Using / Installing an OS on a portable HD

[Futility Personified]

I was wondering if someone could tell me how i'd go about doing this? I'm assuming all I have to do is chuck the install stuff on there, reboot and go on to the bios / selecty bit and choose the hard-drive, but as my computer is my best friend in the whole world, I want to make sure I get this 100% right. The HD in the actual computer is supposedly failing according to the constant error messages and irregular crashes i've been having, so I just figured it makes sense to check these things before embarking on any course of action. Will this work / be a practical solution?

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

Do you have a backup of your original OS?

You'd have to use one OS to install another onto the USB HDD (it's HDD not HD) which is what I do for Linux. Then as you said, change boot order to begin with the USB. Note USB 2.0 is slow.

[Futility Personified]

Nope. I lost the discs to vista a long time ago.

So all I need to do is just run the installation file and tell it to install onto the portable HDD whilst I am still in windows, not before?

Thanks!

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

Nope. I lost the discs to vista a long time ago.

So all I need to do is just run the installation file and tell it to install onto the portable HDD whilst I am still in windows, not before?

Thanks!

You may need something like VMWare as well!

Also you could install the OS, then do a complete backup, re-size your partitions (format disk again) and then restore the OS to the smaller partition.

[Futility Personified]

What would VMware be? I've just finished DLing windows 7 and on opening it there's a .iso file in there that I can't use. Would VMware allow me to install this without having to reboot?

As the hard drive in my laptop is failing, i'm wary of turning this computer on or off until i've sorted this out, in case it doesn't switch back on, so i'll be lurking on revleft all evening. I really appreciate the advice!

[Slavoj Zizek's Balls]

I take it you've done all this?

http://www.ehow.com/how_6934271_install-external-usb-hard-drive.html

Try this guide.

You'll need to mount your .iso file.

http://manotechnology.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/installing-windows-7-onto-usb-flash-or.html

[Ro Laren]

Here is a fairly simple guide to get Windows 8 up and running on an external drive. I've never done it so I don't have a lot of practical advice, sorry.

lifehacker.com/ how-to-run-a-portable-version-of-windows-from-a-usb-dri-1565509124

If you're concerned about the hard drive failing immediately, I would recommend installing Puppy Linux or something similar on a flash drive just in case.

[Futility Personified]

Well, i've been fiddling around for a while and it turns out that having windows 7 on a portable drive is a big no no for speed. Plus it was fucking me around saying it wouldn't install on the flash drive and who am I to argue if it isn't a suitable place?

I'm trying windows XP but now it's coming up with an error about kbdus or kbdub.dll (a keyboard file) not working. I use a USB keyboard, but i've taken that out prior to attempting to install and nothing changed. The internet told me to change permissions for the folders, which i've done, and still it won't install. Any hints?

[Ro Laren]

Just out of curiosity, did you ever get this working?

[Futility Personified]

Currently i'm being risky and just ignoring the "danger, will fail soon" message. I have downloaded another copy of XP to get past the KBDUS issue, but I am now having trouble with sorting out a EULA agreement. Still haven't even gotten to the installation menu for XP yet. I have a terrible feeling that when I do something else will happen. Any tips for getting past the EULA issue?

[Ro Laren]

Not really, sorry. I've never even tried installing Windows to an external drive because I just figured it'd be a nightmare. :p

[Futility Personified]

An update on this miserable process:

After trying a shedload of different XP copies and having trouble on booting up, I finally found one that seemed to be different. Was it the shimmering look of the image as it was burned from an ISO file onto the HD? I don't know, but it was beautiful.

A new issue came up in that it required a disk of windows put into the CD drive to verify that I was eligible for an upgrade. After many attempts of burning things onto cds to try and trick it, including different copies of windows, a family copy of XP was tracked down to get things going.

This is where it gets really, fucking, annoying.

Finally, the prompt responds to this genuine copy of windows with open arms and it gives me three options to choose from when installing onto the portable HD. There was format and install, format, create a partition and install (i think) and just plain old install.

I figured that as it was the data on the HD that prompted the message to come up, it would be a wise idea to just tell it to install. It then tells me that my computer hasn't got enough memory to do this (what the fucksticks?!) and cancels the installation.

Now, whenever I try to repeat the process, it will blue screen and I have to start over.
Ro Laren, you were right, this is a fucking pain. If money wasn't tight i'd just spend on a new HD for my laptop at this stage. I might do it anyway and save all this pissing around.

[ckaihatsu]

(computer technical support thread (http://www.revleft.com/vb/computer-technical-support-t160520/index.html))


Also these days you might consider if Android would fit the bill for you -- there are 'TV HDMI sticks' that are full-fledged computers running the Android operating system that plug right into a flat-screen TV. With the right app (from thousands of available free ones) you can probably do whatever it was you were planning to do with a conventional PC.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALSZNLW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1/180-4860975-0880467?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=0XWQ8KYR8NNKYF7PJRQY&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_i=B0097J3OFS


Also maybe see this thread about turning an older, spare PC / laptop into a dedicated file server, as for a jukebox, which can then be accessed from any Android-equipped TV:


tinyurl.com/ckaihatsu-jukebox