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Yes and no. It depends on the operating system. Windows XP can be made to boot off of an external drive by following a guide at ngine.de. Linux and OS X can boot of external drives. Some machines can boot using eSATA hard drives depending on the controller used. The ngine.de guide is for USB hard drives, Linux can run on USB and Firewire, same with OS X. Vista nd Windows 7 cannot be run off of a USB or Firewire Drive, but can be run off of eSATA under the conditions from above
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoYes, you can have a different operating system on your external hard drive. Just make sure that you use E-SATA otherwise it will take significant amount of time to load. Unless you are using small operating systems designed to be loaded from external and slow source.
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Can you use external CD drive?
Yes, if your computer operating system will recognise it as an external storage device
Can a mac execute software that been installed by the PC on the external drive?
Software is written to use the facilities provided by a particular operating system. A Mac's default operating system is Mac OS X. A Mac can also run the Windows operating system. If the Mac has the required operating system to support the software on the external drive then it can run it.
Can you use external hard drive if main hard drive is down?
Some motherboards support boot from external USB drive amd/or eSATA. You need to check BIOS settings (the external drive should connected) to make sure that your computer is capable to do so. It the motherboard is capable then you can install operating system on the external drive (if it's an usb drive be ready for low performance).
Is a computer much use without an operating system?
No, It is a paperweight. An operating system system is required to perform calculations or display graphics. Any media available to the BIOS that contains a boot image is sufficient, such as USB thumb drive/external hard drive, internal hard drive, carom, floppy disk, network *PXE boot, PCoIP zero client.
Can you use an external hardrive to run a different operating system on a Macintosh?
A Mac can be booted from an external drive. Holding down the Alt/Option key as the Mac starts up will show all the available drives allowing the desired drive to be selected. This can also be set in the Startup Disk section of the System Preferences.
What command can you use to check the hard drive for errors?
That would depend on what operating system you are using. Every operating system has its own tools for checking hard drive and file system consistency.
What is the main functions of an operating system?
The operating system, basically, allows a user to actually use the computer. Without an operating system, it would be like trying to drive a car that did not have an engine!
Can computer be used after erasing hard drive?
Yes, if you reinstall the Operating system. No, if you don't. You need a hard drive, thumb drive or SSD drive in order to use an operating system. It will still start up but will stop at the load screen and will just wait for an Operating System to start up from. You can use a start up disk to use but you will not be able to do anything other then look at the pretty icons.
What is drive formation?
Drive Formatting is when you prepare the hard drive or other media for use by the operating system and puts a file system on it such as FAT32 or NTFS. The process erases all the data on your hard drive (important to back it up). That way you can use your hard drive for the first time or get to use it again after the data on it becomes severely corrupted or the operating system fails.
Can laptops be reverted to there normal OS?
It would help to know a little more about your problem If you have installed a new operating system, and want the old one back: You would need a recovery disk of the old operating system. If you want to revert the operating system back to its factory settings: You can use a recovery disk. Some operating systems have a function that allows you to restore it to a previous state. If you do use a recovery disk, make sure you back up all your data (save all your pictures, word documents, files of importance) in some sort of external media (external hard drive, or flash drive).
How do I connect one hard drive for the operating system and one hard drive for storage?
There is no special connection or setup needed. You simply set the drive you want to use for the operating system to boot first in the BIOS, then install the operating system to the appropriate drive. During the install process, you may also want to format the other drive.
What external hard drive do you recommend to use with my pro tools system?
Firewire one.
