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So I have a computer with a corrupted HDD, a replacement may take a long time. I was wondering if it was possible to have a boot drive (USB) and have it load and install the OS to an external HDD. This setup is intended to be temporary and ultimately removable.
Computer: SONY Vaio L-Series All-in-One
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium
All my installations of Linux and Windows are done via USB these days. You can also boot an entire OS from a USB stick (rather than just install from one). In your case, though, your absolute priority is to back up the corrupted disk without making things any worse. Don't consider any solution which may alter (or try to repair) the corrupted disk if you don't have a backup. If necessary, get the disk out of the machine. I like Microsoft very much, but from experience, Linux installations are much less destructive to compromised hardware. You can even run an OS from the installation media without actually installing the OS to a local disk.
When you turn on the power, press Del repeatedly until you get a menu on the screen. This is called "boot menu" where you can select some basic options. One of them is "Boot order". You can designate to boot first from USB, or CD, or internal drive. One problem that you might run into is that your computer is hard wired to reject any non-Microsoft operating system. That is common with machines that have Windows installed at the factory. If that happens I suggest you never buy that brand of computer again.
Go to www.tucows.com and download Macrium. Look around for other files that interest you.
So here's the update on the situation: The computer is run by my workplace, however maintenance requests take months to even go through. I'm simply looking for an alternative. I'm aware that the BIOS and boot order exist, I'm just asking if I can run the hardware off a USB and external Hard Drive until that repair comes in.
Also note: Can I do all this from a USB that's big enough?
If I understand correctly what you asking, then it greatly just depends if your bios on your motherboard allows & supports booting from an external hard drive. The other thing you can do, if you need to. Is you can take the external drive out of its enclosure & install it as a normal hard drive to use as an internal. If it is 3TB or larger then you will need to get a program that will partition & format it was one partition as not all partitions including the one in windows supports anything over 3TB & will mark it as 2 or more partitions instead. I use "MiniTool Partition Wizard Free" which does what is needed for the 3TB+ size hard drives. Though I just noticed you have an all in one so that might be a challenge as I have never messed with an all in one for the simple fact if the screen goes, your screwed. So um, you need to call Sony & ask them if your computer will support booting from an external or not, and they can help walk you threw how to set that up in your bios if its an option.
Hope you find this information useful, and good luck to you!
