Windows OS on external hard drive
Is it possible to install Windows OS to plug and play storage devices?
You can use Windows To Go.
Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education that allows them to boot and run from USB mass storage devices such as USB flash drives and external hard disk drives. It is a fully manageable corporate Windows 8 environment.
Source Windows To Go
Windows To Go: Feature Overview
Windows To Go is an enterprise feature of Windows® 8and Windows 8.1 that enables the creation of a Windows To Go workspace that can be booted from a USB-connected external drive on PCs that meet the Windows 7 or later certification requirements, regardless of the operating system running on the PC. Windows To Go workspaces can use the same image enterprises use for their desktops and laptops and can be managed the same way. Windows To Go is not intended to replace desktops, laptops or supplant other mobility offerings.
Source Windows To Go: Feature Overview
Windows To Go: Frequently Asked Questions
What is Windows To Go?
Windows To Go is a new feature for enterprise users of Windows® 8 that enables users to boot a full version of Windows from external USB drives on host PCs.
Does Windows To Go rely on virtualization?
No. Windows To Go is a native instance of Windows 8 that runs from a USB device. It is just like a laptop hard drive with Windows 8 that has been put into a USB enclosure.
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Is Windows To Go supported on both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 drives?
No. Windows To Go is supported on USB 3.0 drives that are certified for Windows To Go.
Is Windows To Go supported on USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports?
Yes. Windows To Go is fully supported on either USB 2.0 ports or USB 3.0 ports on PC’s certified for Windows 7 or Windows 8.
Source Windows To Go: Frequently Asked Questions
How about those "true" hard disk drives that are connected via HDD enclosures?
Are they eligible for this?
It would appear not.
As of the date of publication, the following are the USB drives currently certified for use as Windows To Go drives; as more drives are certified for use with Windows To Go this list will be updated: WarningWarning Using a USB drive that has not been certified is not supported
IronKey Workspace W700 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w700.html)
IronKey Workspace W500 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w500.html)
IronKey Workspace W300 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w300.html)
Kingston DataTraveler Workspace for Windows To Go (http://www.kingston.com/wtg/)
Spyrus Portable Workplace (http://www.spyruswtg.com/)
We recommend that you run the Spyrus Deployment Suite for Windows To Go to provision the Spyrus Portable Workplace.
Spyrus Secure Portable Workplace (http://www.spyruswtg.com/)
Source Hardware considerations for Windows To Go
You could install GRUB (the Linux boot manager) to the hard drive and simply configure it to load the second partition, which would contain the actual windows files. GRUB can do this (proven by the fact that you can dual boot Linux and Windows through GRUB) and this method is viable if you don't have access to windows to go.
Option 1 :
Once, this was one of my dreams too.
- Install Linux Mint. (Believe me, I am a Linux novice too, but it was a breeze).
- Install VMware Player.
- Install Windows OS as a virtual machine.
That way, you can boot from your external HDD, then start VMware player, and you are onto Windows.
I use this setup sometimes to troubleshoot other Windows machines. I also have a good updated anti-virus program on this, that I can use to clean other not-so-updated Windows machines.
-- As an aside, if you can lay your hands on it, Hiren's Boot CD has an option to boot in "Mini Windows XP". It's cool. You should probably have a way to put that on to an external HDD, some tools for converting an ISO into a bootable external HDD are available. You should probably store your data elsewhere in another partition on the HDD, and not in the same partition as XP.