I want to load WIN MEDIA onto a second hard drive which i got out of a dell
laptop. it is connected to my desktop via usb. i have a dell e510. when i
tried to load it says the selected drive cannot been and i would have to have
special software to load it. before i get lost with dell support can anyone
advise how to load it? i want to use it as a mobile secondary storage/OS
drive. thanks

You cannot run a Windows operating system on an external hard drive.
The target installation drive must only be an "internal drive".

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"regfla" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:61FBF764-4B7A-4D34-9863-(E-Mail Removed)...
I want to load WIN MEDIA onto a second hard drive which i got out of a dell
laptop. it is connected to my desktop via usb. i have a dell e510. when i
tried to load it says the selected drive cannot been and i would have to have
special software to load it. before i get lost with dell support can anyone
advise how to load it? i want to use it as a mobile secondary storage/OS
drive. thanks

All of my primary computer's drives are external SATA drives. The
case itself has no hard drives in it. Windows XP installed to a volume
on one of those just fine. The distinction is not external, it's removable.
To XP all USB drives are seen as "Removable" not fixed.

Both SATA and SCSI drives can exist outside the PC case and are
NOT seen by the OS as removable, but "Fixed".

XP's install process will not allow a removable drive to be the destination
for the OS.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> You cannot run a Windows operating system on an external hard drive.
> The target installation drive must only be an "internal drive".
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Desktop Experience
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "regfla" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:61FBF764-4B7A-4D34-9863-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I want to load WIN MEDIA onto a second hard drive which i got out of a
> dell
> laptop. it is connected to my desktop via usb. i have a dell e510. when i
> tried to load it says the selected drive cannot been and i would have to
> have
> special software to load it. before i get lost with dell support can
> anyone
> advise how to load it? i want to use it as a mobile secondary storage/OS
> drive. thanks

You don't necessarily need to respond to me but rather assist the original OP
with his inquiry.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
All of my primary computer's drives are external SATA drives. The
case itself has no hard drives in it. Windows XP installed to a volume
on one of those just fine. The distinction is not external, it's removable.
To XP all USB drives are seen as "Removable" not fixed.

Both SATA and SCSI drives can exist outside the PC case and are
NOT seen by the OS as removable, but "Fixed".

XP's install process will not allow a removable drive to be the destination
for the OS.

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> You cannot run a Windows operating system on an external hard drive.
> The target installation drive must only be an "internal drive".
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows Desktop Experience
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "regfla" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:61FBF764-4B7A-4D34-9863-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I want to load WIN MEDIA onto a second hard drive which i got out of a
> dell
> laptop. it is connected to my desktop via usb. i have a dell e510. when i
> tried to load it says the selected drive cannot been and i would have to
> have
> special software to load it. before i get lost with dell support can
> anyone
> advise how to load it? i want to use it as a mobile secondary storage/OS
> drive. thanks

Can I "fool" XP into seeing my usb drive as an internal drive.? ps. thank
you for your reply, never mind what others wrote about it..i knew you were
talking to me.

"R. McCarty" wrote:

> All of my primary computer's drives are external SATA drives. The
> case itself has no hard drives in it. Windows XP installed to a volume
> on one of those just fine. The distinction is not external, it's removable.
> To XP all USB drives are seen as "Removable" not fixed.
>
> Both SATA and SCSI drives can exist outside the PC case and are
> NOT seen by the OS as removable, but "Fixed".
>
> XP's install process will not allow a removable drive to be the destination
> for the OS.
>
> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > You cannot run a Windows operating system on an external hard drive.
> > The target installation drive must only be an "internal drive".
> >
> > --
> > Carey Frisch
> > Microsoft MVP
> > Windows Desktop Experience
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > "regfla" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:61FBF764-4B7A-4D34-9863-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > I want to load WIN MEDIA onto a second hard drive which i got out of a
> > dell
> > laptop. it is connected to my desktop via usb. i have a dell e510. when i
> > tried to load it says the selected drive cannot been and i would have to
> > have
> > special software to load it. before i get lost with dell support can
> > anyone
> > advise how to load it? i want to use it as a mobile secondary storage/OS
> > drive. thanks
>
>
>