Windows XP is not designed to allow bootable installation on an external drive. However, by taking the drive out of its external enclosure and attaching it directly to your computer, you can load Windows XP onto it, then once finished, remove it from your computer and place it back into the external enclosure. While this process may sound complicated, it's actually quite easy to perform.
Instructions
1. Using your screwdriver, open the external hard drive enclosure and gently remove the hard drive. This process will usually involve removing some screws from the back or bottom of the enclosure, then unscrewing the hard drive from the interior structure of the enclosure.
2. Take the detached hard drive, and go to your computer. Turn off your computer, unplug it and open the side of the case. Find a spare ATA (IDE) or SATA cable slot, plug in the hard drive, and attach it to a power cable. Screw it in to a hard drive slot on the computer so that it does not move around.
3. Plug the computer in, re-attach the side case door, and power on the computer. Press the F12 button to enter the one-time boot menu, insert your Windows XP CD, then select the option to boot from CD. Once the pre-installation procedure finishes, select the F8 key to agree to the terms of the license agreement.
4. Select the hard drive you just inserted from the hard drive/partition selection screen, and press Enter. Confirm that you want to install Windows to this partition by pressing the Enter button, then allow Windows Setup to proceed automatically. You will be asked to enter in the serial number for your Windows XP installation, which you should do when prompted.
5. Once Windows XP has been installed, turn off the computer, unplug it and remove the side of the case. Remove the hard drive from the computer, and place it back into its external enclosure. Close your computer back up and plug it back in.
Tags: hard drive, your computer, external enclosure, side case, back into
