Vista - How to make a hard disk bootable?

I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can achieve
it?

A ass end way of doing it would be to take the disk out the chassis and
install it via IDE/SATA cable and then use the latest OS cd to format it and
install. Then once done remove and set your bios to boot from removable
media.



"Panos" <Panos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7C041BF6-EB03-4F06-9178-0C323856C301@microsoft.com...
>I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
> command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can
> achieve
> it?

Hi,

Nope, the ability to make it bootable that way doesn't exist under modern NT
systems. And, you can't install Vista to an external drive and boot it
anyways, it's not supported.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Panos" <Panos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7C041BF6-EB03-4F06-9178-0C323856C301@microsoft.com...
>I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
> command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can
> achieve
> it?

Panos wrote:
> I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
> command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can achieve
> it?

You can use diskpart to set the disk's 'bootable' flag, but (unlike
format /s) you'll still need to an operating system to the disk. Windows
basically doesn't support booting from an external drive (you can get XP
to do it with BartPE, but Vista is only supported by WinPE, which is
hard to find and doesn't support the full operating system).

Alun Harford

I do not want to do this to install Vista on the external drive,but because i
have a laptop with no floppy or cdrom and the only way to install windows
would be booting from the hard drive and accessing the Windows install i have
copied there.And since my desktop pc is a Windows Vista i cannot ake the hard
disk bootable.Thank you for your recomendation,i ll give it a try.

"Alun Harford" wrote:

> Panos wrote:
> > I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
> > command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can achieve
> > it?
>
> You can use diskpart to set the disk's 'bootable' flag, but (unlike
> format /s) you'll still need to an operating system to the disk. Windows
> basically doesn't support booting from an external drive (you can get XP
> to do it with BartPE, but Vista is only supported by WinPE, which is
> hard to find and doesn't support the full operating system).
>
> Alun Harford
>

If I understand the problem >
No CD Rom or floppy drive, meaning you cant use a boot disk to install a OS
on your laptop?

If so does the bios have a network boot option?

"Panos" <Panos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0165D4BE-CD6A-43F4-9F26-F8CE82CFDE8F@microsoft.com...
>I do not want to do this to install Vista on the external drive,but because
>i
> have a laptop with no floppy or cdrom and the only way to install windows
> would be booting from the hard drive and accessing the Windows install i
> have
> copied there.And since my desktop pc is a Windows Vista i cannot ake the
> hard
> disk bootable.Thank you for your recomendation,i ll give it a try.
>
> "Alun Harford" wrote:
>
>> Panos wrote:
>> > I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
>> > command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can
>> > achieve
>> > it?
>>
>> You can use diskpart to set the disk's 'bootable' flag, but (unlike
>> format /s) you'll still need to an operating system to the disk. Windows
>> basically doesn't support booting from an external drive (you can get XP
>> to do it with BartPE, but Vista is only supported by WinPE, which is
>> hard to find and doesn't support the full operating system).
>>
>> Alun Harford
>>

I know this splitting hairs but...........I have a Vista Installation on an
external HD that boots quite nicely.
I used the Internal SATA connector with an extension to the backplate that
came with the external drive case.So long as I turn the power on and
designate it as the 1st or 2nd boot device(after DVD) in the BIOS it will
boot......the system will see it as just another HD.I installed the OS onto
this external SATA drive by disconnecting all other HDs and just running the
Vista Installation and loading the SATA drivers during the installation.
My BIOS allows me to push F6 at boot to pick which HD to boot from and this
works nicely as well without having to enter the BIOS to change the boot
order.
peter


"Rick Rogers" <rick@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:eezE%23jZtHHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> Nope, the ability to make it bootable that way doesn't exist under modern
> NT systems. And, you can't install Vista to an external drive and boot it
> anyways, it's not supported.
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "Panos" <Panos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7C041BF6-EB03-4F06-9178-0C323856C301@microsoft.com...
>>I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but the
>> command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can
>> achieve
>> it?
>

Yes that's my problem,and the bios do have a network boot option,but i do not
know how to use it.I searched the web for info,but all i found indicated the
use of a floppy,so i didnt search more.If you could provide some info i would
appreciate it.

"DefecTalisman" wrote:

> If I understand the problem >
> No CD Rom or floppy drive, meaning you cant use a boot disk to install a OS
> on your laptop?
>
> If so does the bios have a network boot option?
>

Quiet a complicated procedure if I am not mistaken.
Unfortunately I have only ever booted a NT4 workstation via a software
provided to me. You would need the mac address of the laptop and with out a
existing OS, it being written on the label or in your bios might not work.

Maybe a external CD usb CD rom might be the simplest solution. (cheapest
way would be get a chassis and then use the one from a desktop PC.


"Panos" <Panos@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CE3E9896-2059-45F7-B675-6F3F8381FFBC@microsoft.com...
> Yes that's my problem,and the bios do have a network boot option,but i do
> not
> know how to use it.I searched the web for info,but all i found indicated
> the
> use of a floppy,so i didnt search more.If you could provide some info i
> would
> appreciate it.
>
> "DefecTalisman" wrote:
>
>> If I understand the problem >
>> No CD Rom or floppy drive, meaning you cant use a boot disk to install a
>> OS
>> on your laptop?
>>
>> If so does the bios have a network boot option?
>>
>

Hello,
You need to download the Windows AIK.
You then need to generate a bootable WinPE disk so see this topic in the
Windows AIK
Walkthrough: Boot Windows PE from Hard Disk

You need a Windows Environment to be able to start setup from, just having
the disk bootable doesn't help for running setup With Windows Vista.
So you need to boot to WinPE to able to run setup.
That section tells you how to do this for either a bootable hard drive or a
bootable flash drive

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...67d-f12c-4676-
917f-05d9de73ada4&displaylang=en

Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
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|> Subject: Re: How to make a hard disk bootable?
|> Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:37:02 -0700
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|> I do not want to do this to install Vista on the external drive,but
because i
|> have a laptop with no floppy or cdrom and the only way to install
windows
|> would be booting from the hard drive and accessing the Windows install i
have
|> copied there.And since my desktop pc is a Windows Vista i cannot ake the
hard
|> disk bootable.Thank you for your recomendation,i ll give it a try.
|>
|> "Alun Harford" wrote:
|>
|> > Panos wrote:
|> > > I tried "format c: /s" to make an external hard disk bootable,but
the
|> > > command "/s" doesn't seem to exsist any more.Is there any way I can
achieve
|> > > it?
|> >
|> > You can use diskpart to set the disk's 'bootable' flag, but (unlike
|> > format /s) you'll still need to an operating system to the disk.
Windows
|> > basically doesn't support booting from an external drive (you can get
XP
|> > to do it with BartPE, but Vista is only supported by WinPE, which is
|> > hard to find and doesn't support the full operating system).
|> >
|> > Alun Harford
|> >
|>