Is it possible to have a differnet os installed on a usb external harddrive (ibm laptop, wd 400 gb hd) then the one installed on the laptops hd? is it even possible to boot using a external hd?
2007-02-11 15:33:14 · 3 answers · asked by meeeeeeee 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
hmm ok i have a ibm laptop..t60
where would i go to check if the bios supports this?
2007-02-11 15:38:13 · update #1
K..assuming my bios supports this..is the bootloader included in the OS i would install on the external hd?
2007-02-11 15:42:57 · update #2
It's possible. You just need to have the bootloader on the HDD.
The BIOS of the computer ***MUST*** have the option to boot from USB.
If not then you can't do it b/c you would need Windows to access your USB devices.
2007-02-11 15:41:26 · answer #1 · answered by nothin_nyce1 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
your PC's BIOS has to support booting from a USB device. most manufactured in the last few years do support this ability. if yours doesn't, there might be a ROM update available that would enable that feature.
I'm assuming you have a PC of course, if you have a mac you can do this no problem.
2007-02-11 23:37:25 · answer #2 · answered by William 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that is entirely possible provided
- your BIOS supports booting from an external HDD via USB
Remember that most default configurations let you boot from floppies/CDs/HDD in that order
You will need to tweak your BIOS settings to make it do otherwise.
Windows can be booted thus
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/usb-boot.mspx
And so can linux, OSX etc!
2007-02-11 23:39:05 · answer #3 · answered by Neil 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