Are External Hard Disk Drives Bootable?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
> from one machine to another?


Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
if you're running WinXP.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 09:09:28 GMT, "Mervyn Thomas"
<mervynt@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
>how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?
>

Most if not all boards now have bios settings for such USB
boot devices but not all actually can boot from them. In
other words, some bios are still quite buggy and the feature
is broken.

Basically you'll need to find what format the two or more
boards will (not only theoretically support but) actually
boot from as a bios setting, have the bios set to "try" to
boot from that device type before alternate boot devices
(Like the HDD with OS on it) and have made that USB device
to be bootable. Some USB devices come with a manufacturers
utility that can do this or there are other methods you can
find with some Googling, for example,
http://www.marlow.dk/site.php/tech/usbkeys

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <cDPYe.1514$NO2.1321@newsfe4-win.ntli.net>, Mervyn Thomas
says...
> I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
> how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?
>
THe problem isn't making the drive bootable. THe problem is that you
need to make sure the motherboard on the system you wish to do it on
supports booting from USB.


--
Conor

"You're not married, you haven't got a girlfriend and you've never seen
Star Trek? Good Lord!" - Patrick Stewart, Extras.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 08:39:30 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:

>"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
>> from one machine to another?
>
>
> Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
> if you're running WinXP.


You might be off on a wild tangent here, there is no
activation issue for the basic task the OP described.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" wrote:
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
>>"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
>>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
>>> from one machine to another?
>>
>>
>> Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
>> if you're running WinXP.
>
>
> You might be off on a wild tangent here, there is no
> activation issue for the basic task the OP described.


If the OP intends to install WinXP on a drive in one computer
and then move it to another computer and use it, it will
have to be re-activated for the new computer because
ntdetect.com will recognize the major change in environment
when it runs in the new computer. The keyword is "bootable".
If all the OP wants to do is transfer data between 2 computers,
"bootable" (as in "able to bootstrap-load itself") isn't part of
the question.

*TimDaniels*

 

[unkn2232324]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <L7ednUAn5LDSB6neRVn-hg@comcast.com>, TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com
says...
> "kony" wrote:
> > "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
> >
> >>"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
> >>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
> >>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
> >>> from one machine to another?
> >>
> >>
> >> Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
> >> if you're running WinXP.
> >
> >
> > You might be off on a wild tangent here, there is no
> > activation issue for the basic task the OP described.
>
>
> If the OP intends to install WinXP on a drive in one computer
> and then move it to another computer and use it, it will
> have to be re-activated for the new computer because
> ntdetect.com will recognize the major change in environment
> when it runs in the new computer. The keyword is "bootable".
> If all the OP wants to do is transfer data between 2 computers,
> "bootable" (as in "able to bootstrap-load itself") isn't part of
> the question.
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
Avoid the activation problem completely - dump XP, load Win2K.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 09:09:28 GMT, "Mervyn Thomas"
<mervynt@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
>how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?
>
WinXP is not bootable from an external drive.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:14:43 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:

>"kony" wrote:
>> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>>
>>>"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
>>>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
>>>> from one machine to another?
>>>
>>>
>>> Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
>>> if you're running WinXP.
>>
>>
>> You might be off on a wild tangent here, there is no
>> activation issue for the basic task the OP described.
>
>
> If the OP intends to install WinXP on a drive in one computer
> and then move it to another computer and use it, it will
> have to be re-activated for the new computer because
> ntdetect.com will recognize the major change in environment
> when it runs in the new computer.

.... and if the OP intends to drive to work an automibile
would be necessary. This is not the topic, the topic was
"only" booting a thumbdrive from one system to another.

You do realize that a thumbdrive is a flash based USB drive,
yes? Do you know anyone that runs XP from one? Maybe some
kind of PE environment but no mention of that and activation
wouldn't be an issue on that either.


> The keyword is "bootable".
> If all the OP wants to do is transfer data between 2 computers,
> "bootable" (as in "able to bootstrap-load itself") isn't part of
> the question.

Yes, "bootable". Nowhere in the word is "Windows XP" at all
and it is irrelevant if the system happens to have XP on the
hard drives. OP is not moving hard drives as a described
task.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 07:05:24 +0000 (UTC), Edward W. Thompson
<thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 09:09:28 GMT, "Mervyn Thomas"
><mervynt@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
>>how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?
>>
> WinXP is not bootable from an external drive.

