USB question

[Lee Shipman]

Is the usb bus operational during bootup before the operating system is
loaded, or does it require drivers--meaning that the OS needs to be running
for the usb bus to be functional?

Specifically, I'd like to use an external usb hard disc as a restore drive
in case of a system crash where the regular IDE drive holding the OS files
would either need to be replaced or reformatted. This way, WinXP could be
restored without the hassle of reinstalling from the Win CD, downloading all
the patches, then manually restoring all the files.

Thanks...Lee

 

[Jim Macklin]

It depends on your motherboard and BIOS. Newer computer
designs, probably yes...older probably no.

Check the computer or motherboard manual. If you don't have
a motherboard manual or even know who really made the
motherboard, get the free download from www.belarc.com and
the Bel Arc Advisor will tell you that and much more.


| Is the usb bus operational during bootup before the
operating system is
| loaded, or does it require drivers--meaning that the OS
needs to be running
| for the usb bus to be functional?
|
| Specifically, I'd like to use an external usb hard disc as
a restore drive
| in case of a system crash where the regular IDE drive
holding the OS files
| would either need to be replaced or reformatted. This
way, WinXP could be
| restored without the hassle of reinstalling from the Win
CD, downloading all
| the patches, then manually restoring all the files.
|
| Thanks...Lee
|
|

 

[Lee Shipman]

Thanks, Jim. I have a Soyo K7V Dragon+ mobo and, looking at the manual, I
see nothing that specifically answers the question. However, in the setup
is the provision for enabling usb keyboard support, which obviously has to
be running without an operating system installed. Maybe that's an
indication that I could also use the other usb ports right away?

I suppose an easy answer to the question would be to "try it & see, but I'd
rather not buy a usb hard drive without knowing for sure.

Lee

 

[Jim Macklin]

You might try an email to Soyo support.


| Thanks, Jim. I have a Soyo K7V Dragon+ mobo and, looking
at the manual, I
| see nothing that specifically answers the question.
However, in the setup
| is the provision for enabling usb keyboard support, which
obviously has to
| be running without an operating system installed. Maybe
that's an
| indication that I could also use the other usb ports right
away?
|
| I suppose an easy answer to the question would be to "try
it & see, but I'd
| rather not buy a usb hard drive without knowing for sure.
|
| Lee
|
|
in message
| | > It depends on your motherboard and BIOS. Newer computer
| > designs, probably yes...older probably no.
| >
| > Check the computer or motherboard manual. If you don't
have
| > a motherboard manual or even know who really made the
| > motherboard, get the free download from www.belarc.com
and
| > the Bel Arc Advisor will tell you that and much more.
| >
| >
| > | > | Is the usb bus operational during bootup before the
| > operating system is
| > | loaded, or does it require drivers--meaning that the
OS
| > needs to be running
| > | for the usb bus to be functional?
| > |
| > | Specifically, I'd like to use an external usb hard
disc as
| > a restore drive
| > | in case of a system crash where the regular IDE drive
| > holding the OS files
| > | would either need to be replaced or reformatted. This
| > way, WinXP could be
| > | restored without the hassle of reinstalling from the
Win
| > CD, downloading all
| > | the patches, then manually restoring all the files.
| > |
| > | Thanks...Lee
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|

 

[R. McCarty]

Support for "Legacy" boot support of USB, is dependant on
the chipset of the motherboard. One way to check is to enter
BIOS and scroll through the list of available boot devices and
see if USB is listed.

 

[Ian Smythe]

Is the usb bus operational during bootup before the operating system is
loaded, or does it require drivers--meaning that the OS needs to be running
for the usb bus to be functional?

Specifically, I'd like to use an external usb hard disc as a restore drive
in case of a system crash where the regular IDE drive holding the OS files
would either need to be replaced or reformatted. This way, WinXP could be
restored without the hassle of reinstalling from the Win CD, downloading all
the patches, then manually restoring all the files.

Thanks...Lee

Since you didn't provide enough informtion such as the size of your
harddrive the number of partitions, which would have helped temendously.
I am going to tell you about my system. I have a 60 gig hardrive divided
into 3 equal partitions. C,E and F. C contains XP and Office plus a few
programs that want to use the C drive. E contains programs and F
contains pictures and Games. D drive which is a 40 gig hard drive is
used for backup. Every so often I erase the Ddrive and then COPY the C
Drive to it. That way if anything happens to the C drive all I need to
do is erase it and recopy from my D Drive. Fast, easy and cheap to do. I
have been doing this for 15 years now and have never, ever, had a
problem! P.S. harddrives are very cheap right now less than 40.00 for a
40 gig drive.

 

[Darrell]

Why don't you try? Insure your BIOS is setup to boot first from the CD
drive if a bootable CD is there. Shutdown your computer. Put your WinXP CD
in the drive. Bootup to the CD. See if you have access to your USB
"stuff". If so, you should also have access to your external USB Hard
drive. Of course any backup on that USB hard drive would have to be a
"ghost" backup that includes all the active files that are not copied with a
"regular" backup.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Is the usb bus operational during bootup before the operating system is
loaded, or does it require drivers--meaning that the OS needs to be running
for the usb bus to be functional?

Specifically, I'd like to use an external usb hard disc as a restore drive
in case of a system crash where the regular IDE drive holding the OS files
would either need to be replaced or reformatted.

Provided that it is a modern motherboard with USB controllers on board
(and not an separate plug in card) then it ought to be possible to
access the USB drive through the BIOS before there is any system loaded.
The program you use may need to have appropriate drivers. One pair of
related products that will handle backup to external USB devices are
BootIT NG and Image for DOS, from www.bootitng.com