External Hard Drive

I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is not
on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so the
machine is dual boot?

ct

I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an OS
that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read you can't
do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is not
on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct

Not quite right, Joan - it IS possible to boot from a USB drive providing
the BIOS supports it (but most motherboards from the Win ME era will not
support this function), it is also possible to boot from an external SCSI
drive (which is not so dependent on BIOS support, but is a lot more
expensive!).

As for the Disk size - the biggest issue is going to be using FDISK to
partition and format the drive - it must be partitioned into two drives of
no more than 128GB each, or things will get VERY hairy!

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Joan Archer" wrote in message
...
I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an OS
that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read you can't
do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is not
on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct

Thanks for the correction Noel, at least the OP has the correct info now
and maybe doesn't want to go with the expensive route but would I be
correct by stating he could use it for storing images of his OS on the new
drive.
Joan


Noel Paton wrote:
Not quite right, Joan - it IS possible to boot from a USB drive
providing the BIOS supports it (but most motherboards from the Win ME
era will not support this function), it is also possible to boot from
an external SCSI drive (which is not so dependent on BIOS support,
but is a lot more expensive!).

As for the Disk size - the biggest issue is going to be using FDISK to
partition and format the drive - it must be partitioned into two
drives of no more than 128GB each, or things will get VERY hairy!


Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's "Joan Archer" wrote in message
...
I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an
OS that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read
you can't do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is
not on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct

Yup - it's one of the prime uses for external HD's

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Joan Archer" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the correction Noel, at least the OP has the correct info now
and maybe doesn't want to go with the expensive route but would I be
correct by stating he could use it for storing images of his OS on the new
drive.
Joan


Noel Paton wrote:
Not quite right, Joan - it IS possible to boot from a USB drive
providing the BIOS supports it (but most motherboards from the Win ME
era will not support this function), it is also possible to boot from
an external SCSI drive (which is not so dependent on BIOS support,
but is a lot more expensive!).

As for the Disk size - the biggest issue is going to be using FDISK to
partition and format the drive - it must be partitioned into two
drives of no more than 128GB each, or things will get VERY hairy!


Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to
NG's "Joan Archer" wrote in message
...
I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an
OS that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read
you can't do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is
not on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct

I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this
ME OS. A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price
as an 80gb that is not on sale.

If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I
encounter?

not knowing what problems you are already experienceing, the only problem
that i envisage is that it will take longer to backup, unless you intend to
the use the new drive for that purpose

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive
so the machine is dual boot?

depends on the nature of the external drive. i assume it's a usb drive. if
it is and you are an adventurous type, you could try motto hairu for this
purpose

-the watcher-

As far as I know the motto hairu (AKA Panasonic) drivers are DOS drivers
for USB drives. They do not change the fact that booting a computer is
still a BIOS function and that if the BIOS cannot support booting from
USB devices DOS drivers will not make it otherwise. If the pc cannot
boot from a USB device the only thing that might change that is a BIOS
update. As Noel has stated earlier, few machines from the ME era can do
this. And to add my five cents, not that many new or more recent
machines support the function either. Only the best of motherboards or
the best high end workstations can do this... but things are changing
and eventually the cheapest machine will be able to do it.

John

the watcher wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this
ME OS. A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price
as an 80gb that is not on sale.


If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I
encounter?


not knowing what problems you are already experienceing, the only problem
that i envisage is that it will take longer to backup, unless you intend to
the use the new drive for that purpose


Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive
so the machine is dual boot?


depends on the nature of the external drive. i assume it's a usb drive. if
it is and you are an adventurous type, you could try motto hairu for this
purpose

-the watcher-

the watcher wrote:

depends on the nature of the external drive. i assume it's a usb drive.
if
it is and you are an adventurous type, you could try motto hairu for
this
purpose

John John wrote
As far as I know the motto hairu (AKA Panasonic) drivers are DOS drivers
for USB drives.

i'v gone back and read the stuff properly. i think you are right. sorry for
any confusion. i had just remembered that i read a discussion that was very
technical about booting from the usb. the name motto hairu seemed to stick
in my mind.

-the watcher-

Thank you everyone for the help.

My first need is storage and booting would be candy, so I will opt for
the larger drive even though 250 gig seems obscene.

Any special FDISK instructions or tips not mentioned in KB255867?

ct


Joan Archer wrote:
I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an OS
that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read you can't
do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is not
on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct

Any special FDISK instructions or tips not mentioned in KB255867?

You *might* find the following item useful (and beneficial) :-

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....=&p_faqid=1051

Mart


"ctowers" wrote in message
...
Thank you everyone for the help.

My first need is storage and booting would be candy, so I will opt for the
larger drive even though 250 gig seems obscene.

Any special FDISK instructions or tips not mentioned in KB255867?

ct


Joan Archer wrote:
I'm probably wrong here but I don't think you can install an OS on an
external drive and be able to boot it. You could store images of an OS
that you have on the main machine, but I'm sure that I have read you
can't do what you want to do.

Wait and see what the gurus have to say before going any further.
Joan

ctowers wrote:
I plan to purchase one to use for additional storage on this ME OS.
A 250gb is on sale this week for the same price as an 80gb that is not
on sale.
If I buy the larger drive what additional problems will I encounter?

Also, will it be possible to install an OS on the external drive so
the machine is dual boot?

ct