Installing windows from external hard drive
November 25, 2007 1:54 PM Subscribe
Is it possible to install Windows XP (or any other edition) from an external hard drive?
I've copied the i386 folder (which is all you need from the disk to install) to a hard drive using DOS and run the setup from said drive I just copied to before, so I'm not sure why an external drive wouldn't work. Are you having problems (in which case, details please?) or just asking?
In some of the BIOS's I've worked with you need to enable USB legacy support to see the external (I'm assuming USB,) drive on startup so it becomes one of the boot options.
posted by Cyrano at 4:12 PM on November 25, 2007
In some of the BIOS's I've worked with you need to enable USB legacy support to see the external (I'm assuming USB,) drive on startup so it becomes one of the boot options.
posted by Cyrano at 4:12 PM on November 25, 2007
It would depend a lot on what file format the drive used, and whether the BIOS knew how to read it. I suspect you're more likely to have success with FAT32 (or FAT16 blech) than with NTSC, but it really would depend on the BIOS.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:18 PM on November 25, 2007
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 4:18 PM on November 25, 2007
Do you want to know if it's possible to install from an external hard drive? Or if it's possible to boot directly from an external hard drive?
Either way, the answer is yes. Without looking into it too much, my hunch is that this is going to involve copying the entire contents of the i386 folder to the external hard drive, then booting into some kind of environment (probably off of a CD) that allows you to mount that USB hard drive, run the install program, and go from there. I think.
Again, don't want to send you off on a wild goose chase, there may be a simpler way to do it, but look at BartPE as a good CD-based boot environment, from which you can access drives or whatever. It can be kind of a pain to add drivers and stuff for your particular USB drive, but it's overall a good package. It is also possible to install BartPE directly onto an external hard drive, but I've never done it.
Or, you may be able to just copy the i386 over, connect it to the PC, mount it, run the install program, and just go from there.
posted by Brian James at 4:19 PM on November 25, 2007
Either way, the answer is yes. Without looking into it too much, my hunch is that this is going to involve copying the entire contents of the i386 folder to the external hard drive, then booting into some kind of environment (probably off of a CD) that allows you to mount that USB hard drive, run the install program, and go from there. I think.
Again, don't want to send you off on a wild goose chase, there may be a simpler way to do it, but look at BartPE as a good CD-based boot environment, from which you can access drives or whatever. It can be kind of a pain to add drivers and stuff for your particular USB drive, but it's overall a good package. It is also possible to install BartPE directly onto an external hard drive, but I've never done it.
Or, you may be able to just copy the i386 over, connect it to the PC, mount it, run the install program, and just go from there.
posted by Brian James at 4:19 PM on November 25, 2007
I've had nothing but trouble trying to do it. I'm not a computer whiz, but I'm more computer literate than most. Have someone help you.
posted by HotPatatta at 4:38 PM on November 25, 2007
posted by HotPatatta at 4:38 PM on November 25, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cholly at 3:21 PM on November 25, 2007