can a pocket drive run an OS?

I have a 160GB WD Passport drive that's used to backup my laptop, but I have bought another backup drive since. What my situation is, I have an OS (XP Pro 64 bit) that won't install to my second drive that Linux Mint 9 runs fine on. I uninstalled my main drive to install XP on it (had to install the latest Mint, anyway), and after the OS began loading, right to where you get to your install options, a blue screen with errors, no go. As I've said, my main drive was out, so nothing was in the way.

This same blue screen with errors appeared when I tried to install Win 2K on a large drive on another desktop. What I don't understand is that XP Home & Pro was dual booting on that desktop with a 500GB hard drive. The hard drive that I'm trying to install it on now is much smaller (320GB), although it is a SATA drive. I don't think that the one in the other desktop was a SATA drive. So what I'm thinking here is that it's the type of drive it is.

So with all of this in mind, would a different type of drive (like this backup drive) make a difference? Or would I have to buy one of the older (I believe IDE drive) and a case to do the install? In any case, there's nothing wrong with my second drive that I use through USB, and select it from the boot menu. In fact, my original 7 recovery partition is still on that drive, and were I to discard Linux from it, I could load my original install on it and go, as long as my main drive is removed. So why can't I load XP on it as well?

Thanks for all suggestions.
Cat

Hi Cat

Please correct me if Im wrong Cat but do you mean boot and run XP from a USB Hard Drive ? if so sorry mate it wont work as far as I know as Windows loads its own USB driver, and so it has to take the USB offline while it loads it, and so it will stop when it gets to that point.... if thats what you mean

Its a shame you don't live closer Cat because upgrading computers I have quite a few unwanted internal HDDs (some in top condition).

Thanks Veedaz, I wished I lived closer to you, too. I'm sure that you have a ton of surplus parts on hand, probably enough to build a computer or two. I'm sure that you have some customers that wants you to fix older computers, and they may not mind used parts.

So in your opinion, what kind of drive & enclosure would I need? 100GB would be plenty, I currently have 4 OS's on that size drive, on my laptop. I had room for Mint 9 at the end, but I already had 4 OS's installed, so I settled to install it in a VM (I'm on it now).

Currently, I have XP Pro 64 bit running in a VM, but that's not the best environment for a 64 bit OS. You need lots of RAM, and I already have the max for my desktop (4GB). I only had 1.5GB to lend to XP 64 bit in the VM, and that has to degrade performance badly. My other drive is USB powered, and running good, although not as fast as my main drive. Hopefully, I'll find a solution. There is a place that I bookmarked in 7, some kind of geek company that sells these older drives, preinstalled in cases, for as low as $25 w/free shipping. But I want to know that what I'm buying will work.

How to Install Windows XP on an External USB Drive

Clifford, thank you very much! I'll have to check this out tonight, it really looks promising.

I still had problems with the install. There's something about a 137GB limit that I've read in several places. And not having a service pack on the disc doesn't help, either. However, I printed those instructions that's in the above link. My stepson has a smaller drive of this type (120GB). If his will do the trick, I'll trade with him. I hope that it does.

Its a new one on me Cat but the best of luck with it