Sometimes it is required to have an additional copy of the OS on removable media. The standard installation will not work due to system limitations, so you will have to perform additional manipulations using various third-party software. Today we'll walk you through the entire process step by step, from preparing an external hard drive to installing Windows.

All actions can be conventionally divided into three steps. To work, you need three different programs that are distributed on the Internet for free, we will talk about them below. Let's get down to familiarizing yourself with the instructions.

Step 1: preparing the external HDD

Usually, a removable HDD has one section where users save all the files they need, but if you need to separate the OS and other files, that is, create an additional logical drive, where Windows will be installed, we recommend that you read the following instructions:

If for some reason AOMEI Partition Assistant does not suit you, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with other representatives of similar software in our other article at the link below. In similar software, you will need to perform exactly the same steps.

Now let's use the built-in Windows function for working with logical drives. We will need it to create a new partition from the newly selected free space.

Discover "Start" and go to "Control Panel".

Click on the section "Administration".

In the window that opens, select "Computer Management".

Go to section "Disk Management".

Find the required volume, right-click on the free space of the main disk and select the item Create Simple Volume.

A wizard will open where you need to click on "Further"to go to the next step.

In the second window, do not change anything and immediately move on.

You can assign your own letter if you want to, and then click on "Further".

The last step is to format the section. Check that its file system is NTFS, do not change any more parameters and end the process by clicking on "Further".

That's all. Now you can proceed to the next algorithm of actions.

Step 2: preparing Windows for installation

As mentioned above, the usual installation process when starting the computer is not suitable, so you will have to load the WinNT Setup program and perform certain manipulations. Let's take a closer look at this:

Download a copy of the selected version of Windows in ISO format so that you can later mount the image.
Use any convenient program to create a disk image. Read more about the best representatives of such software in our other material below. Just install such software and open the downloaded copy of Windows in ISO with this software.

In chapter " Devices with removable media " at "My computer" you should have a new operating system disk.
Run WinNT Setup and under "Path to Windows installation files" click on "Choose".

Navigate to the disk with the mounted OS image, open the root folder and select the file install.win or install.esd depending on the version of Windows.

Now, when the second section automatically has a drive letter where the bootloader will be installed (it is not recommended to change it), in the section below "The disk on which the OS will be installed" Press on "Choose" and specify the hard disk partition that was created in the first step.

Click on "Installation".

After that, a new window will open, where next to the item "Use BootSect for bootloader" instead "ALL" should be exposed "BIOS"if the computer uses a classic BIOS. Holders of UEFI from the drop-down menu will need to select the appropriate item, and then click "OK".

After restarting the computer, you will be prompted to select an OS to boot, select the desired option and follow the standard procedure for setting up a new platform.

Step 3: Install Windows

The last step is the installation process itself. You do not need to turn off your computer or somehow configure the boot from an external hard drive, since everything happens through the WinNT Setup program. All that remains is to follow the standard instructions. On our website, they are described in detail for each version of Windows. Skip all preparatory manipulations and go directly to the description of the installation.

Read more: Step by step installation guide.

After the installation is complete, you can connect an external HDD and use the OS installed on it. To avoid problems with booting from removable media, you need to change the BIOS settings. The article below describes how to set all the necessary parameters using a flash drive as an example. In the case of a removable disk, this process does not change in any way, just remember its name.

I have given up on a DVD drive for a year already, and the trends in netbooks speak of the correct decision. But I was faced with the question of how to install the operating system without DVD. A flash drive died out of place, and when I went to the store for a new one, I accidentally caught my eye on external Seagate Expansion drives, the 250Gb version of which cost literally 500 rubles more than an 8Gb flash drive (2323 rubles). And the size and all of which did not bother the jacket pocket.

Dimensions: 141 x 18 x 80mm
Weight: 0.16 kg

But as it turned out, installing Windows 7 from a USB HDD does not work in the same way as with USB FLASH. Having figured out and checked the performance, I am sharing information with you.
Works both for Desktops, Notebooks and Netbooks.

HDD preparation
Cutting and preparing HDD partitions;
Copy Windows 7

HDD preparation

You can make a bootable disk, install Windows 7, and then erase it and then use the HDD for your needs. Or it can be done much more conveniently:
If you do not mind 4 gigabytes of space on the External HDD, then the Disk can be cut into two parts, in our case I did just that, giving one part for the Windows 7 distribution, which will always be at hand.

