installing Windows 8.1 in a external HDD from USB drive?

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ksio89

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Hi, everyone. I bought a new and faster drive (7200 RPM) for my laptop and put it in an external enclosure with USB 3.0 connection (my laptop has 2 USB 3.0 ports as well). I want to do a clean install of Windows 8.1 (Pro) into this drive. I'm thinking about to creating a Win 8.1 bootable USB drive using Rufus software, in UEFI mode (and GPT partition).

I've been wondering: can you boot from this USB drive and install Windows into the external HDD? It's not that I'm lazy (not to much lol), but I need to perform some operations on the current HDD, and I don't want to swap the HDD just for installing Windows, because it takes some time to do that and I would have to swap it back anyway.

And before you ask, I don't want to use a disk cloning/ghosting software as I really want a fresh install, as I'm facing some bizarre issues with Windows lately, those ones usually only solved via formatting the partition or performing a clean install. Thanks in advance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 15-5537
    CPU
    Intel core i5-4200U
    Memory
    6 GB DDR3L 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 8850M GDDR5 @ 8870M
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD ALC 269
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Momentus 7200.5 750422
    PSU
    90-watt Dell AC Charger
    Keyboard
    Generic USB Multimedia Keyboard
    Mouse
    Genius Traveler 6000
    Internet Speed
    15 Mb/s ADSL2+
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security 2014

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Yes, Obviously you can install in External Hard drive But the proper words would be
Can i Run Portable Version of Windows ? This means you can carry it anywhere you want and use it on any UEFI PC/Laptop

Here is an Tutorial That Might Help You Install it.You may search for more on Google Which is your best Friend.

Here Are some tutorials i suggest.

How To Create Portable Version of Windows. Simple and Easy Way
How to Install Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 using the "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)
UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

Note:- Remember on UEFI Laptops/PC Windows 8.1 Can only be Installed On GPT Partition Disks.

PS:- I Installed Windows 8.1 on MY UEFI PC on GPT Partion From USB TO Internal HHD Yesterday and Worked Smooth and Fine i have 2 OS Windows 7 And Windows 8.1 Dual booted Gamming PC.....

 Thanks , Brandon
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro x64/Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Dual Boot
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built Gaming PC
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2600 CPU@ 3.40GHZ
    Motherboard
    American Megatrands INC ASUS P8H67 2011 UEFI Motherboard
    Memory
    Kingston DDR3 8GB (4x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI Gaming 4G Geforce GTX 970 4gb GDDR5 256 bit PCI-E 3.0 powered by NVIDIA MAXWELL architecture
    Sound Card
    Nividia High Definition Audio Card
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC V22 LED Monitor HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Disk 0:-Seagate 1TB (3 Partitions)
    Disk 1:- Seagate 500GB (4 Partitions)
    PSU
    Cooler Master G 600w 85% Efficiency PFC Active 80+ Bronze Cerified PSU
    Case
    Cooler Master Elite 370
    Keyboard
    Logitech K120
    Mouse
    A4Tech Bloody 5 Multi-Core 4 Tl-8 Terminator Gaming Mouse
    Internet Speed
    1 MBPS
    Browser
    Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 Windows Defender and Malwarebytes
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