USB to IDE

Dmouse1 · 12-10-2005, 10:48 AM

I have a USB to IDE adapter with a 30 gig hard drive hooked to it,The question I have is, can I copy and paste the lead partition (MBR) from my C drive to the external drive,I would like to install Win XP on the External drive??? TIA GaryD..

dai · 12-10-2005, 10:57 AM

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1676&page=1

**johnwill** · 12-10-2005, 11:02 AM

You can't boot XP off the external drive. During the boot process, XP resets the USB controllers, and the boot fails.

Dmouse1 · 12-10-2005, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dai

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1676&page=1

The article you refered looks very good and will give a look and see if it will help me,but I don't intend to boot from the USB drive, I just want to have XP installed on the drive to use later...

**johnwill** · 12-11-2005, 10:54 AM

I don't get it. "have XP installed" seems to imply a bootable copy. If you just want to keep an image of your XP partition, I suggest Acronis True Image, it'll work with USB drives and do the trick. I can't imagine why you need to boot from the USB disk, True Image creates a bootable CD for recovery.

Dmouse1 · 12-11-2005, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnwill

I don't get it. "have XP installed" seems to imply a bootable copy. If you just want to keep an image of your XP partition, I suggest Acronis True Image, it'll work with USB drives and do the trick. I can't imagine why you need to boot from the USB disk, True Image creates a bootable CD for recovery.

The thing is I am running Win 2Kpro on my machine right now,and am a little sceptical about using XP,because of the progys I have installed.. If I can install XP on the blank 30 gig with the lead patition (MBR) I can hook it to my computer and play with it, to get familiar with it...

**johnwill** · 12-11-2005, 05:12 PM

What you can do with True Image is make a backup of your 2K boot partition, then install XP and play with it. You can make an backup of the XP boot partition, then you can simply restore the 2K copy. You are not going to get XP booting off the USB disk.

12-10-2005, 10:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
Dmouse1 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: big town Prosser Wa. Posts: 243 OS: win Vista Home Premium	USB to IDE I have a USB to IDE adapter with a 30 gig hard drive hooked to it,The question I have is, can I copy and paste the lead partition (MBR) from my C drive to the external drive,I would like to install Win XP on the External drive??? TIA GaryD..

12-10-2005, 10:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,609 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.c...id=1676&page=1 __________________

12-10-2005, 11:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,720 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	You can't boot XP off the external drive. During the boot process, XP resets the USB controllers, and the boot fails. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

12-11-2005, 10:54 AM	#5 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,720 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	I don't get it. "have XP installed" seems to imply a bootable copy. If you just want to keep an image of your XP partition, I suggest Acronis True Image, it'll work with USB drives and do the trick. I can't imagine why you need to boot from the USB disk, True Image creates a bootable CD for recovery. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

12-11-2005, 05:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,720 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	What you can do with True Image is make a backup of your 2K boot partition, then install XP and play with it. You can make an backup of the XP boot partition, then you can simply restore the 2K copy. You are not going to get XP booting off the USB disk. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience