installing an os to an external HDD

i have an external HDD that i want to put vista on but i was just wondering can my AAO boot from and external HDD and run vista and when i put vista into my external dvd drive and i then plug my external HDD in will i be able just to intall it to the HDD and then in the bios of my AAO just change it to look for the usb drives first before booting straight to xp. has anyone done this and has it worked well

thanks

 

Hi your post was a little confusing but assume that you want to be able to install windows vista to an external HDD from then the vista CD in an external DVD drive using your aspire one and then boot you aspire one from it. If this is correct then yes you can. First connect everything up and put the vista DVD in the DVD drive. Then press F12 on the acer screen of the bis and set the boot order to 1.DVD drive 2.external HDD 3.internal HDD or SSD (which ever version you have) then boot you aspire one with these settings and choose your external HDD in vista installation.


However you should not use vista on your aspire one because it does not meet the requirement limits and will be extremely slow and may not even let yo install it in the first place! also vista is crap and buggy so I wouldn't recommend it on any machine! :!: :!: :!: :!:


instead I would recommend installing unbuntu to your main hard drive or leaving it as it is!

wollac

 

You are an idiot.
I installed Vista onto my internal 160gb hd and it worked fine out of the box. Sure I had to update a few drivers, but there is no such thing as an OS installation without driver updates. It runs just as fast as XP did.
Proof: Click here:
http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=vis ... aspire+one

 

I had Vista on my Aspire One and it did run slower than XP.
It uses like 300MB more RAM than XP does...
By the way - thanks for the link - that's so cool :geek:

 

Thanks for the help i have never used vista so i wanted to install it on the external drive just so that i could try it!!

thanks

 

Wollac, not only did your Vista bash make you look a tad ignorant, but you didn't even read or answer the original question. While the Aspire One is definitely not the optimal platform for Vista, it is well within the specs (if you have one of the higher-end models with 1gb ram and a decent HDD) to run it. I was actually impressed with how well it runs. If you find Vista buggy, then that is your opinion, but I have personally run it on many systems, both store-bought and home-made and had no issues. I am quite happy with Vista on my Aspire One. You are more than entitled to your own opinion, but please do not state it as fact, when it is merely your opinion.

He/She was actually asking if Vista could be installed TO an external USB HDD, not FROM one... So below you will find a slightly more on-topic answer to the question originally asked.

azz2811 - The official MS answer to your question is that no, Vista cannot be installed to an external USB drive, it is set up to only install to internal hard disks. HOWEVER, there are a few ways to get around this if you really want to try it, none of which are for beginners, but if you feel confident and can follow instructions, then the information below might help.

WARNING: Following any of the advice below, or in the links is at your own risk. Make sure you understand the instructions fully and follow the process or you can run into serious trouble

Now that that's covered, here are the two ways that I personally know work:

1) This is the easiest way, you need to take apart the USB HDD, and connect it directly to a PC, thereby making the installer think it is an internal disc. You shoudl then be able to put it back in the USB enclosure and boot off it using the method Wollac described.

2) Much, Much riskier! Follow the link below, and make sure you read every little bit of the thread. Follow the instructions given to the letter, and you should be able to set up a Vista install on an external USB drive. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, I recommend you don't.

Link: http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeeh ... -USB-boot/

Hope this helps!

Transfrmr

 

ok thanks i think that i will leave installing vista to the external and look and installing it on the internal. can you put ubuntu on the external HDD and run it off there because i have never had ubuntu but i would like to give it a try without killing windows

 

Quick answer is yes.

I'll grant you that the information about installing Vista to an external USB hard disk wasn't as easy to find, but in this case, Google would have been your friend

http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=ins ... +hard+disk

 

yes google was my friend he found everything i needed to know (pendrivelinux) ....


thanks alot for all you guys help here!