is it possible to run windows xp from an external hard drive ? Currently I have windows xp installed on the main sata drive and have installed to an external usb2 drive. The dual boot option comes up, but I get the blue screen of death when I choose the external build after it starts to load in. the hole purpose of this is to see if I can get windows xp to run from the external drive, and if it works, then I will download a beta of vista and try that out without ever changing the base system, except maybe the boot.ini currently I am using an old twenty gig, that checks out with check disk. I am wondering if the disk is bad,, or if windows can boot from an external source. I have also tried booting directly to the external usb hard drive with no luck.

Windows can boot from anything! It's your motherboard bios that allows booting from USB or Firewire.

OK,, so it must be the drive then, will scrounge another drive and retest. Thanks

After re-reading it,, I realize that what I typed appears that I cannot boot from usb. That is incorrect. I have an an8 sli premium motherboard, that allows me to boot from usb.. and have configured it to boot from usb,,, and I still get the same error from the external hard drive. it happens during the splash screen with the moving status bar at the bottom.

You can boot from any drive with a program called BOOTITNG (google for it). But for XP, you still need a C drive.... No matter what drive you boot from, the basic boot files for XP, (ntdetect.com, boot.ini, ntdlr...) are placed on C drive. Booting and running XP PURELY from a drive other than C is possible but the setup can get pretty complicated.... (You have to fool the XP install disk into believing the drive you are installing to is C drive).

booting to the drive is not the issue. for the full story, I have a chance to be a beta tester for Micro$oft. I refuse to muck around with my main system in order to test for them. (especially betas) so my bright idea was to install to an external hard drive, and leave my main system alone. I realize it will change the boot.ini file,, and that is no problem. So to test my theory, I got out my original xp install disk and installed it to an old 20 gig hard drive I put in one of the usb2 external enclosures. now when I boot up,, it askes which operating system. when I choose the system on the external usb2 drive, it starts to load windows,, with the black screen and the status bar. Then gives me the blue screen of death. I was just wondering if it is possible to run windows from an external hard drive. If this wasn't possible,, I would not spend any more time trying to figure out why this is happening. Could it be that usb2 is not fast enough?

Speed is not the problem... as I said, To PURELY install XP to another drive without C is a little difficult. A better bet for you is to do a disk image of your existing system and store it on your external. Format your C drive, install what you wish to play with. When you are finished playing then re-install your image. It takes 20 minutes to re-install and its like nothing ever happened... I do it all the time.