run 2 machines from an external hard drive?

G

gipper51

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Jun 9, 2005
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45
Hi all,
I'm wondering if it is possible to install Wndows XP home onto a porable hard drive and then boot that operating system and programs on it from any computer? I want to just plug the drive in and run it as the boot drive. The only catch is I will be installing XP on a machine with a single Athlon 64 chip at home and trying to use the hard drive on another machine with dual Xeons. Will this work? Anything I should do before I try this? The dual Xeon is my work machine so I don't want to risk messing up hardware.

Thanks,
Gipper
 
I don't think it'd work with a vanilla XP install.. you could maybe do it between 2 similar boxes (A64/nf4 platform) but with different chipset drivers you're porbably screwed, not to mention having to reactivate when windows realises all the hardware has changed.

A good option would be to look at knoppix, which boots from a CD and can access the external HD.
 
Gotta agree, what the fuck are you using this for? ;) (likely better options available)

Also, what version of windows do you own?

IanG said:
I don't think it'd work with a vanilla XP install.. you could maybe do it between 2 similar boxes (A64/nf4 platform) but with different chipset drivers you're porbably screwed, not to mention having to reactivate when windows realises all the hardware has changed.

A good option would be to look at knoppix, which boots from a CD and can access the external HD.
Click to expand...
Sysprep will get around the chipset issue. Knoppix is likely a good suggestion.
 
SJConsultant said:
Before i even answer. Why would you want to do this?
Click to expand...

I have a program that I want to use my work machine for to do some rendering. My home machine is not really up to par hardware wise to run this software (3d modeling). Because it is my software and not my company's I can't legally install it on their machine. The software is legal and is my own copy, I just want access to more powerful hardware. So I was hoping to install Windows on my external hard drive along with this program. Then I could just plug the hard drive in and run the program from that operating system. I don't know if this is legal. It's strictly for personal use, as I'm trying to learn 3D software that my company won't buy unless somebody learns how to use it. My plan is to log off my machine and boot up this program on lunch hours and learn the software.

Would maybe installing windows onto the hard drive from this machine work? My only fear is messing up software on the work machine which is why I'd rather install it at home and just plug the drive in.

I have XP home on my machine and the work computer is running XP Pro.
 
Am I understanding right? You want to install XP and your program on a external hard drive, take it to work, plug it in on your work machine(by USB?) and boot from the external drive so you can use the program? If so, yes you can do that. If not , I didnt understand anything you said...lol.
 
This is really pushing the lines for legality in licensing. The OS license you likely own wont allow it, and I'd bet the 3rd party software doesn't either. The specifics of the terms may or may not account for you usage, but I know XP's doesn't.

If you asked me (at my workplace) I'd not only say no, but hell no.

You should consult your companies IT group as well.

edit: heh, I missed the whole "portable HDD" aspect of this...
 
PaHick said:
Am I understanding right? You want to install XP and your program on a external hard drive, take it to work, plug it in on your work machine(by USB?) and boot from the external drive so you can use the program? If so, yes you can do that. If not , I didnt understand anything you said...lol.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I would like to do. I'm just concerned of possible conflicts from installing on one computer and then booting from another with totally different hardware.
 
Im not sure if there would be any problems, someone else may be able to help there. But, why couldnt you install at work? Maybe at lunch or something...install the OS and the program from your work machine onto the external drive.
 
Phoenix86 said:
This is really pushing the lines for legality in licensing. The OS license you likely own wont allow it, and I'd bet the 3rd party software doesn't either. The specifics of the terms may or may not account for you usage, but I know XP's doesn't.

If you asked me (at my workplace) I'd not only say no, but hell no.

You should consult your companies IT group as well.

edit: heh, I missed the whole "portable HDD" aspect of this...
Click to expand...


Yeah I know it may not be the most honest way to do it, but.... I asked our IT guy about installing and he won't let me do it on their machine. I'm cool with that, he doesn't want licencing troubles so I dropped it at that. My view is that if I'm using my hard drive with my operating system and my program..... there shouldn't be any trouble? I'm just using someone elses hardware to power it up. I'm not trying to argue if it's right or wrong or start an argument, so I'll stop the rambling ;)
 
PaHick said:
Im not sure if there would be any problems, someone else may be able to help there. But, why couldnt you install at work? Maybe at lunch or something...install the OS and the program from your work machine onto the external drive.
Click to expand...

I guess there is no reason why I couldn't. I think I'll try that instead.
 
Well, how about this?...what if you hooked the external HD up to your machine and just install the program, no OS. Then take it to work and plug it in and use the program from the external HD,when your done unplug and go home. Shouldnt be a problem unless you would need Admin. rights for plug and play for the HD which I wouldnt think you would. Not sure though.
 
PaHick said:
Well, how about this?...what if you hooked the external HD up to your machine and just install the program, no OS. Then take it to work and plug it in and use the program from the external HD,when your done unplug and go home. Shouldnt be a problem unless you would need Admin. rights for plug and play for the HD which I wouldnt think you would. Not sure though.
Click to expand...

Yeah but I don't have adminstrative rights to actually install programs from that computer. The machine won't let me install anything which is why I need to run another system totally independent from all work-related software. Plus I think installing from that machine Windows would record items in the registry and all that good stuff. I want to unplug the hard drive and leave no trace whatsoever. Sounds bad but I don't want there to be a way to say that the program was ever installed on their hardware.
 
Actually, you could try installing it as a mobile installation. This way, you could set up different Hardware Profiles, and just boot according to which system you are using. It's not perfect, but certainly better.
 
First of all, the work computer will need to run at least USB 2.0 for any decent "performance" and even that will be iffy.

Second: Does the work machine even support booting from USB devices?

Third: it's a security risk to allow such things to take place. The install could get infected at home and subsequently brought into the work network.

Fourth: HAL differences between the systems will require continual sysprepping and reactivation after moving from one machine to another.

Fifth: Depending on the type of XP install, licensing may come into play as to if the OP can legally do this type of move. Not to mention that by booting from an external device even though the hard drive and software belong to the OP, the software is *installed* on a work computer. Licensing wise, I believe it's still not legal to do so.

Do I need to continue? :p
 
If your home machine isn't "up to par" to run the software (legality issues aside), what ever makes you think it would run OK from an external drive?

If it's that important you work with this software at home and in the office, you need to either have your company buy you a high end laptop, or run some VPN software on your home machine to get into your corporate network, then use remote software like RDP to run the software from the main work machine.
 
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