Solved Booting from External HDD

New to Win11, less than 1 week. Dell Inspiron 1500 3511, i5, 8gb.

Need to know if it is possible to boot Win10 from an external HDD. HDD is recognized in Disk Management but not BIOS. BIOS has an option to add a boot drive but when I try to add Local Disk (D:) it is not accepted.

Search on google does not present this scenario. The BIOS in Win11 on my system is quite different from the my previous 13 year old Toshiba.

If you are not aware, if you try to change the boot order BitLocker will lock your drive, at least in my case.

I did this on a few machines recently, all of which also have BitLocker.

Below are my notes that I wrote for myself on the topic. Please note that this may be a little rough because these were simply intended to be notes to myself so if anything is unclear, please just comment or ask!


----------------

NOTE: This works on HDD, SSD, Flash Drive


Open an elevated command prompt.

If your C: drive is BitLocker encrypted, run this command:

manage-bde -protectors -disable C:

Run the following two commands. Replace the W: with the drive letter of the large partition on the external SSD. For the description on the second command, feel free to change it to anything you want. This description will be displayed for the OS on the SSD when you boot your computer.

bcdboot W:\Windows
bcdedit /set {default} description "Win11 PRO 22H2 on External SSD"

Reboot your computer. I suggest booting into your original OS the first time (not the OS on the external SSD).

Once booted, if your C: drive is BitLocker encrypted, then right-click on C: in File Explorer, select "Manage BitLocker", select "Suspend Protection". The next step would normally cause the system to prompt you for the BitLocker recovery key. Suspending BitLocker prevents that. BitLocker automatically reenables the next time you boot into Windows (the one not on the external SSD).

Continue here whether or not C: is BitLocker encrypted.

Run "MSCONFIG" and go to the "Boot" tab. Click on the Windows boot menu item for the copy of Windows NOT on the external SSD. It should include the text "C:\Windows" in the description. Now, click on "Set as default, and then click on "OK". Allow the system to reboot.

I suggest booting one last time into the original copy of Windows. This will allow BitLocker to re-enable itself and will also allow you perform the next step.

If you want to install all the drivers for your system into the new copy of Windows on the external SSD, do this:

Open an elevated command prompt. Run the following commands (replace W: with the drive letter for the large partition on the external SSD):

MD W:\Drivers
pnputil /export-driver * W:\Drivers

Be patient! This may take several minutes.

Reboot and boot into the copy of Windows on the SSD.

Open an elevated command prompt and run this command, replacing W: with the correct drive letter:

pnputil /add-driver W:\Drivers\*.inf /subdirs /install

This will install all the drivers. Again, this may take several minutes.

NOTE: When the display driver is installed, the screen may go black for a little while. This is normal.

After all drivers are done installing, reboot for the drivers to take effect.

-------------------------------------

If you want to clear the pagefile of the external SSD when Windows is shutdown (for security), follow these steps:

In registry editor of Windows installed on the external drive, navigate to: HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Set the value for "ClearPageFileAtShutdown" to "1".

Noob here !
Wouldn't it be better to keep the two installations separate and boot into either only when you need to ?
I had Windows 11 and 10 installed on separate SSDs, but one bootloader on Win11.
When I tried to upgrade Win11 to 22H2, it messed up everything, I couldn't boot into either, endless reboots and chkdsk's and somehow booted into Win11. Then had to format Win10, remove its boot from msconfig. (It is entirely possible that it may be because of non-compliant hardware, Intel 7-series, too)
Then I installed windows 10 on the SSD using an external adapter by using Windows-to-Go option in Rufus, booted from it through the BIOS option, updated the drivers etc, and is working fine.
Now I have two separate installations and two separate Windows Boot managers in BIOS, and keep the USB disconnected. I can boot into either without any problems.
Regards

Ghot said:

I want to copy this for future reference. I'm confused about this part.
It "looks" like you're exporting the drivers from the external and then importing them back to the external. Is this correct?

Is this being done to... register(?) the drivers on the external, or something?

Click to expand...

My apologies again for the rough nature of the notes.

You are exporting the drivers from the currently running copy of Windows on the internal drive. You could export them to anywhere, but I just figured that exporting them to the external drive as a temporary storage location would be fine.

So, to summarize what is happening with the drivers:

1) You want to be booted into the copy of Windows that is on the internal hard drive.

2) Now, export the drivers to the external drive. Note that this does not install the drivers, it simply dumps a copy of all the drivers to a folder on that drive. You could export the drivers to anywhere you want, I just figured it's easiest to do it to the same external drive where Windows is being installed.

3) Now, you boot into Windows on the external drive and actually install all the drivers from the folder to which you saved them.

again, apologies for the rough notes. I was eager to respond with an answer but I'm not in front of my main computer. I'm on a tablet with only an on screen keyboard at the moment and not great for much typing and editing so I was a little lazy

@hsehestedt


No apologies necessary. My questions really concern something a bit different.
So I am going to make a separate topic. It will be an "is this doable" topic.