It is possible to do it, but you'd not want an overbloated
OS that constantly writes to pagefile on a whim, on an
inherantly small flash based drive.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Edward W. Thompson" <thomeduk1@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:lgu9j1107gv9516ujvfosb56j7c0nimqu8@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 23 Sep 2005 09:09:28 GMT, "Mervyn Thomas"
> <mervynt@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>>I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone has experience on
>>how to make a USB drive bootable from one machine to another?
>>
> WinXP is not bootable from an external drive.

Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load USB drivers at post and even
list USB as a boot option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make a thumb
drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D. I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup
and it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.

Ed

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" spewed:
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
>>"kony" wrote:
>>> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>>>
>>>>"Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>>>> I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
>>>>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
>>>>> from one machine to another?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Don't forget the problem of activation on the new machine
>>>> if you're running WinXP.
>>>
>>>
>>> You might be off on a wild tangent here, there is no
>>> activation issue for the basic task the OP described.
>>
>>
>> If the OP intends to install WinXP on a drive in one computer
>> and then move it to another computer and use it, it will
>> have to be re-activated for the new computer because
>> ntdetect.com will recognize the major change in environment
>> when it runs in the new computer.
>
> ... and if the OP intends to drive to work an automibile
> would be necessary. This is not the topic, the topic was
> "only" booting a thumbdrive from one system to another.
>
> You do realize that a thumbdrive is a flash based USB drive,
> yes? Do you know anyone that runs XP from one? Maybe some
> kind of PE environment but no mention of that and activation
> wouldn't be an issue on that either.
>
>
>> The keyword is "bootable".
>> If all the OP wants to do is transfer data between 2 computers,
>> "bootable" (as in "able to bootstrap-load itself") isn't part of
>> the question.
>
> Yes, "bootable". Nowhere in the word is "Windows XP" at all
> and it is irrelevant if the system happens to have XP on the
> hard drives. OP is not moving hard drives as a described
> task.


Please read the subject line of this thread:
"Are External Hard Disk Drives Bootable?".

Please read the OP's opening statement:
"I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
from one machine to another?"

Go ahead, read it - it's all quoted above.

Obviously, the OP wants to move an external USB hard disk
drive from one machine to another, not a USB thumb drive.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Ed Medlin" wrote:
>
> "Edward W. Thompson" wrote:
>> "Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>
>>> I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if
>>> anyone has experience on how to make a USB drive
>>> bootable from one machine to another?
>>>
>> WinXP is not bootable from an external drive.
>
> Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load USB drivers
> at post and even list USB as a boot option if you have a
> drive plugged in. I can make a thumb drive bootable on my
> Asus P5GDC-D. I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup
> and it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.


Is that external USB2 HDD "bootable" in the sense that
is will bootstrap-load an OS from itself without the
presence of an IDE HDD? Or is it just making itself
visible and accessible to an already loaded OS?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" wrote:
> Edward W. Thompson wrote:
>
>> "Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
>>
>> >I am seeking the ultimate backup and wondered if anyone
>>> has experience on how to make a USB drive bootable
>>> from one machine to another?
>>>
>> WinXP is not bootable from an external drive.
>
> It is possible to do it, but you'd not want an overbloated
> OS that constantly writes to pagefile on a whim, on an
> inherantly small flash based drive.


The subject is: "Are External Hard Disk Drives Bootable?".

In a Microsoft newsgroup, a poster claims to have several
times removed an external USB HDD to which a clone of
the WinXP OS had been transferred and plugged it into
the motherboard IDE controller, and it booted up. His
argument was that the external USB HDD was just an IDE
HDD with a USB/IDE bridge.

That is probably true. But the question remains of whether
BIOSes - new or old - can talk "USB" enough to go out to
the external USB HDD and read its MBR and pass control
to it so that the boot process could proceed independently
of any internal IDE HDD.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 17:08:11 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:


> The subject is: "Are External Hard Disk Drives Bootable?".

So?
In the thread the issue mentioned was backup, not migration.



> That is probably true. But the question remains of whether
> BIOSes - new or old - can talk "USB" enough to go out to
> the external USB HDD and read its MBR and pass control
> to it so that the boot process could proceed independently
> of any internal IDE HDD.

You are again assuming a specific task not expressed as a
goal in this thread. Essentially a tangent not worth
pursuing until there would be evidence that this very thing
is the goal.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 16:56:19 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:


> Is that external USB2 HDD "bootable" in the sense that
> is will bootstrap-load an OS from itself without the
> presence of an IDE HDD?

There is no other sense of "bootable".


> Or is it just making itself
> visible and accessible to an already loaded OS?


This is silly. Where in the world are you getting such
crazy ideas?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" wrote:
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
>
>> Is that external USB2 HDD "bootable" in the sense that
>> is will bootstrap-load an OS from itself without the
>> presence of an IDE HDD?
>
> There is no other sense of "bootable".


