Re: Install OS in external Hard Disk

Anna,

About the terminology. XP won't install to Removable devices
and in most cases this includes external devices. I myself have a
IDE Tray in my PC. However, while the physical device is removable
-it's connection to the PC is not, so XP enumerates the device as
it would any "Fixed" drive.

I have a external Maxtor drive on a USB2 port. It's fine for what
it does but both USB and to some extent Firewire has a high amount
of "Overhead" that reduces their throughput. Because of this my
external has a fairly low average of around ~25 Megabytes a second.

SCSI has provided external drive support for a long time and the
new iSCSI (Serial) will have the same. I'm testing an external SATA
drive to be able to obtain higher throughput and bootable capability.
There are a number of SATA cards that have external connectors.
The new SATA-II standards raise the throughput up to 300 Megs
a second. Later this year, commercial vendors will offer SATA type
external drives. I also have seen where many devices will have all
three technology interfaces (USB2, Firewire & SATA-II).

Anyway it's new and something to consider as a faster/bootable
external option. It's performance mirrors that of traditional internal
SATA drives. As of now there are only a few vendors who provide
external SATA drive enclosures - but more will appear.

"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OfE4IT5pFHA.3888@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>> "Vasanth"wrote:
>>>
>>> | I want to install windows 2003 in my external hard disk connect thro
>>> | USB. I have win xp in my primary hard disk. Can it be doen. Please
>>> | advise.
>>> |
>>> | Vasanth
>
>
>> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" <cnfrisch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:upJ0ydxpFHA.3340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>A Windows operating system cannot be installed on an external drive.
>>> --
>>> Carey Frisch
>>> Microsoft MVP
>>> Windows XP - Shell/User
>>> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
>
> "R. McCarty" <PcEngWork-NoSpam_@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:Orr1usxpFHA.2580@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Removable and not even that is 100% encompassing now that there
>> are external SATA drives that to Windows looks like a "Fixed Drive".
>
>
> Mr. McCarty:
> I would appreciate clarification of your above comment. First of all, I
> believe you would agree that to the best of our knowledge, one cannot boot
> from a USB external HD containing the XP OS, at least those external
> devices containing the usual (IDE) PATA hard drive. And as far as I know,
> a SATA drive used as a USB external HD is similarly not bootable in an XP
> environment.
>
> I assume your comment about "external SATA drives that to Windows looks
> like a Fixed Drive" (and thus are bootable to an XP OS), refers to those
> external enclosures (usually a combo USB/SATA unit) that can contain a
> SATA drive and utilize a SATA data connection. In those instances an
> *external* SATA data port on the computer would be necessary to make that
> device practical in terms of its capability of booting to XP. Many of the
> newer motherboards contain such a port so it would appear this could be a
> practical & effective solution overcoming the limitation of USB external
> hard drives in this area. I haven't yet worked with any of these devices,
> and assuming you have, I would be interested in learning of your
> experience with them.
>
> BTW, I infer from your comment about removable drives (at least I *think*
> you're referring to removable hard drives in mobile racks) that you're
> questioning the booting capability of those devices. Based upon my
> considerable experience with removable hard drives over the past five
> years or so, I've found virtually *no* problem in this area when using
> these devices. In fact, I strongly recommend their installation for many
> users. Yes, like any other computer component, we'll come across a
> defective unit now and then. But by & large, in my experience, they work,
> and work well.
>
> Note to Vasanth...
> As Carey has informed you, you cannot *directly* install the Windows XP OS
> (I assume that's the OS you're referring to) to a USB external HD;
> however, using a disk imaging program such as Symantec's Norton Ghost or
> Acronis True Image, you can "clone" the contents of your internal HD
> containing the Windows XP to the USBEHD. While the USBEHD will not be
> bootable under those circumstances, you can "re:clone" the contents of the
> USBEHD back to your internal HD for restoration purposes.
> Anna
>
> P.S.
> Coincidentally, another acquaintance of mine has just informed me that he
> has found a way to boot XP from a USBEHD. While I've heard that story so
> many times before, I've *never* witnessed a single successful effort in
> this area. But this fellow is quite knowledgeable and he promised to
> provide me with details of his accomplishment within the next few days.
> Should it materialize, I'll post the info.
>


.

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