Hello everyone

I have a large external HD and wish to put another winxp system onto it, not necessary as a back-up but to use when Winxp misbehaves. It is a 500gb HD so space should not be a problem, I also have another XP install disk.

The question; are there any problems when shovelling another operating system onto my computer, and will it be possible for me to plug the new HD into the computer whenever I wish?

regards


grimerz

I have an external HD (USB) I use it for backups to create and restore images created with Norton Ghost & put other files upon.

I would not bother with installing the operating sytem on there also.

I suggest taking a full system backup to start with using Ghost (example) so when you do encounter a serious problem you can restore the image back to when your computer was working fine.

Norton Ghost 10 is what I use, however 9 works fine also.

You could also ask for others opinions on what solutions they use, I find Ghost above average excellent.

You can do that. Just create a format then partition on the external drive initially. Next you can install a copy of XP on it. You must choose the right drive (by letter) when doing the install or your current install will be wiped clean.

You can also do what leesmithg has suggested for backing up.

Another solution- use XXClone to "clone" exactly your current hard-drive onto another HDD or partition. If one drive fails the other is perfectly stable and yes, fully working, bootable as well.

Your motherboard would have to support booting from a USB device and not many do.

If your motherboard does support this then you would need to load all the motherboard drivers on that drive as well.

This type of setup for XP is not recommended even under supported conditions.

I have never tried installing windows xp pro (you may use home) to a usb drive.

My mobo does support booting from usb drives, however I witness during installation of a system that windows sees drive C (and/or) partitions during installation and never seen it see my I: drive (my usb drive).

Interesting replies!

Thank you everyone.

regards


grimerz