Splitting and preparing HDD partitions

1. Go to:
Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Computer Management (Disk Management)
Find Disk 1 (if you have several hard drives in your system, find the one that is equal to the size of your External HDD)

2. We select our external HDD drive:
- Right click with the mouse - Delete volume;
- Right click with the mouse - Create a simple volume;
In the window that appears, select the volume size 4300 Megabytes (Under the Distribution section), and click next,

In the next dialog, if necessary, select the drive letter, and click next. In the new dialog, you need to format our new partition (FAT 32), click next and you're done.

After that, you need to make the created section active, for this:
- right click on a section - make the section active.
Now our External HDD looks like this:

By the same principle, we format the second partition on the disk, best of all in NTFS. but don't make it active.

Copy Windows 7

It has never been easier to copy a Windows distribution to your boot disk.

If you have a DVD:
- Just open your installation DVD, select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of your External HDD;

If you have an ISO image:
- Just open your installation ISO image through Total Commander or Daemon Tools, select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of your External HDD;

That's it, your External HDD is ready to act as Bootable media, just reboot, and in BIOS Set it as Primary Boot Device. specific External HDD, or just USB HDD, depending on the BIOS type. Save the changes and proceed with the installation of your Windows 7.

UPD: For cmd lovers (thanks theproof)
diskpart

List disk
select disk no.
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs \u003d fat32 quick

Dimensions: 141 x 18 x 80mm
Weight: 0.16 kg

HDD preparation
Cutting and preparing HDD partitions;
Copy Windows 7

HDD preparation

Splitting and preparing HDD partitions

Copy Windows 7

It has never been easier to copy a Windows distribution to your boot disk.

If you have a DVD:
- Just open your installation DVD, select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of your External HDD;

If you have an ISO image:
- Just open your installation ISO image through Total Commander or Daemon Tools, select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of your External HDD;

UPD: For cmd lovers (thanks )
diskpart

List disk
select disk no.
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs \u003d fat32 quick

As if installing the OS is not something difficult, and my opinion is that it is enough to be friends with the computer and have two more hands in addition to the head - one right and the other left. To install the OS on your computer, you need or.

But what if there is neither one nor the other, the optical drive does not work, or you have a netbook? After a little reflection, I remembered that I have an external usb pocket for HDD and a free old HDD 2.5ʺ too. In general, if you have a pocket hard drive, you can make it bootable accordingly.

For this purpose, there are utilities that can be used to do this, but I decided to use the standard Windows tools.

There are a lot of descriptions and videos on the network, but, unfortunately, there is one problematic point, which the authors for some reason omit. Well, okay, I'll start in order.

Preparing an external HDD

Before working with a disc, be sure to transfer and save the necessary information from this disc to another medium.

All settings will be carried out using standard Windows 8.1 tools. There may be some differences from previous Windows releases, but if there are, they are not significant.

First of all, I want to note that making an external HDD bootable is much more convenient. I divided the disk into two partitions, one contains the Windows distribution, the other one for my needs.

1. We plug in the usb pocket and go to Disk management.

Attention! All data on the disk will be destroyed!

If you have Windows 8 installed on your PC, 1 right-click: Start / Disk Management;

If Windows is earlier versions, open the Computer Management console: Start / Control Panel / Administrative Tools / Computer Management / Expand Storage Devices / Left Click Disk Management.

See screenshot:

2. Choose an external HDD. Be extremely careful, if you choose another disk by mistake, all information will be destroyed.

In my case, this is Disk 1. As you can see in the screenshot, the disk is divided into two volumes (partitions):

3. Delete disk partitions:

4. Create new disk partitions. One for the distribution, the second will remain for your needs:

Right-click on a free disk space, select the command in the context menu Create simple volume:

5. In the window that appears, the Simple Volume Creation Wizard, press the button Further:

Specify the volume size of 4404 megabytes and click Next. Please note that the size is indicated in megabytes. And since 1 gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes, then 1024 × 4.3 \u003d 4403.2 megabytes we get for the distribution section (my weight is 4.18 GB, for example);

In this dialog, you need to format a new partition (FAT 32), press Further then Done:

6. After that, you need to make the created section active (don't forget, because the computer will boot from this section), for this:

Right click with the mouse, select the command in the context menu Make a section active.

To a confirmation request, we answer YES.

The external HDD looks like this:

7. In the same order, we format the second partition on the disk, preferably in NTFS, but do not make it active.

Copying Windows to the active partition of the external HDD

Copying a Windows distribution to a bootable external HDD is pretty straightforward and easy.