Of course there isn't. And... many newbies mis-
understand the term, thinking apparently that
"bootable" means "able to be made 'live' and
accessible", and having no idea what "boot"
means and how it relates to the term
"bootstrap load" and what *that* means.


>> Or is it just making itself
>> visible and accessible to an already loaded OS?
>
>
> This is silly. Where in the world are you getting such
> crazy ideas?


Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
understand what misconceptions exist.

As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:

" Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",

can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?

*TimDaniels

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:22:25 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:


> Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
> much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
> understand what misconceptions exist.
>
> As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:
>
> " Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
> USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
> option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
> a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
> I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
> it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",
>
> can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
> merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?



It is not possible for it to "show up just like another
drive" and not be able to have it bootable, in the real,
correct, functional sense of the word. There is no
distinction to be made between the two that matters as
applied to bios enumeration for boot purposes.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" wrote:
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
>
>> Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
>> much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
>> understand what misconceptions exist.
>>
>> As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:
>>
>> " Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
>> USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
>> option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
>> a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
>> I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
>> it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",
>>
>> can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
>> merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?
>
>
>
> It is not possible for it to "show up just like another
> drive" and not be able to have it bootable, in the real,
> correct, functional sense of the word. There is no
> distinction to be made between the two that matters as
> applied to bios enumeration for boot purposes.


Hey, don't lecture *me* on what someone else meant.
Our definitions of "bootable" coincide. But does the
*Ed Medlin* use "bootable" in the sense that we use it?
He said (and I'm sorry, it wasn't Edward W. Thompson):
"I can make a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and it works
very well. It shows up just like another drive."

Now is he implying that his USB2 80g HDD is bootable
like his USB thumb drive? Or is he just saying that his
USB thumb drive is bootable and his USB2 80g HDD
just seves to backup data?

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"kony" wrote:
> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>
>
>> Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
>> much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
>> understand what misconceptions exist.
>>
>> As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:
>>
>> " Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
>> USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
>> option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
>> a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
>> I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
>> it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",
>>
>> can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
>> merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?
>
>
>
> It is not possible for it to "show up just like another
> drive" and not be able to have it bootable, in the real,
> correct, functional sense of the word. There is no
> distinction to be made between the two that matters as
> applied to bios enumeration for boot purposes.


Well, re-reading the above paragraph, I see that it's ambiguous,
and I don't know *what* you mean to say. By "showing up just
like another drive" I referred to Disk Management's term for a
partition - a "Local Disk" - i.e. a logical disk. Data partitions
can be seen and accessed as just another Local Disk
without being "bootable". My question was whether Ed
Medlin meant that his USB2 80g HDD could be seen as a
Local Disk by the OS, or that it contained an OS could actually
bootstrap load itself.

*TimDaniels*

 

[unkn2232324]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <ck1cj1hn5iujpe74cd5tigj6cahdbqmeul@4ax.com>, spam@spam.com
says...
> On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:22:25 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
> <TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:
>
>
> > Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
> > much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
> > understand what misconceptions exist.
> >
> > As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:
> >
> > " Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
> > USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
> > option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
> > a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
> > I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
> > it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",
> >
> > can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
> > merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?
>
>
>
> It is not possible for it to "show up just like another
> drive" and not be able to have it bootable, in the real,
> correct, functional sense of the word. There is no
> distinction to be made between the two that matters as
> applied to bios enumeration for boot purposes.
>
The term "bootable" arose out of the concept of "picking one's self up
by his bootstraps", and the code to do this was originally referred to
as a "bootstrap loader". I know, because I wrote a number of them in
machine language when I was working with EARLY minicomputers. On
many/most of those machines those instructions had to be manually loaded
into memory, in binary, via switches on the machines.

Simply put, if the computer cannot load executable instructions from the
device in question and do so via successively more complex sets of
executable code until a sufficient amount of the OS is loaded to allow
it to take over and completely configure itself to become a fully up-
and-running system, that device AIN'T A BOOTABLE DEVICE! PERIOD!!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"G" wrote:
> Simply put, if the computer cannot load executable instructions from the
> device in question and do so via successively more complex sets of
> executable code until a sufficient amount of the OS is loaded to allow
> it to take over and completely configure itself to become a fully up-
> and-running system, that device AIN'T A BOOTABLE DEVICE! PERIOD!!


