Can i install windows 7 beta on a portable 80gb USB drive and boot from it when my system starts up? -

i have an 80GB NTFS portable drive. i m just wondering if i can install WINDOWS 7 BETA on it and boot from the USB external drive without it affecting my current installation of WINDOWS VISTA on my Notebook. ? if you know of a guide on how to do it, that would be handy, but if its just installing it on the portable drive as if it were a normal drive, i have no hang-ups with that. thanks

It will probably be a bit slow for installation because you re gonna use a USB 2.0 hard drive in NTFS format. I would just recommend installing it on Virtual PC.

Hi there. You can certainly install Windows on the external drive, but you will not be able to boot from it. The reason for this lies in the way that Windows loads drivers. As the drivers are loading, Windows will briefly re-initialize the USB ports and break the connection with the external drive. This will result in a BSOD. There is a tool called BartPE that may serve as a work-around to this issue. I ve never used it myself, but it s worth a look. I ve included a link below.

Yes but you have to change your BIOS settings to boot from portable device, it wont affect it in anyway this is called dual booting where your all. every systems layout is different but it usually starts with hitting the f2 or f12 while the computer is starting up. then follow the menu to BIOS and select boot from portable device.

Sure can. Boot to it. In BIOS, you will have to change the boot setting to Removable Device or something close to that.

Go into your bios and set the first boot device to usb.

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