be able to boot from an USB HD , but I don't think it
> > can be done with any Windows.
> > At least I've _seen_ (as in a demo at school) it done with Mandrake 10
> >
> >
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

WINXP will not load to and boot from an external drive only from a fixed
drive.


"David Nicholson" <David Nicholson@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:CC1E1A2A-83C2-426F-800E-E7DC7FC79DE1@microsoft.com...
>I have an 120 Gb Maxtor in in Techsolo Case USB 2.0 that I am trying to
>boot
> from. I've managed to get Windows XP (with SP2 Slipstreamed) to initiate
> it's
> installation, but after the first reboot, I get a Stop error regarding the
> harddrive. It seems like the Windows installation doesn't recognize the
> drive
> after rebooting. My thought was to provide extra USB drivers by pressing
> F6
> during hardware inspection, but Windows then requests a disk with at least
> an
> txtsetup.oem file. I've contacted the supplier of the HD casing, but have
> not
> received a response yet. Guess I'm up to building my own .oem file..
>
> "Nathan McNulty" wrote:
>
>> I have an Archos 20 GB MP3 Player. This uses a laptop hard drive and is
>> connected through USB 2.0 to my computer. I am running an ASUS P4P800
>> (Intel i865 Chipset). I booted off my Windows XP CD, it gave me the USB
>> Drive as an option to install to. I swear I have done it before on my
>> friends external drive with this computer before, but I will grab a real
>> external drive tomorrow and see if I have time to do it again. I will
>> post back with the results and maybe even pictures . I will not
>> install to my MP3's drive because I am afraid it will write over the MBR
>> and possibly mess up my MP3 Player.
>>
>> ----
>> Nathan McNulty
>>
>>
>> Thomas Wendell wrote:
>> > Some other OS's might be able to boot from an USB HD , but I don't
>> > think it
>> > can be done with any Windows.
>> > At least I've _seen_ (as in a demo at school) it done with Mandrake 10
>> >
>> >
>>