External hard disk usb

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30. May 2013 - 17:23
cml
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I am having problems with my internal hd 500gb, I cannot install win xp sp3 on it anymore, it always boot from secondary disk older one 40gb on which there is another same win xp installed, It happen now, as in past there wasnt such problem, I cannot force to boot from this disk via bios aswell, when I try to unplug old disk new one isnt even read by the system.

And now the question:

my motherboard has only 6 usb 2.0 inputs, so is there any chance I could buy and plug in an external hard disk 2.0 or 3.0, install on it win xp sp3 and boot it from there ? will it be seen by bios or it just work as a external drive and cannot be used for windows ?

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30. May 2013 - 17:44
#1
3m'genesis
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Re: External hard disk usb 2.0

U did choose to boot from the usb , not the secondary disk , have you? the bios cannot read the secondary disk unless u plug via sata on the motherboard , if u are trying to boot from the secondary disk .

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30. May 2013 - 17:48
#2
cml
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Re: External hard disk usb 2.0

old 40 gb internal disk is plugged via old cables not SATA, second internal disk 500 gb is plugged via SATA and I cannot choose to use 500gb to be bootable first at bios because it doesnt appear there, theres only old disk and cd/dvd drive, and when I switch orders on hard disk drives in bios, then I can choose 500gb but it does not work at all when I reboot computer =/

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30. May 2013 - 18:09
#3
rage+
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Re: External hard disk usb

Run the IDE HDD as a master, and the SATA as a slave. Also check the hdd controller. Switch from IDE to SCSI or vice versa. Might not work but its worth a try.

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30. May 2013 - 18:12
#4
cml
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Re: External hard disk usb

old disk cannot be attached to SATA only by the old connection cable and power supply, same with new disk it cannot be connected via old cable but only by SATA =/

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30. May 2013 - 18:17
#5
.aNk/xXxp4l/:bR.Shady'XYN!
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Re: External hard disk usb

This tool universally works for any operating system (NTFS or FAT32, win or Unix), all you need to have are the source materials for your chosen OS, I used it to install win 7 on a PC with no CD driver from USB pen drive earlier in the week, worked flawlessly.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

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30. May 2013 - 18:28
#6
cml
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Re: External hard disk usb

The thing is that my 500 GB internal hard disk is affected by motherboard that keep corrupting it each day, I dont know why and how it does that but it already consumed my older 500 GB disk, all data goes away and I could put it only into trashcan.

Same thing happening now

I got following partitions on this disk:

E: 14 GB space (here was windows and few progz installed)

F: 224 GB (here I keep all the programs, games and files)

G: 226 GB (this one stays totally empty and I keep making format of it, it keep overall disk to work longer I guess xD)

C: and D: is on old disk, so I cannot switch orders in BIOS because old one would not work either

today partition E: was irreversibly damaged, so the only thing I could do with it was total format

I think that disk is corrupted and cannot be used to install any OS on it anymore, so I thought maybe some external drive will work as a replacement and wont be affected by that thing that its eat xD

Weird thing because old disk was never affected to that, it works several years without any problems
only those that are plug by SATA are facking up
I also tried 2 programs disk inspectors and 2 of them were showing this SATA disk as corrupted
vitality was displayed as 0% and old disk 90% Happy
also sectors errors were popuping from time to time, those were damaged sectors.

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30. May 2013 - 18:30
#7
XTERMY [EN]
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Re: External hard disk usb

Have you tried to set the SATA Controller Mode from AHCI mode to Compatibility mode on the BIOS? Happy If your BIOS doesn't have that is something similar. After that, Windows XP should detect the SATA HDD.

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30. May 2013 - 18:54
#8
.aNk/xXxp4l/:bR.Shady'XYN!
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Re: External hard disk usb

Not sure if it's possible to install Windows XP from a USB drive on another USB drive, but I do believe 7 and onwards (as well as basically a whole lot of Linux distributions, including, but not limited to Ubuntu) have that capability (you could even theoretically use the same USB key if you make 2 logical partitions).

I'd say it's worth trying with XP but I would have an Ubuntu distribution as well as a backup. Install into USB, launch OS, then see if the current partitions can be saved+data backed up. If yes, gg.

But from the description you've given us, it's hard to say for 100% if it's possible in your case. In theory it can be done, but motherboard generation, BIOS version and your hardware's physical state (from the symptoms of HDs randomly stopping working, it could be possible that your MoBo is suffering from popped capacitors, in which case it still would be possible but your system would be unstable and the same thing could happen.

My final advice would be to either register and ask on a tech-troubleshooting forum like TomsHardware (or at least google anf places like TomHardware for old threads and similar questions or symptoms) rather than asking on e+ forums, and provide them with full system information (especially those concerning current Motherboard+hard drive details) when you do.

Good Luck <o7

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(*WASP*SH▲DOWKNIGHT) wrote:
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30. May 2013 - 20:26
#9
rUnThEoN?!
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Re: External hard disk usb

herolike suggestions...

Sata and slave - excuse me but sata has no slave mode. You can only set boot priority.

anyways camel, give us some more info about ur general settings, OS, format system (fat32, ntfs), HDD manufacturer, age etc.

hurrenson: "This idiot is apparently not familiar with a rail/sniper style."

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30. May 2013 - 20:53
#10
cml
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Re: External hard disk usb

I use NTFS
I never said I want to install OS from USB to another USB, I use installer from CD, but the thing is my current hard disk on which I want to install it cannot be booted anymore, once installer copy installation files to desired partition it reboot PC and then nothing happens, the primary windows is loading, theres no screen to select different OS anymore, also after that reboot, installer should continue installation process but it doesnt do that, because the disk is not listed at boot list in BIOS and I dont know why =(

my motherboard has hmm 2 or 3 yrs old, old disk has hmm 8 yrs old and new one that I bought about half year ago and its facked up in same way as older 500 gb that has been totally damaged.

So maybe now other question, long time ago I wanted to copy existing windows system to another hard disk without installing/reinstalling it, I copied all files but still it doesnt wanted to load, is there any way that I could totally copy my windows on which I am logged now to second disk without any problems?

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