From a bootable DVD:

Open the installation DVD in Explorer, select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of the external HDD;

From ISO image:

By and large, an ISO image is a kind of archive. So you can open it with any archiver. You can also open an ISO image through Total Commander or Daemon Tools. Well, if you have Windows 8 or 8.1 installed on your PC, then open it with Explorer. Select all folders and files, and copy to the active partition of the external HDD;

That's it, your external HDD can act as bootable media. It is enough to reboot and set the USB HDD as the boot priority in the BIOS (depending on BIOS type).

When you turn on the laptop, press F2to;
Go to the tab Boot;
AT Boot Priority order install USB HDD;
We press F10, and then OK.

If it didn't work, then see the article.

Save your changes and get started.

As you can see from the text, preparing an external HDD for installing Windows is quite simple. And my description will not be complete if I do not talk about one problem, which for some reason is rarely written on the net.

Making the hard disk partition active

When I divided the hard disk into two volumes, for some reason unknown to me, no part of the disk could be made active. This function was not available in the context menu.

The active partition is the partition from which the computer boots.

There are two ways to make a section active:

Using the Computer Management console. We have already considered this method, but, unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the Make section active command is not available. The solution to this problem is also not difficult. Remember how to prepare a bootable USB flash drive from the Command Prompt.
Using the Command Line, through the utility diskpart... The second method is a little more complicated, but more efficient. You just need to do all the operations carefully and slowly.

Installing the active partition using the command line

1. Connect an external USB HDD;

2. Click on Start / All programs / Accessories / Command line... Right-click and select Run as administrator.

3. In the window that opens, write the command diskpart and press the button Enter... A prompt will appear for working with the utility - DISKPART\u003e;

4. Enter the command list disk and press the button Enter... You will see all disks installed on your computer;

5. We select the disk with which we will work. To do this, enter the command select disk 0, where "0" is the disk number in the list, ie. for my external drive there will be a command select disk 1... Click the button Enter, the message Selected disk 1 appears;

6. Next, you need to find all partitions on the selected disk. Enter the command list partition and press the button Enter.

7. We select the section with which we will work. Enter the command select partition 1, where 1 is the section number in the list, i.e. for the section that we make active. Click on Enter, the message appears Section 1 selected.

8. We mark the selected section as active, for this enter the command active... Click the button Enter, the message appears DiskPart: partition marked as active.

That's all. Good luck.

Windows 7: Installing from a hard drive. Installation options

So, let's consider some directions in carrying out the installation of the seventh version of the system. Among the main options are the following:

installation over the old "seven";
installation as a second OS;
installation using the command line;
using special utilities;
installation of the system on an external HDD.

Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages, however, for all of them, one general rule is the presence of an image of the installation distribution of the system, with which you will later have to work. In addition, if your computer already has hard disk partitions created, you do not need to touch them during Windows 7 installation. Otherwise, they will need to be created. But more on that later.

Preliminary information

Now let's look at some of the initial conditions that must be met without fail when installing the system.

The system requirements are such that a 32-bit system requires at least 16 GB of free disk space, while an x64 system requires about 20 GB. And this is provided that there is an already installed system, the directory of which after installation will be renamed to Windows.old. You cannot delete it manually under any circumstances (unless you do a disk cleanup). Then it will simply be impossible to rollback.

Installing over an old system

Using this technique, you immediately need to understand that you will not be able to format the hard drive when installing Windows 7, even if it is a system partition. But we will rely on the fact that the distribution is on the C drive when the partition is done. How to partition a disk will be discussed later.

As you already know, first the downloaded distribution must be placed on an independent partition (usually drive D). You can, of course, start the installation from it, but then errors will come out. Now we just select the Setup.exe installation file from the Archive directory, followed by the installation of Windows 7, which is no different from the standard procedure.

In this case, for Windows 7, installing from a hard drive is more of a means of updating system files, since the new configuration can inherit errors from the old one. It is not comfortable.

Alternative method for installing Windows 7 as a second OS: what you might need?

However, you can do otherwise. For there is a way to install it not on top of an existing OS, but as an additional OS, which can then be loaded when selected from the boot menu (Boot). The main thing is to create a bootable partition on the original volume.

To carry out all operations, you only need to have an application capable of working with images and create a utility that creates an MBR boot sector on the selected partition. Let's use Daemon Tools and EasyBCD as an example.

Creating a section

It can be impossible to download the installation distribution just like that, even if it is on the system disk. This is only due to the fact that the system itself does not recognize it, and if it does, it sets a ban on downloading. Here you need to turn to the disk management section, which can be accessed through the computer administration.

Fortunately, Windows 7, like all subsequent versions, has such a tool. First, we look at the virtual partition D. Call the menu and select the volume compression (the specified size should slightly exceed the size of the distribution). Next, right-click on the menu and use the command to create a simple volume (without this, the system will not determine that this section is functional).

