Laptop won't boot from/with external HDD

[Juniortechguy]

Hey techs,

So, I converted my hdd into an external one (because the internal hdd port on motherboard is faulty). After that, when I plug it during boot, the laptop freezes up and I can't do anything (tried on another laptop, same issue). I can connect it after booting and access it without any issue. However I want to use this External hdd as my bootable device. Any idea?

Laptop: HP X360 M6-W101DX
HDD: 1TB toshiba
HDD enclosure: Salcar 2.5" USB 3.0

 

[Magnums94]

Maybe I misunderstood your idea, but... first of all.

You cannot boot from a random HDD or SSD or USB Flashdrive or whatever, unless it has BOOT file. In other words - it has been modified as bootable device. Also, do you have OS installed on that disk?

"I can connect it after booting and access it without any issue"

That would be the idea. Since it serves as your normal file storage.

General practice would be that:

1st plug in your external disk
2nd In BIOS boot from device that has OS image stored. (ROM, Flashdrive, other HDD etc...)
3rd On installation screen, choose your external disk as the target for OS to be installed on.
4th After installation, if it's not selected by default - change boot priority in BIOS so your external disk gets booted first.

It should work.

P.S. If I misunderstood your problem, then I apologize, but maybe you may find this useful anyway.

 

[Juniortechguy]

Maybe I misunderstood your idea, but... first of all.

You cannot boot from a random HDD or SSD or USB Flashdrive or whatever, unless it has BOOT file. In other words - it has been modified as bootable device. Also, do you have OS installed on that disk?

"I can connect it after booting and access it without any issue"

That would be the idea. Since it serves as your normal file storage.

General practice would be that:

1st plug in your external disk
2nd In BIOS boot from device that has OS image stored. (ROM, Flashdrive, other HDD etc...)
3rd On installation screen, choose your external disk as the target for OS to be installed on.
4th After installation, if it's not selected by default - change boot priority in BIOS so your external disk gets booted first.

It should work.

P.S. If I misunderstood your problem, then I apologize, but maybe you may find this useful anyway.

I am going to try this, and I will let you know. But, why does it freezes up the laptop?

 

[MaikuTech]

What you could do is format the hdd/ssd drive to use NTFS, also set the hard drive to have one blank primary partition.
I would double check and make sure your usb 2.0/3.0 wires are not bent up or have even the slightest hint of a cut on it.
https://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html
Use this been using it for 10 years and never had one problem from the free edition.
Give this a quick read when your done plug in your new formatted drive and boot to bios.
Make sure it is being recognized properly, once done have your os ready to go on a flash drive of 4gb - 8gb.
http://www.intowindows.com/install-windows-8-from-external-hard-drive/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool