Boot from USB external storage

[alonex]

Hi,

I have 40GB USB external device (Hammer). I'm trying to boot from it. So far I have done and failed:
1) Creating FAT (and FAT32) partition and using MKBT tool
for boot sector + mark the partition as active.
(when booting from "Removable device" I got 'missing operating system' message).
2) Using 'HP Drive KEY Boot Utility':

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/serveroptions/us/download/23839.html

I know USB key can be bootable, but what about USB storage
devices?

Thanks,
Alonex

 

[kestrel1]

Is your PC able to boot from USB?

 

[alonex]

Yes, my PC supports "boot from USB devices".

 

[wolluf]

Why do you want to boot from it, when you obviously have nothing on it to boot!

You need to install an operating system (eg, if its formatted fat32, run sys X: from a (win98) dos prompt, where X: is the partition as seen from the dos prompt. It should then boot to a dos prompt - but that's not a lot of use! You could try installing 2k/xp or whatever directly onto it when connected as external drive - but others have run into problems. If the drive is removable from its case, you could install it internally, install o/s then put back in case).

If you want to boot a machine from something other than the internal hard drive (presumably to access stuff on the hard drive(s), have a look at creating a BartPE boot Cd (google for it). Much more useful (IMO).