How to partition a hard drive when installing Windows 7 is clear. Let's get down to the most important part.

System installation

Now we are directly interested in installing Window 7. Hard disk systems are such that they still do not see the distribution.

Run the Daemon Tools program and mount the image using the appropriate command, specifying the path to the saved file. We copy it to the newly created section (unpacked image file).

Now we launch the EasyBCD application and press the button for adding an entry, after which we indicate the WinPE tab at the bottom, and then enter "New volume" in the name field, and in the path line we determine the location of the boot.wim file.

After the entry is added, just restart your computer or laptop. This starts the standard installation of the "seven".

Installing Windows 7 using the command line

Again, this option cannot be applied when the initial system is damaged or faulty. But in case of recovery it will do.

When Windows starts, press the F8 key (the standard method, unlike Windows 10) and select the troubleshooting line from the menu (the first in the list). In the additional parameters, we indicate the same, after which we use what we need in the language selection window, and proceed to the system recovery, where we select the command line.

We write two lines in the console:

X: \\\u003e windows \\ system32\u003e E;
E:\u003e setup.exe

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. DOS and Windows do not have the same drive letter. As a last resort, an error will simply be thrown, after which you will need to correct the corresponding symbol, but, as a rule, this is not required. Well, then the process starts, which is no different from the standard one. Note that in this case you don't even need to reboot the system.

Installation over any system using the BOOTICE utility

Now suppose we want another installation of Windows 7. We have a formatted hard drive. The catch is to create a boot device in the form of an HDD partition.

The BOOTICE utility was created in order to emulate the continuation of the Windows 7 installation, creating and overwriting the boot sector at the same time (for this, the unpacked distribution contains a bootmgr folder).

To start the installation, you need to change the MBR boot record to GRUB4DOS. But here you need to take into account one feature. The fact is that the utility requires the creation of a bootloader manager name of no more than five characters (letters).

Rename the bootmgr file to GRLDR, and then run the utility itself. A new record is immediately visible in the menu, so we put a checkmark (destination disk) there, and then press the change setting button and select save to disk in the configuration. All that remains is to reboot the device, after which the installation of Windows 7 will be activated. Installation from the hard disk will follow immediately. As a rule, there should be no problems.

Installing Windows 7 on an external hard drive

But, despite all the nuances of installing the "seven" on a hard drive, some users try to install the system on removable media, in particular a USB-HDD. What to say? This is fundamentally wrong!

The question is: why create problems for yourself out of the blue? Booting from any USB device is much slower than from a hard drive. The external drive itself (hard drive) is exposed to stronger physical stress and is not immune from failures and errors. Nevertheless, "especially gifted" users will have to use (at least) a virtual machine. And many of these "geeks" have no idea what it is.

Of course, for the rest, we can say that any virtual emulation, for example, using WMWare or the same built-in Hyper-V module, can be done quite simply. But the matter is not limited to automatic settings. Here you will have to set the parameters corresponding to the system configuration. And all those who argue that with an operating system installed in it can be created in a couple of clicks and in five minutes are absolutely wrong. Nothing like this!

Possible errors and failures

Now the saddest thing. What to do if installation Issues of equipment failure are not considered in principle. The external hard drive must be enabled in the BIOS, as well as the boot priority from the main device.

If you have problems with the file system, you can always use a command like sfc / scannow or chkntfs x / c (if you have selected partition C as the system drive). Well, if the hard drive "fell", there's nothing you can do about it. We'll have to change. Although ... Many experts advise first to use a program supposedly remagnetizing the surface of the disk, but this method is hard to believe.

On the other hand, when installing the system on an external drive, you cannot do without utilities like ImageX included with the Windows AIK. In addition, the PWBoot module does not recognize Cyrillic characters at all, but works like a command line. So is it worth doing this?

And that is not all! When you start choosing multiple simultaneous installations, you have to choose between a standard VHD container format and a regular removable device. It is believed that the VHD format is read faster, but the problem with enabling this type of media is precisely in the BIOS settings. And when switching from BIOS to UEFI (which is not always supported), there can be much more problems. However, for Windows 7, installation can be done by any of the above methods. But formatting partitions will fail in most cases.

Thus, the conclusion suggests itself that the simplest is the ideal solution. An ordinary user will not use specific methods for creating boot sectors. It's obvious. But the method of updating the system looks much simpler, but it also has its drawbacks. In general, it is better to perform a "clean" installation, having previously copied the necessary information to another medium.