Can you launch Windows XP from an external hard drive?

[mikesmith9999]

Can you launch Windows XP from an external hard drive? Actually, my
internal hard drive is broken, but I have my external drive. Thanks.

 

[Malke]

Can you launch Windows XP from an external hard drive? Actually, my
internal hard drive is broken, but I have my external drive. Thanks.

No.


Malke

 

[Maincat]

Can you launch Windows XP from an external hard drive? Actually, my
internal hard drive is broken, but I have my external drive. Thanks.

Nope - or if you can I'd love to know how!!

 

[Wesley Vogel]

[[Current versions of Windows should not be installed to USB hard disk
drives because Windows does not support USB hard disk drives as the primary
boot device.]]

[[Windows as it exists today is currently not optimized to run as an
installed operating system from USB attached mass-storage or CD. ]]

[[Hard disk drives shouldn't report themselves as removable media drives
because Windows will not put a page file on a removable media device. ]]
from...
Recommendations for Booting Windows from USB Storage Devices
Updated: August 23, 2004
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/usb-boot.mspx

However, this is claimed to work.
http://www.ngine.de/index.jsp?pageid=4176

This is supposed to work also.
Windows In Your Pocket | Tom's Hardware
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/09/windows_in_your_pocket/

No, Microsoft does *NOT* support it.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[mikesmith9999]

Thanks everyone for their input.

Welsley, thanks for the link. I'll let you know if I've tried anything.