I'm feeling all mad-scientisty at the moment.

So as I read the informative replies (thanks) a HDD with Win10 completely installed can't be booted separately without affecting the Win11 drive ?

csun said:

So as I read the informative replies (thanks) a HDD with Win10 completely installed can't be booted separately without affecting the Win11 drive ?

Click to expand...

Yes, it certainly can. A screenshot of disk management with your external HDD connected would help immensely:

NavyLCDR said:

Yes, it certainly can. A screenshot of disk management with your external HDD connected would help immensely:

Upload and Attach Images and Files in Post at ElevenForum.com Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to upload and attach a image or file into your post here at ElevenForum.com. There is a 2 MB maximum file size limit that you can upload and attach to the forum. Option One: Insert Image into Post Option Two: Attach File into Post Option Three: Attach Image...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

To be clear, my goal is to be able to boot an external HDD with W10 with no/mimimum effect on the Win11 system/drive. Would only be used occasionally.

You are currently booting Windows 11 in UEFI mode. Your USB HDD is set up to boot in legacy BIOS (CSM). You need to either:
1. Set up your USB HDD to boot in UEFI mode (best solution) or
2. Disable Secure Boot in BIOS and enable CSM booting if it is an option to do so while also leaving UEFI booting enabled.

I suspected this which is why I wanted to see disk management.

csun,

Please retake that screenshot with these adjustments
- drag the column divider after the Status column to the right so all its text can be seen [and drag the right-edge of the window further to teh right if necessary to keep everything else in view].
- drag the bottom of the window down until that scrollbar disappears.

All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

csun,

Please retake that screenshot with these adjustments
- drag the column divider after the Status column to the right so all its text can be seen [and drag the right-edge of the window further to teh right if necessary to keep everything else in view].
- drag the bottom of the window down until that scrollbar disappears.

All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

I'm curious as to what pertinent information can hoped to be seen which isn't already displayed?

NavyLCDR said:

You are currently booting Windows 11 in UEFI mode. Your USB HDD is set up to boot in legacy BIOS (CSM). You need to either:
1. Set up your USB HDD to boot in UEFI mode (best solution) or
2. Disable Secure Boot in BIOS and enable CSM booting if it is an option to do so while also leaving UEFI booting enabled.

I suspected this which is why I wanted to see disk management.

Click to expand...

@NavyLCDR My external drive is the HDD from my previous laptop which is no longer operable due to a power issue. The HDD does not show in the BIOS to change the booting mode, nor to try to boot as is. When I try to add, it is not accepted.

If you are running Win11 if you go to the BIOS you may be able to see how to add. I am on a Dell, not sure if BIOS is same. Not sure if a screenshot will work when in BIOS. Issue is not addressed in a google search.

@Try3 Pressed for time the morning, will try later. Can you please address LCDR's question on the need ? Thanks !

Because I don't want to comment on incomplete information.

There is guidance in
How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management - TenForumsTutorials
which also applies to Windows 11 but I thought it better to point out the two relevant adjustments.


All the best,
Denis

In recent use I simply use the program 3Dp and search for drivers. Of course you need internet access Wi-Fi drivers Program

On my External SSDs that have W10 & W11 installed on (some both to dual boot) & depending if its plugged into a Desktop or Laptop I just press (@ POST) F8 or F9 on Desktop or F12 or F12+Esc on Laptops depending which machine, to get the Boot menu. I use a (Sabrent) HDD/SSD to USB 3.0 adapter to plug in with. see attached below for my Boot menu on old clunker Test Rig2 boot menu, yours will probably look different. Going this routs (F+#) I don't need to mess w/ the BIOS.

Try3 said:

Because I don't want to comment on incomplete information.

There is guidance in
How to Post a Screenshot of Disk Management - TenForumsTutorials
which also applies to Windows 11 but I thought it better to point out the two relevant adjustments.


All the best,
Denis

Click to expand...

Does this suffice ?

Yes, that's what I was hoping to see.

Denis

Try3 said:

Yes, that's what I was hoping to see.

Denis

Click to expand...

And the results of further examination are?

csun said:

To be clear, my goal is to be able to boot an external HDD with W10 with no/mimimum effect on the Win11 system/drive. Would only be used occasionally.

Click to expand...

For a quick fix you can try, in a command prompt with admin with admin privileges:


That will put a partition on the external HDD that will be bootable in UEFI mode.

NavyLCDR said:

For a quick fix you can try, in a command prompt with admin with admin privileges:

Code:

diskpart
select vol d
shrink desired=100
cre par pri
format fs=fat32 quick
assign letter=s
exit
bcdboot D:\Windows /s S: /f UEFI
exit

That will put a partition on the external HDD that will be bootable in UEFI mode.

Click to expand...

When I typed select vol d, received Volume 5 is the selected volume. That ok ?

This is just affecting the external hdd, and not the main SSD, correct ?