Solved Trying to install Windows 7 on external USB 3.1C SSD with Windows 10

[Smexy]

I'm trying create a dual boot system and install Windows 7 Enterprise 64x on an external USB3.1C SSD, but I've run into a few hiccups so far. I'm trying to do this from Windows 10 Home 64x, which came pre-installed on my Asus GL502VS laptop (meaning Skylake chipset, so no USB 2.0 ports). I'd quite like to keep Windows 10 where it is right now because I want to keep it as my main operating system, and want to use Windows 7 for more specific purposes. I have Windows 7 Enterprise available as an ISO file and have thus far been attempting to install it from a bootable USB drive. Lastly, I only recently became aware that I needed to inject USB 3.0 driver into the installation so all my attempts at installing have been done without that knowledge.

I've been scouring the internet but can't seem to find someone who has shared experience of a similar situation and thus have been trying to mix and mash different tips and steps from different guides and threads, and as you can imagine for someone new to doing this, it's been somewhat confusing.

Here is what I have done so far:
-Tried making bootable USB with the Windows tool (said it copied files but could not make it bootable so tried a different program)
-Tried making bootable USB with Rufus (was able to -attempt- to boot, but an error that stated: "Windows failed to start. (etc. etc.) File: \EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD Status: 0xc000000d"
-Tried manually making it bootable, when attempting to boot, nothing happened and it entered Windows 10 normally.
Again, all of this was done without the knowledge that I need to inject USB 3.0 drivers into the bootable USB. I was also unaware that Windows doesn't allow one (by default) to install on an external drive, and thus that is the other problem I am looking to bust through.

Any help would be hugely appreciated. If any additional information is needed to provide this help, please let me know and I will try my best to provide such information as soon as possible.

Thank you,
Smexy

 

[torchwood]

Hi Smexy,
Have a read of these
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
How to Install Windows 10 on External Hard Drive - EaseUS

then this for slipstreaming the drivers, links included i think
How to install Windows 7 on Skylake Dell XPS 8910 Solved - Page 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

considerations
Bios
-- EUFI state
-- OS boot choice at start-up

is E-sata available.

Thats as far as i can take you.

Roy

 

[Smexy]

Hi Smexy,
Have a read of these
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows
How to Install Windows 10 on External Hard Drive - EaseUS

then this for slipstreaming the drivers, links included i think
How to install Windows 7 on Skylake Dell XPS 8910 Solved - Page 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

considerations
Bios
-- EUFI state
-- OS boot choice at start-up

is E-sata available.

Thats as far as i can take you.

Roy

Thank you for the response, torchwood.

I managed to use a tool to inject USB 3.0 drivers into the bootable USB drive, but I got the same error (0xc000000d) as I did previously when trying to boot. Not sure why this is.

I also looked into using the tool WinToUSB to install it onto my external SSD, but when I open it, for some reason I can only select the boot partition and not the system partition, and, thanks to this, I cannot advance in the program despite other guides saying it should work. Same problem this guy is having.

In regards to the rest of your post:
-The External HDD instructions confused me a lot. It looked like they were trying to make a bootable USB (although I could be totally wrong), but more than that, I did not know what files they were referencing half the time so I feel it may be beyond me to use said instructions without a clearer explanation.
-I don't believe E-SATA is available, unfortunately.
-What exactly is the OS Boot choice at startup that you mention?

Thanks,
Smexy

 

[Megahertz07]

BIOS must be set properly
- Fast boot must be set to disabled.
- Secure boot must be set to disabled. Some MB can have another name as CSM or OS (Operating System) = other

 

[Smexy]

BIOS must be set properly
- Fast boot must be set to disabled.
- Secure boot must be set to disabled. Some MB can have another name as CSM or OS (Operating System) = other

Yes, I read this on some of the installation articles so I've already done this. Apologies for not posting it up top.

 

[Smexy]

Before I get into this, is there any way to edit older posts on here? I don't see any edit buttons on my posts above. Anyways...

Small Update:
Some good news! My first issue has been conquered, and I've taken care of that 0xc000000d error. I looked through all of the options and menus on my BIOS and it turns out there was a CSM option that was made toggleable due to Secure Boot being disabled. I tried enabling it and it booted from my USB just fine, and I was able to get into the install menu of Windows 7.

I guess if worst comes to worst, then I can just move a bunch of files from my internal SSD over to my external, and then create a new partition, but I would still really like to install Windows 7 onto my external USB3.1C SSD. When I went into the Windows 7 custom install options, my SSD didn't even pop up as an option so I'm really curious as to how to circumvent this issue.

If anyone has any ideas, please share. Thank you.

 

[Megahertz07]

- To edit one of your early posts you must be logged in. New members like you may have limitations on the Forum. Don't know if that is the case.
- Once I read that Windows wasn't allowed to be installed on an external drive. On my search I found some articles that say you can.
- For safety reasons you should disconnect your internal HDD from the MB. I would take it out and replace it with the SSD. Once you get Win 7 running, place the SSD back to the external case and use the boot menu to launch it. The last step would be to attach the win 10 HDD to the MB.

 

[SIW2]

to install Windows 7 onto my external USB3.1C SSD

Winntsetup should be able to do that, it supports "Windows to Go" for Windows 7 and later

WinNTSetup v3.8.7.4

 

[Smexy]

- To edit one of your early posts you must be logged in. New members like you may have limitations on the Forum. Don't know if that is the case.
- Once I read that Windows wasn't allowed to be installed on an external drive. On my search I found some articles that say you can.
- For safety reasons you should disconnect your internal HDD from the MB. I would take it out and replace it with the SSD. Once you get Win 7 running, place the SSD back to the external case and use the boot menu to launch it. The last step would be to attach the win 10 HDD to the MB.

Winntsetup should be able to do that, it supports "Windows to Go" for Windows 7 and later

WinNTSetup v3.8.7.4

Thank you for the posts, both of you; I will definitely make use of them if I ever find myself trying to do something like this again in the future (not unforeseeable). I did quite a bit of thinking on how I wanted my system to run and where I wanted to have all my files located and I ultimately decided that I'll actually move some of my files currently located on my main SSD over to my new SSD, and create a new partition on my main SSD for Windows 7. I did just this, but for some reason Windows 7 doesn't recognize my new partition, so I can't advance in the installer yet again.

Here are some pictures to illustrate my issue:

The two discs shown above are my internal and external HDDs.

Thanks for any help; it's hugely appreciated.

Also, Megahertz, you were correct. New members do have editing restrictions.


EDIT- My SSD needed NVME drivers. After injecting them into the USB with the USB 3.0 Creator Utility, installation proceeded smoothly. Officially marking this thread as solved. But......

Now I'm having driver problems. Yay.
Installed Windows 7 on a Windows 10 laptop; where to get my drivers?

 

[Megahertz07]

Still having problems with the drivers?
Read Fresh Windows 7 install large performance loss - Page 3 - Windows 7 Help Forums
Once you get the driver ID string you search on the internet.
Fell free to ask.

 

[Smexy]

Still having problems with the drivers?
Read Fresh Windows 7 install large performance loss - Page 3 - Windows 7 Help Forums
Once you get the driver ID string you search on the internet.
Fell free to ask.

Thank you, that will be useful for the drivers I haven't managed to grab yet. Unfortunately, it seems Nvidia drivers keep failing my system check so I can't grab those. I'm in contact with Nvidia customer support now but still a solution has yet to surface.