Windows 7 Windows on External Harddrive

[Sonny]

I am getting into an area that I haven't tried until now. I would like to put windows 8 consumer preview on an USB external harddrive. I am told that I can't do it because my computer is not set up for it or something like that. I have changed my bios First Boot: CD, Second Boot: USB-harddrive and the last to HDD. Is there anyway that I can make changes that would allow me to create windows 8 on my external harddrive.

I have thought about dual booting but I don't know how to set that up either. Any info for either I would greatly appreciate.

Thank you.

This is the message I get.Link Removed

 

[catilley1092]

Sonny, it's not going to happen, unless you're an engineer who knows how to re-write an OS (this is against the MS's EULA) to run it from a USB drive, a "live DVD", or whatever.

With the upcoming Windows 8, there's the Windows 8 to go on a flash drive, don't know yet if it will be available to consumers or IT professionals.

You can, however, install a Linux OS onto a USB drive, and run any version of Windows through VirtualBox. But to get decent performance, you'll need a USB 3.0 or eSATA port on your computer & the USB external HDD must have a USB 3.0 or eSATA connection, or all is for nothing. A USB 2.0 port may be fine to run a Linux install on, if the HDD runs at 7200 rpm and has a decent cache, of at least 16MB. But forget running a Windows OS like this, as it will be way too slow.

Dual Booting is easy to setup, how much HDD space do you have & how many other partitions are on it? That would be your best option, provided you have the available space. I'd say about 30GB for a 32 bit install, 40GB for 64 bit. MS says less space is needed, but in the real world, we need more than 20GB for a Windows 7 install.

Any questions, please post back.

Cat

 

[Sonny]

Thanks catilley, I have a 1 tb HDD. Plenty of room to dual boot. I have never done that either. Have know idea of even where to start.

 

[Sonny]

Ok, I got it figured out with the dual boot. Up and running. So far so good. Thanks for the help. Much appreciated.

 

[catilley1092]

You're quite welcome, Sonny! If you have any issues, post back, we'll do what we can to help.

Cat