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Thread ID: 124345 2012-04-21 00:59:00 Running system from external drive coldfront (15814) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1270980 2012-04-21 00:59:00 Might sound a stupid question and if it is fair enough :)

Just wondering is it possible to run from an externall hardrive via USB or even using a flashdrive?
coldfront (15814)
1270981 2012-04-21 01:06:00 If your motherboard supports booting from USB then I dont see why you cant do it. Check your bios, make the adjustment if you can and see. Iantech (16386)
1270982 2012-04-21 01:22:00 Windows would still need to run an the computer you used to install though as moving to another one and trying to run it would be against the licence and it would most likely crash anyway. Linux however is quite happy to do this and if you only need certain programs why not use portable apps? gary67 (56)
1270983 2012-04-21 02:10:00 It would also run very slowly due to USB2 transfer speeds being about 12 to 15 MB/sec, USB3 would be better, ESATA best. feersumendjinn (64)
1270984 2012-04-21 21:23:00 So it is possible. Up until now I had installed a second clean operating system in a seperate partition on the hard drive. A recent corrupted start up started me thinking about having an additional backup on another drive incase of HD failure. QWorth a try just wondered if anyone had already tried this? Theory is good practice is another. coldfront (15814)
1270985 2012-04-21 23:16:00 Google is your friend ;)
www.google.co.nz
www.google.co.nz
feersumendjinn (64)
1270986 2012-04-21 23:27:00 I tried a little once (for W98), where you edited the iso/copy of windows, and use bartpe's builder (remember bart's? kind of popular once). Then burn the modified windows for external usb to allow booting. But got too tedious editing/swapping too many files. Tom's Hardware has a similar article, windows in your pocket. Many other articles came out around the same time. Don't know if applicable on today's systems. kahawai chaser (3545)
1270987 2012-04-22 06:14:00 I had mac running of a RAID setup of memory sticks (10.6.8). Worked fine, would use it for anything data heavy but could browse the net, watch youtube etc. icow (15313)
1270988 2012-04-23 22:50:00 Windows doesn't support being run off an external USB drive or Usb key

Windows 8 will support this using a feature called Windows To Go
nmercer (3899)
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