Boot windows from eSATA drive?

Billzz · 9 Jan 2008 at 14:14

Hi all,

I'm thinking of buying an eSATA drive, mainly for backups - if I wanted, is it possible to install/boot XP or Vista using eSATA rather than the internal drive?

Thanks all for any replies

rpstewart · 9 Jan 2008 at 14:27

Of course, as far as the machine is concerned it's a normal SATA drive, the fact that it's external is irrelevant. I assume you're only considering doing this as an emergency measure?

helmutcheese · 9 Jan 2008 at 14:27

Billzz · 9 Jan 2008 at 14:29

Thanks for the quick replies guys. Yes, it will be an emergency measure only and for maybe trying another OS without trashing my current one.

rpstewart · 9 Jan 2008 at 14:38

OK, reason for asking was that with it being external (and hence powered separately) the BIOS may change the boot order about if the external drive is turned off. You'll also possibly run into problems trying to install onto it if there are other drives connected but that's a problem regardless of whether the drive is internal or external.