How can I install Windows 7 TO an external hard drive?

sneely4040

First off, the first 10 pages of google list how to transfer the DVD to the flash drive. That's not it. I would like a fully working Windows off the flash drive. This would be nice because my Mac's hard drive is full to bursting after the partition split for Boot Camp, and I don't mind an attachment, because I don't use Windows often. And I've heard that the bootloader only works on one computer and plugging it into another will cause it to cease to work. I'm only using it on my Mac, so I don't care.

Answer
Not possible to load an operating system from an external hard drive. Simply put Microsoft do not want people carrying a bootable operating system around on an external source for use on different computers (i.e. portable windows). There are many forums online with people claiming to have booted from external drives and the rest but no-one has actual proof that they have achieved this.

Booting Windows 7 from a VHD on a flash drive?

j3tech

I have a Virtual Hard Drive (VHD) file on which I have installed windows 7 through the use of a virutal machine.
I have that VHD file on my 16GB Flash Drive.
I want to configure the BCD file to boot the computer directly to that VHD.
I know that VHD files can easily be set to be a boot device with the VHD on C:\ drive.
But how do I do this on a flash drive?

[My goal is to create a portable windows 7 that i can plug into any computer and boot up windows 7]
Yes, I know i'm crazy...don't hate. It can be done. I've used it before.
Where I am right now: I have been able to get to the point of having the Starting Windows boot screen from the VHD but right after the orbs come together to form the windows logo...it just reboots (no bluescreen)
Okay. I was just able to get EasyBCD to do its thing correctly...It aims directly at the VHD file, Shows me the menu of boot items. [There is one that I made (Windows 7 Portable)] Then it does the Starting Windows Screen, and THEN it just crashes...I am suspecting a driver issue, remember: I want to be able to put this on any computer...

Answer
Probably can be done. Flash drives have to be made bootable. You can set your BIOS to boot them before other media (CD, Hard Drive, etc.) but that doesn't mean they will just boot. Google around - there are plenty of freeware tools that will partition and install the proper files needed to boot a USB device. Just Google "make flash drive bootable". Your question suggests you know how to create bootable VHDs - so just put all the necessary files on the drive once it has a truly bootable partition.

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Why is my portable hard drive not working?

portable hard drive partitioning windows 7 image

Pillar of

I've tried to use several portable hard drives with my desktop computer running Windows XP and they have recently not been showing up in my drive menu. USB drives work fine and the portable hard drives I have been using are functioning on my laptop, but my desktop computer will not display any icon in my menu.

Any help would be appreciated!
I forgot to add, the USB drives that work fine are the thumb drives, only larger hard drives are not functioning, but I am using the same USB ports for both.

Answer
Yeah, Ive had this happen before. Your computer probably just didn't assign it a drive letter. Try this...

1. Connect external and turn it on just like you normally would.

2. Right click on "My Computer" and click "Manage".

3. In the left side under "Storage", select "Disk Management".
(Now it should be displaying a list of all your drives and there partitions.)

4. Look to see if you can find one that does not have a drive letter beside it. Tip: Look for the one with the capacity that matches your external.

5. Once you've found it right click on the drive and select "Change Drive Letters and Paths...".

6. Then click "add".

7. Then with "Assign the following drive letter" selected, chose the letter you want to assign to the drive. Now just close every thing by clicking OK.

Now it should be useable drive listed in My Computer.

Hopefully this helps.

How can I connect my two laptops, what cable do I need to buy? What else will I be needing?

Fordis

How can I connect my two laptops, what cable do I need to buy? What else will I be needing?

1. Lenovo R60, bought year 2005, currently running Windows 7
2. Asus F5R, bought year 2006, currently running Vista Basic

If connected, can I manipulate the other's hard-drive, like formatting it, partitioning it, installing OS there, etc, etc..?

Also, can I share the internet connection running there on the other laptop while the two are interconnected (USB Broadband, wifi)?

Answer
Not exactly sure how you currently have them connected. If you want to connect them so that you can use the other computer remotely... like run a program... burn a disk... move the mouse around... then I can help ya out..

You can install a free program called Team Viewer. There are Two versions... The MAIN which requires a full install... and The CLIENT... which is just a portable .exe (no install).

To Use Program:
On the computer you wish to control remotely... the run the client and it will display a USER IS and Password... just enter those numbers on the MAIN computer after running Team Viewer and a Remote Link is created allowing you to control the other computer. Very simple and easy.

You can install the MAIN full install program onto both programs if you want...

I've used this program to connect to computers in other countries (I"m a PC Tech)..

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?pid=google.tv.s.us&gclid=CP79v_r22rgCFQHZQgod0CYAqg

_________________________________________________________

If you just want to connect two side by side computers without using Internet... then you will need to get a CROSSOVER Ethernet cable... just plug it in and each computer will appear as a storage drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=crossover+ethernet+cable&N=-1&isNodeId=1

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How to retrieve files on a WD external hard drive with a mac.?

portable hard drive partitioning windows 7 image

Brandon

I used a portable hard drive to back up some files from a PC. Now I need to retrieve those files using a mac. when I try to open the hard drive it tells me that it is not readable. How can I make this thing work so that I can get my files.

Answer
Answer for Windows 7 and OS 10.6.8:

The drive volume has errors. Windows doesn't care much about errors. OS X does, so it won't mount. Repair it on the Windows system like this....
-- Right-click the drive volume in "Computer".
-- Choose "Properties".
-- Choose "Tools".
-- At "Error checking", click the "Check Now" button.
-- Put a check mark (tick) for "Automatically fix file system errors".
-- Put a check mark (tick) for "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".
-- Click the "Start" button.
-- Click to unmount.
-- Wait.

To do this in OS X....
-- Download and install either NTFS-3G or SL-NTFS (latter for OS 10.6.7 or later 64--bit).
-- Restart.
-- Connect the drive. At the alert message, click "Ignore".
-- Open Disk Utility.
-- Select the external volume ("Volume" is the partition name, probably faded appearance).
-- Select the "First Aid" tab.
-- Click the "Repair Disk" button.
-- Wait.

how do I make my portable hard drive bootable?

Q. if there is a way to just copy the windows 7 partition on my computer to it, that would be preferable. I don't have the install disk, because my laptop never came with one.

Answer
First off, you CANNOT run a Windows operating system on a USB external hard drive. You can clone a mirror copy of it or create a backup on the drive. Secondly, you would need to set up boot from a USB device in your bios IF the motherboard supports it.

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Why is my portable hard drive not working?

portable hard drive partitioning windows 7 image

Pillar of

I've tried to use several portable hard drives with my desktop computer running Windows XP and they have recently not been showing up in my drive menu. USB drives work fine and the portable hard drives I have been using are functioning on my laptop, but my desktop computer will not display any icon in my menu.

Any help would be appreciated!
I forgot to add, the USB drives that work fine are the thumb drives, only larger hard drives are not functioning, but I am using the same USB ports for both.

Answer
Yeah, Ive had this happen before. Your computer probably just didn't assign it a drive letter. Try this...

1. Connect external and turn it on just like you normally would.

2. Right click on "My Computer" and click "Manage".

3. In the left side under "Storage", select "Disk Management".
(Now it should be displaying a list of all your drives and there partitions.)

4. Look to see if you can find one that does not have a drive letter beside it. Tip: Look for the one with the capacity that matches your external.

5. Once you've found it right click on the drive and select "Change Drive Letters and Paths...".

6. Then click "add".

7. Then with "Assign the following drive letter" selected, chose the letter you want to assign to the drive. Now just close every thing by clicking OK.

Now it should be useable drive listed in My Computer.

Hopefully this helps.

How can I connect my two laptops, what cable do I need to buy? What else will I be needing?

Fordis

How can I connect my two laptops, what cable do I need to buy? What else will I be needing?

1. Lenovo R60, bought year 2005, currently running Windows 7
2. Asus F5R, bought year 2006, currently running Vista Basic

If connected, can I manipulate the other's hard-drive, like formatting it, partitioning it, installing OS there, etc, etc..?

Also, can I share the internet connection running there on the other laptop while the two are interconnected (USB Broadband, wifi)?

Answer
Not exactly sure how you currently have them connected. If you want to connect them so that you can use the other computer remotely... like run a program... burn a disk... move the mouse around... then I can help ya out..

You can install a free program called Team Viewer. There are Two versions... The MAIN which requires a full install... and The CLIENT... which is just a portable .exe (no install).

To Use Program:
On the computer you wish to control remotely... the run the client and it will display a USER IS and Password... just enter those numbers on the MAIN computer after running Team Viewer and a Remote Link is created allowing you to control the other computer. Very simple and easy.

You can install the MAIN full install program onto both programs if you want...

I've used this program to connect to computers in other countries (I"m a PC Tech)..

http://www.teamviewer.com/en/index.aspx?pid=google.tv.s.us&gclid=CP79v_r22rgCFQHZQgod0CYAqg

_________________________________________________________

If you just want to connect two side by side computers without using Internet... then you will need to get a CROSSOVER Ethernet cable... just plug it in and each computer will appear as a storage drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=crossover+ethernet+cable&N=-1&isNodeId=1

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Can a portable hard drive be formatted as a bootable USB?

portable hard drive partitioning windows 7 image

rubixmaste

I know that Flash USB's are capable of being formatted into USB's that the computer can boot from the BIOS, but can the same be done with a Portable hard drive such as one from Western Digital (the passport types) ? And if so, will it completely work?

Thanks in advance!

Answer
yes, it will work perfectly. but there are procedures to be done. follow the steps

** creating a windows vista/7 bootable USB drive

* this can only be done using machines with vista or 7

* run command prompt as administrator

c:\diskpart

DISKPART> list disk

DISKPART> select disk 1 (assuming usb drive is disk 1)

DISKPART> clean

DISKPART> create partition primary

DISKPART> select partition 1

DISKPART> active

DISKPART> format fs=NTFS (this will format the usb drive)

DISKPART> assign

DISKPART> exit (this will exit diskpart command)

* insert windows vista/7 into ODD

c:\cd d:\boot

c:\boot\bootsect /nt60 g: (assuming usb drive is named g:)

* use windows explorer to copy all windows vista/7 files and folders from CD

* restart PC to be configured and locate BIOS setup & change the boot sequence to USB drive as priority

How to retrieve files on a WD external hard drive with a mac.?

Brandon

I used a portable hard drive to back up some files from a PC. Now I need to retrieve those files using a mac. when I try to open the hard drive it tells me that it is not readable. How can I make this thing work so that I can get my files.

Answer
Answer for Windows 7 and OS 10.6.8:

The drive volume has errors. Windows doesn't care much about errors. OS X does, so it won't mount. Repair it on the Windows system like this....
-- Right-click the drive volume in "Computer".
-- Choose "Properties".
-- Choose "Tools".
-- At "Error checking", click the "Check Now" button.
-- Put a check mark (tick) for "Automatically fix file system errors".
-- Put a check mark (tick) for "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors".
-- Click the "Start" button.
-- Click to unmount.
-- Wait.

To do this in OS X....
-- Download and install either NTFS-3G or SL-NTFS (latter for OS 10.6.7 or later 64--bit).
-- Restart.
-- Connect the drive. At the alert message, click "Ignore".
-- Open Disk Utility.
-- Select the external volume ("Volume" is the partition name, probably faded appearance).
-- Select the "First Aid" tab.
-- Click the "Repair Disk" button.
-- Wait.

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