Got a laptop and basically the internal HDD has given up the ghost. Bought a caddy and tried it from another PC and zip, nadda, zilch. The HDD spins for a mo then stops and isn't recognised in 'My Computer' or anywhere else. Can't quite afford a new HDD at present so I was wondering? Can I pop in a USB stick and install Windows 7 onto that for the time being? It's a USB 2.0 32Gb. When it comes to install will Windows recognise that as somewher that it can be installed and ran from?

Many thanks in advance, Lee.

you can if you set the usb drive

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=23437

on the off chance is it a IDE hdd your after 2.5"??? if so i have a 160gb you can have for cost of postage, obviously il test to make sure its 100% before i let it go

^ lovely gesture ....legend !

thinking about it this may be more suited to you, as i am unsure wether or not you have the ability to install vm ware

i know this is based on different O/S (Server 2008 hyper v) but you should just be able to swap outthe os for win 7

I was reading on the option of a portable VM and was reading the suggestion to use the free Virtualbox as it has a portable option to use on a USB stick and would allow you to use Windows 7. I currently use WinPE/BartPE as a recovery environment (rather than Linux as they work better with the Windows drives I'm working on) but I'm thinking it would be very handy to have a full OS to use for recovery instead.

John

also i think i might have a 2.5" sata, need to dig out sum old laptops ive not repaired.

let me know

I was reading on the option of a portable VM and was reading the suggestion to use the free Virtualbox as it has a portable option to use on a USB stick and would allow you to use Windows 7. I currently use WinPE/BartPE as a recovery environment (rather than Linux as they work better with the Windows drives I'm working on) but I'm thinking it would be very handy to have a full OS to use for recovery instead.

John

forgot to add this to a previous post

http://nullsession.com/2009/09/running-hyper-v-server-2008-r2-from-usb/

you can if you set the usb drive

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=23437

on the off chance is it a IDE hdd your after 2.5"??? if so i have a 160gb you can have for cost of postage, obviously il test to make sure its 100% before i let it go

thanks, that's very generous of you. It's a SATA though, so I'll just save a few bob and go solid state I think. And thanks for the linky,,,,,,,I'll give it a blast tomorrow.

Cheers, Lee.

also i think i might have a 2.5" sata, need to dig out sum old laptops ive not repaired.

let me know

er, did I mention I need 4Gb of RAM, and a new 2Tb external if you have those lying around also

I think I'll forgoe some luxuries this week, try the USB thing and, as said go Solid State in a week or so.

Very generous of you and thanks for the info/ offers.

Cheers, Lee.

d'oh! Just thought,,,,,,,,,,I've got an external HDD lying around, I might partion that and use that as a stop gap measure.

i have a sata hdd, i also have 2gb ddr2 balistix tracer 1066 mhz thats doing nothing will need testing thow as its been sat in a box for a few year

Only sata I got but will do for ys

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

And just in case anyone doesn't know...you can also run a copy of Linux Ubuntu from a live cd or usb on virtually any computer. Just boot it up with the usb or cd in situ and off you go. You don't have to install, and it's fully functional. If your hdd is buggered it doesn't matter when running from the live usb or cd. It instantly finds network wireless or hard wired connection and is very very secure. It has most things you need already loaded such as Moz Firefox, Libre Office etc etc, and loads of othe stuff. And it's free!! Get's people out of trouble all the time. But hope you get your hdd sorted quickly.

And just in case anyone doesn't know...you can also run a copy of Linux Ubuntu from a live cd or usb on virtually any computer. Just boot it up with the usb or cd in situ and off you go. You don't have to install, and it's fully functional. If your hdd is buggered it doesn't matter when running from the live usb or cd. It instantly finds network wireless or hard wired connection and is very very secure. It has most things you need already loaded such as Moz Firefox, Libre Office etc etc, and loads of othe stuff. And it's free!! Get's people out of trouble all the time. But hope you get your hdd sorted quickly.

Cheers E-Man,,,,,,,totally forgot about that Ubuntu can be ran live from the CD. This is what I'll do. That way I can just leave the CD in the tray which saves me forgetting to take the USB with me and for temp storage of downloads etc I'll leave in a 4Gb SD card

Test message sent via Ubuntu Live, SD card and USB recognised for storage Never been a big fan of Linux though TBH (personal preferance) but it'll do as a stop-gap measure until I get a new HDD.

Thanks again E-Man for reminding me about the Live disc though

Oh, and at least I know the whole lappy isn't borked and it's just the HDD

ljp, brilliant! Yep...it does get people out of trouble. Doesn't matter which version you use as you prolly know, even an outdated version will work. But 12.04 is the best imho. I have 12.04 dual booted with Win7 and it's brilliant. Hope you get the drive sorted ok, and if you need to run 12.04 from a usb stick there are instructions on how to do that on the download site for 12.04. Just google to find it. It runs brilliantly fast on usb and much quicker than cd/dvd plus you can save stuff to the same usb if you need to. Just bung it on a 4gb stick for now and don't worry about any malware or viruses, so don't bother loading a virus scanner or rootkit checker. There's nothing known to be in the wild to touch you and you're immune to Windows malware. Good luck bud!

Edited 26 February, 201313 yr by Estate Man

ljp, brilliant! Yep...it does get people out of trouble. Doesn't matter which version you use as you prolly know, even an outdated version will work. But 12.04 is the best imho. I have 12.04 dual booted with Win7 and it's brilliant. Hope you get the drive sorted ok, and if you need to run 12.04 from a usb stick there are instructions on how to do that on the download site for 12.04. Just google to find it. It runs brilliantly fast on usb and much quicker than cd/dvd plus you can save stuff to the same usb if you need to. Just bung it on a 4gb stick for now. Good luck bud!

haha, I pre-empted you, it was running too slow for my liking via DVD so loaded it onto a 32Gb stick I had lying around yesterday evening!

Can't get Flash to install for some reason yet though (Latest release) Tried fro Adobe site, now I get this >/tmp could not be saved, because an unknown error occurred.

Hi ljp, go here for the flash installation instructions. http://debianhelp.wo...ecise-pangolin/ Scroll down to where it tells you how to install Flash. The Adobe site won't be of any help as Ubuntu is so secure it won't allow installation in the normal Windows way. The to do sites are best and easy to follow. The 'to do list' at this site (which is for 12.04) will take you through the steps to load it. Not sure if you will need to load it everytime though even if you save it. It may be ok, just can't be absolutely sure. You may have to create a temporary folder for the installations to live, but it's been a while since I ran from a stick. Once you have your new hd you may find it fun to dual boot Ubuntu 12.04LTS. It's a slick system, faster than '7' and much more secure too. But that's for another day eh!

Edited 27 February, 201313 yr by Estate Man