Re: Dual Boot Installation to External HD

I managed to get Vista booted on an external drive...
I first bought an external SATA drive case...with an external SATA connector that connected to the regular SATA connector on the mobo at one end and fit into an empty PCI slot.I then installed a SATA HD in the Case and connected it to the external connector.The mobo actually read it as just another SATA drive and by disconnecting internal HD I installed Vista on this external drive.By choosing which HD to boot from I could chose this external drive or the internal XP drive.My BIOS gave me the option to push F?( its been awhile and cant remember which F) when booting and that would bring up a screen where it showed all HD that were connected ..I would then chose which HD to boot from.
This HD case was able to connect by means of either SATA or USB...it would never boot off the USB.
maybe not what you had in mind...but it worked
peter

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"iScorpious" <iScorpious@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:EB925657-D0A2-48CF-BF98-0759BD527E40@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
hey JohnJohn- im also newb (like original Questioner)_& REALLY appreciate ur
comments on this thread. ive been reading MS/tech pages/etc.. on dual booting
and hav found what u stated -partial answers/help that either doesnt work (or
reqs an A++ cert to follow_) & lots on dual bootg Linux external Usb w/Win
internal HD.

HERES MY Q, please. does this apply when tryg to setup dual boot w/ diff.
Win OSes?(ie: Win2k internal & Vista on an external Usb_HD)

my BIOS does give multiple boot options (including "bootable add-in
card"-whatevr that is_)

Your "take" was refreshing, so ur reply wud b greatly appreciated

Thx
--
Scorp


"John John" wrote:

Sister Mary wrote:
> "Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:unejKVpTIHA.280@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>>"JB1964" <JB1964@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>news:838C79B2-2E3D-461F-B13B-30D16F5D6535@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>>Are there any known issues with installing a second instance of XP to >>>an
>>>external USB HD? I have found nothing in the discussions that would >>>lead
>>>me
>>>to believe otherwise, but I still get a check disk error on the >>>external
>>>drive during installation. I have looked at every post I could find >>>on
>>>dual
>>>boot procedures and found nothing on this subject. I've run check >>>disk
>>>on
>>>the second drive and everything seems in order. It has two partitions >>>and
>>>no
>>>errors on either. Is the USB connection the culprit? Any help is
>>>greatly
>>>appreciated!
>>
>>Very simply WINXP will not boot from an external USB drive. >snip
>
>
> Oh yes it can. It just requires reconfiguring *legacy* devices in BIOS

You can boot from a USB floppy or USB CD-ROM or even USB stick but
booting a full "Windows" installation on a USB hard disk is not a
supported scenario and not one that many have succeeded with! Some have
claimed to be able to do this but when asked for the recipe they all of
a sudden disappear from the discussion! I am not saying that this is
absolutely impossible, but I think it will require a lot more fiddling
than simply changing or reconfiguring the USB legacy devices in the
BIOS. If you search (really hard) on the net you will find reports of
some doing it and how they surmounted the obstacles, but you will also
find more reports of failure than you will of success stories.

I hope that the OP sticks to his or her endeavour and that you stick
with him or her to the end, it will be interesting to see how this
develops and hopefully we can all learn how to successfully install,
boot and run a Windows installation on an external USB drive!

John


.

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