Is it possible to boot from usb external hd?

ant2k50 · 16 May 2011 at 09:31

My uncle has gone out and bought a new laptop with Windows 7 64bit installed, but a major programme that he uses for work only supports 32bit os. I was wondering if it was possible to get an external hard drive, install Windows 7 32bit and boot from that on the laptop whenever he needs to use that particular programme. Is this possible or am I overlooking a simpler solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

dbeckett · 16 May 2011 at 18:17

Could he not simply just reinstall windows 7 32 bit onto his laptop as his main os? or does he need the 64 bit(ie more than 4gb ram?)

lsg1r · 16 May 2011 at 20:53

what program requires 32bit, there may be an update or work around. I haven't yet had a program that wouldn't work on 64bit

dbeckett · 16 May 2011 at 21:38

another possibility you could look at is a virtual machine, ie run windows7 32bit within your normal windows7 64 bit operating system

Sin_Chase · 16 May 2011 at 22:07

Or just repartition and dual boot?

tom_e · 16 May 2011 at 22:12

If it has an option in the BIOS to boot from USB then it should be possible, but as said there's a few other simpler options