Install Windows From External Hard Drive !full! -

First, you open and delete all partitions on the external drive. Then you create a single primary partition, format it as NTFS , and mark it as active (so the computer knows it can boot from it).

You open Command Prompt as Administrator . install windows from external hard drive

Some older computers won’t boot from an external hard drive via USB. And if your external drive is slow (5400 RPM), the initial boot to setup might take a minute or two. But once the Windows installer loads into RAM, speed is fine. First, you open and delete all partitions on

You install Windows normally, choosing the internal drive (or even another external drive if you want a portable Windows). The external installation drive stays untouched unless you deliberately format it. Some older computers won’t boot from an external

Then you use bootsect /nt60 F: (where F: is your external drive) to write the Windows boot code onto it.

You plug the external hard drive into a working computer. It’s 500 GB, mostly empty. You know Windows setup won’t need all that space, but the drive has to be bootable.