How to install Windows 7 on a portable hard drive

[SquonkSC]

Between the two of you, you only total less then two thousand posts LMAO, on an obscure forum at that, So are you proffesionals LOL.

Between the two of them they total more than 2000 post.

The majority of those posts have helped many desperate users on their way.

By the way, if they are not professionals in your eyes, what are you by your own standards? You made what? 2 posts?

You are here for the first time, and you don't know who is who, so you might be a little less smug, and just provide everyone here with the details of your claim.

That namely is the purpose of this thread. To establish if it can be done or not.

So if it's not too much to ask, would you kindly enlighten us on how you managed to get Win7 working on an external drive, or provide us with the resources/links where you learned it.

Thank you.

 

[zigzag3143]

WTF is that supposed to mean?

Just google the terms I provided kids, and don't be so.....
well for lack of a better term,..... 'Childish'.

Between the two of you, you only total less then two thousand posts LMAO, on an obscure forum at that, So are you proffesionals LOL.

Aairon

I might suggest as a newer member you check the sites rules in the general section. We are here to co-operate and dont view derisiveness well. I never get hostile, because it accomplishes nothing.

So lets play nice

Ken

 

[Tews]

(snif..snif..) I detect the foul odor of a troll .. :mad2:

 

[SquonkSC]

Between the two of you, you only total less then two thousand posts LMAO, on an obscure forum at that, So are you proffesionals LOL.

I wonder if we are going to get in trouble,
once MS finds out we are an obscure forum.

:shock::huh::sarc: <-- look at us! And we call our selves professionals!!??

 

[Antman]

Regarding the issue of booting from USB, I would love to be proven wrong. Sincerely. I tried my best to be polite - and you know, it don't come easy. Thank you guys for holding me to a higher standard.

 

[Antman]

And he called Chuck and me "kids". We are among the oldest here.

 

[SquonkSC]

Re-use of code:

Re-use of code:

Dim UserPosts, As integer
Dim UserSmug, As Value
Dim moron As value

If UserPosts < 10 And UserSmug = True Then
moron = true

Else
moron = false
End If

If moron = true Then Ignore
Else Help
End if

 

[Antman]

NightHawk offers a valid address. http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/4772-win7-installed-sdhc-how.html

His example of the VHD is not an example of Windows booting from USB. In the scenario described, an OS is already booted. Furthermore, it does not address the goal.

Can you run a Windows virtual machine from a VHD stored on a USB device and called from an existing boot? Yes. Can you install Windows on a USB device? No.

I do not even... well for lack of a better term... grok the point of the exersize (sic).

I do like the string "Dim Moron".

 

[chuckr]

Can you install Windows on a USB device? No.

I'm guessing you specifically mean Windows 7/Vista, here...

I boot XP Pro regularly from USB attached HDDs and/or Sandisk sticks (slow
as molasses, but 100% XP Pro, ready to repair, when/if nec.)...

I install to them using my 'homemade' Installation DVD, since the
Gateway DVD always reformats my HDD_0 and requires 'activation'.
After 'hitting the limit' on activating, I thought I'd try something else.
No more XP 30-day hassles.

XP USB HDD mods came from here:
http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176
The essence of it might be related to W7, for "boot-ability".
For "install-ability", that's probably a different story...

IT CANNOT BE DONE.
No se puede hacer. Il ne peut être fait. それはされることができません。Она не может быть сделано. یہ نہیں ہو سکتا ہے. Het kan niet worden gedaan. Nem lehet elvégezni. Nie można zrobić.

Ahh,
Love a challenge...

очень хорошо!​

 

[Antman]

Chuckle. I so want to learn this. Latest obstacle...

 

[s0me0ne]

I would do it on a eSATA drive rather than USB (it'd be much faster), but most people dont have eSATA ports or external devices with them.

 

[chuckr]

Chuckle. I so want to learn this. Latest obstacle...

Yeah,
I noticed that prior to my actual posting... 503

First thought was: M$ bought him out !

Second thought: Maybe it actually is down for maint...
Third thought: Yeah, "Temporarily", for how long ?
Last thought: What the hell, posting is the best -I- could do...

Here's a blurb, from when it was still alive:

Installing and booting Windows XP from USB drive -- Guide
(last updated: 11.06.2006 12:23:26 ) created by emanuel
( on 03.03.2006 14:08:51 )

What is this about?

To keep the introduction short, Microsoft denies that booting Windows off a USB drive works.

See this page:
Vista Forums
for example. It says:

*Q: Can a USB storage device be the primary (and only) means of storage?*
No. USB-based mass storage devices cannot be the primary hard
disk storage solution on a regular system ...

Or this one:
Booting / Installing windows XP from USB drive - microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics | Google Groups
from the microsoft newsgroups:

Windows cannot boot from an USB drive. If your computer supports
booting from such device, you can load a boot loader to the USB
device which starts Windows XP from the HDD.

Anyway, the web is full of those. I was wondering about the same
thing, as i did not want to put a Windows partition on my
Linux.based work laptop, and thought it was a good idea to run
Windows XP off a USB Hard drive that i just plug in when i need it,
and boot from it. To put a long story short, this is exactly what i
do now, thanks to the fantastic research of the people credited
below. However, it took me significant time to figure out all the
painful little problems, and i was not fully happy with the current
official guide <http://www.winusb.de> by Dietmar (no pun, he was the
first to make ANYthing public). I wanted an easy guide that allows
creating a modified version of the Windows XP CD, for painless and
transparent installation to as many systems as you want.

This page is the result of my work. Have fun!

*Credits*

...must go to the people that made this guide possible in the first
place. In recent months, a few blokes going by the handles of
*mkiaer*, *Dietmar *and *sisal *and a few others from the 911.net
forums <http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181> came
up with many good pieces of research on how to enable any NT-based
Windows to boot from a USB-drive. Little of this guide would exist
without them - in fact the only reason why i write this up is that
my particular solution seems to be lower effort than any of the
steps i saw before. Many of the steps here are the result of their
research.

 

[smarteyeball]

on an obscure forum at that,

Well thanks for stopping by. Please don't hesitate in not returning to obscurity :sarc:

 

[SpiritHeart67]

install windows 7 to usb external drive

I was having the same problem and found the following instructions:
http://www.sevenforums.com/news/498-usb-hard-drive-bootable-windows-7-install-disk.html
and
http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345

Haven't tried it yet, but thought I would put it out there for others to try out as well.
Hope it helps!

 

[gregrocker]

Windows 7 cannot be installed to a USB drive, otherwise people would carry it around to any computer and have a portable Windows 7.

XP could be installed to a flash drive but required heavy installer mods.

I'm sure someone will find out how to do it, but it will read like the tutorials for complex GRUB boot manager requiring a doctorate degree to complete.

 

[cshrawder]

Possible success..?

So ive tried a few different methods from hours of Google searching and came up with a virtual machine extracted to a USB HDD partition and a custom boot-loader using Easy BCD.

So far I've gotten to the spinning colors but then automatic reboot.

I'm thinking possibly the pagfile and hibernate.sys but not exactly sure. I plan on trying to redo the partition without hibernation or page-filing enabled sometime this week. Any helpful advice is more than welcome