Installing Windows7 to an external USB2 connected drive

Not from, but to. It's do-able I know, but would it just utterly kill performance? Has anyone tried this?

Why do you want to install to an external?

Bill2 said:

Why do you want to install to an external?

It's not so much that I "want" to; I'm curious to know if it's practical to do so. I like to know these things

Its dooable but not usable unless you're OK with a pe. It'll run much slower than a regular install of course.

Install windows 7 on USB external hard drive

Using virtualbox:

How To Install Windows 7 On USB Flash Drive or External Hard Drive

If its a pe you're looking for, you can make one with winbuilder though you have to be careful you dont use it as a regular OS. SIW2 on these forums has done some excellent work in this regard.

https://www.sevenforums.com/vip/116727-test.html

Layback Bear said:

Are trying to copy W7 to external drive or move it to a external dive? I know of no advantage to do either one. Using a external source of storage to back up your system make seance. If by chance you want to copy the operating system only to a external hdd, to me that is like making copies of the O.E. c/d and I don't believe that is legal.

Not copy: install. Put the installation media in, start the setup, point it at the external HD, click Start.

Again it's not a pressing need to do so, just a "so what happens if..." question.

Windows installer will not let you install to any USB connected drive. However if the same HD is connected via SATA or IDE cable it will of course work. USB is the bottleneck.