Setting external HDD as master drive?

[natedog102]

As the title says, I would like to have my computer boot the OS (Windows XP) off of the external drive. I travel between computers quite a bit, and I would really enjoy taking my HDD with me and use that to boot my OS. Is this possible?

Thanks in advance,
Nathan

P.S.

I have a 320 GB Seagate FreeAgent external HDD.

 

[kimsland]

Yes and No !

Well, you can install Windows to your external USB Hard Drive (requires the USB Drivers on bootup so forth).

But if you plug it into another computer it won't start it.
Because the Hardware will be totally different
Therefore you'll need to take your computer with you as well (kind of defeating the purpose!)

This is where laptops are good

 

[natedog102]

Alright.. Would you be so kind as to direct me to these USB drivers on start up? My other HDD (Which is IDE) is only 90 GB, so it'd be nice to use this one as my main one, considering the size difference. Thanks for the help!

 

[kimsland]

Actually Windows might find it
But I found some software (possibly drivers ) here: http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=3723b5b59b7d5110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD

I'd recommend to remove any internal HardDrive first, and set CMOS to boot from
CD first bootable drive
Then USB as 2nd Bootable drive

 

[natedog102]

That's the thing... I have Pheonix AwardBios v6.00. This BIOS doesn't seem to be able to boot from USB. If this is the case, am I outta luck?

 

[Tmagic650]

Yes you are...

 

[CMH]

you can buy 2 new identical motherboards, and have a computer running these motherboards at each of the 2 locations (or more) that you frequent. Then booting from USB should work, since its the motherboard alone that matters.