You got it! I used to load programs on a *mainframe* using a
bootstrap loader that began by manually entering (via switches)
a single instruction to read a single punched card from the card
reader. That data contained instructions to read in 10 more
punched cards, which contained a loader which then loaded an
executive, which then loaded single programs. That was
*bootstrapping*. Now the question is whether anyone has been
able to bootstrap load an OS from a USB external HD. Some
say they can, and Microsoft MVPs say it's impossible. I still
don't know what to believe - partly because many people seem
not to know what "boot" means.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:22:25 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
<TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:

>"kony" wrote:
>> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Is that external USB2 HDD "bootable" in the sense that
>>> is will bootstrap-load an OS from itself without the
>>> presence of an IDE HDD?
>>
>> There is no other sense of "bootable".
>
>
> Of course there isn't. And... many newbies mis-
> understand the term, thinking apparently that
> "bootable" means "able to be made 'live' and
> accessible", and having no idea what "boot"
> means and how it relates to the term
> "bootstrap load" and what *that* means.
>
>
>>> Or is it just making itself
>>> visible and accessible to an already loaded OS?
>>
>>
>> This is silly. Where in the world are you getting such
>> crazy ideas?
>
>
> Apparently you don't get out of the homebuilder NGS
> much. Read the microsoft.public. * NGs, and you'll
> understand what misconceptions exist.
>
> As for "Edward W. Thompson" who wrote:
>
> " Sure they are. Most newer MBs and bios load
> USB drivers at post and even list USB as a boot
> option if you have a drive plugged in. I can make
> a thumb drive bootable on my Asus P5GDC-D.
> I use an external USB2 80g HDD for backup and
> it works very well. It shows up just like another drive.",
>
> can he *boot* from his "USB2 80g HDD", or is he
> merely saying that it "shows up just like another drive"?
>
>*TimDaniels

Reading posts does not seem your strong point. Edward Thompson did not
write what you claimed. What I said was you cannot boot WINXP from an
external drive. For boot read 'start'. I do not dispute that an
external drive can be bootable (e.g. DOS) but not from WINXP.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Timothy Daniels" <TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote in message
news:X_mdne0ZKIUAtaXeRVn-iw@comcast.com...
> "Mervyn Thomas" wrote:
> > OK - guys all very interesting and forgive me saying theoretical - has
> > anyone got an external drive which is a copy of a normal bootable drive?
> > If you have how about pulling the power supply on the normal drive and
> > see if the external drive will replace it and boot as normal?
>
>
> A guy in one of the NGs (microsoft.public.windowsxp.* , I believe)
> said that he cloned an IDE HD onto a USB external drive using
> True Image, and then he took the hard drive out of an external USB
> drive's enclosure and since it had an IDE connector, he put it inside
> his PC and plugged in an IDE connector, and it booted up.
> Apparently, the current crop of USB drives are comprised of a
> standard IDE HD with a USB/IDE bridge.
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
Correct, at least mine is. It is a USB2/Firewire "box" with an IDE connector
for the HDD.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

"Glen" <me@mydomain.net> wrote in message
news:Ee_Ze.229$sL3.214@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
> In article <soegj15tsvm9jrp7g4vurj66619mgfedmu@4ax.com>, spam@spam.com
> says...
> > On Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:02:46 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"
> > <TDaniels@NoSpamDot.com> wrote:
> >
> > >"Ed Medlin" wrote:
> > >> To clarify it a bit Tim, If I change the boot order in bios on a
recently
> > >> released S-775 Asus MB, I can boot Linux from the USB2 HDD.
> > >
> > >
> > > That's interesting. Apparently BIOS writers have gotten around
> > > to implementing USB booting as this paper by Microsoft seems
> > > to say is necessary:
> > > http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/usbfaq.mspx
> > >
> > >*TimDaniels*
> >
> >
> > BIOS have supported USB booting for several years... it just
> > didn't work consistently enough that you could buy a board
> > and "depend" on being able to do it, had to rely on reports
> > from others who had tried *board X with bios ver. Y* or try
> > whichever particular board yourself. It does pre-date
> > WinXP, but since "all" boards can't do it (Not only as a
> > supposed fuction, but actually "DO" it) it would be expected
> > that it is not "supported" per-se, as a device to run
> > windows.
> >
> Apparently, I have one of those boards (gigabyte - updated BIOS, but
> don't know MB ref. No. offhand) where the feature is "supposed", but it
> won't DO IT. The BIOS says it supports bootable USB, Win2K can be
> loaded to it, but drive WILL NOT boot - gives Inaccessible Device error.
> Chkdsk shows no errors. I use the drive for backup but after all the
> discussions decided to try to load OS onto it.
>
> Glen
>

You have to have the USB device plugged in and powered up (if necessary)
before the option will show in the bios.

Ed