can you install windows to an HDD that's connected via docking station?

[hoorhay]

Same as the title. Is it at all possible to install windows on an HDD that's in a docking station? I've been having issues making my usb drive bootable, so I'm trying to think of ways to install the OS on a different tower that has a blank HDD

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

No,you can't install Windows on any type of external storage device for the simple reason that Windows Setup does not show external drives as a valid installation target. It simply won't be shown in the drives/partitions list.

 

[ArtPog]

While you cannot successfully install Windows directly on a USB external HDD, e.g., the docking station you mention, as Philip has indicated, you can - using a disk-cloning program - clone the contents of a bootable drive to a USBEHD and the latter device will happily boot.

I don't know if that's practical in your situation or precisely fits in with what you're looking for, but I thought I'd mention that possibility. I should just add that not every disk-cloning program possesses that capability - the one I work with does.

(As an aside, from time to time one comes across "instructions" (quite detailed & usually tortuous) on the net re directly installing a Windows OS onto a USBEHD. It's never worked for us, nor have I ever seen it successfully done.)