As you likely know, unlike its successor, none of the Windows 7 editions allow you install Windows 7 on a USB flashhard drive and then boot Windows 7 from the USB. Ways to Boot from an External Hard Drive. Power on your Windows computer. Connect your external hard drive to the computer using an open USB port. Click on Start, then click on the arrow next to Shut down. Select Restart. Your computer will reboot. Press the appropriate key to access your computers BIOS Setup menu. The keystroke will vary depending on the manufacturer of your computer. For example, you may be instructed to press F1. F2, F5, or the Esc button. Use the arrow keys to highlight Advanced Settings. Navigate to the option that reads, Boot order. Select your external hard drive as the first startup device. Select the option to save your settings, then exit BIOS Setup. Restart your computer. Active Download Update Xbox 360 Usb Mods. Your Windows computer will now boot up from your external hard drive. Boot From External Usb Drive Windows 7' title='Boot From External Usb Drive Windows 7' />The fastest way to install windows 7 is from a bootable usb drive. You can cut the install time down to around 15 minutes compared with 3040 via DVD if you use a. Installing Windows from a thumb drive is vastly superior to burning a copy to a DVD which will fill some landfill somewhere with toxic stuff. Not to mention its. I upgraded from Vista Home Premium SP2 32Bit to Windows 7 Home Premium 32Bit and after the upgrade my external usb hard drive can not be seen. Boot From External Usb Drive Windows 7' title='Boot From External Usb Drive Windows 7' />How to Create a Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8. Click here to read the entire tutorial. Edit Article wiki How to Boot from an External Hard Drive. Three Methods Windows 8 Windows 7 Vista XP Mac OS X Community QA. Booting from an external hard drive. Follow the instructions inside to Create a bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive for installing windows 7 on your PC. Installing a new operating system on a netbook without a CDDVD drive should be an easy task thanks to Unetbootin How To Install Linux With Ease Using UNetbootin How. After following these instructions to a T, I booted the eSATA external drive. It displayed Verifying DMI Pool Data and just hangs. The problem could be that I. A simple and useful guide to easily install Windows 7 on USB flash drives and external hard drivers.