Make Bootable External Hard Drive Mac



Summary :

  • A bootable USB is super convenient to have on hand if you need to install or repair an operating system on your computer. You can easily make your own bootable USB that's equipped with the operating system of your choosing.
  • If you want to create multiple partitions on your external hard drive (in fact, you should for better file organization), here’s a step-by-step guide: Step 1: Highlight your drive and click “Partition” in Disk Utility. Open the Disk Utility app and highlight your external hard drive. Make sure you select the disk icon right under.
  • In addition, you can easily update a USB stick or external hard drive each time an update to Mac OS X is released, as explained below; with a DVD, you have to toss the disc in the trash and start.

Make an External Hard Drive Bootable with CMD. Applies To: Windows 10/8/7. Windows Command Prompt can also be useful methods to create a bootable external hard drive in Windows 10, 8 or 7. But compared with method 1, this solution is more complex and is likely to cause a boot failure. Be cautious during this process. Format the external hard.

What are the advantages of making external hard drive bootable? The first one is that you can use a bootable external hard drive to boot the unbootable computer. The second one is that when you don't want to use the system that comes with the computer, you can use bootable drive to boot the computer.

Quick Navigation :

Why Do You Need to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10?

There are a number of important reasons for users to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. I have listed some reasons below.

  • When your Windows 10 fails to boot due to system corruption, hard drive failure, or a virus attack, you can easily boot your computer using the Windows 10 bootable external hard drive you created earlier to avoid being unable to use your computer at important times.
  • If you need to use a computer, but the computer is not around, then you can use the bootable drive to start other computers and use your own operating system anytime, anywhere.

How to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10?

How to make a Windows 10 bootable external drive? There are four methods for you. And Windows provides two built-in features to make a bootable external hard drive. Another two solutions, you need to download MiniTool software to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.

Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 with Windows To Go

Most people know that external hard drive bootable Windows 10 can be created by Windows To Go function that comes with Windows 10. Windows To Go can be used to copy all the system related files to the external hard drive so as to make it bootable. Therefore, you can plug the USB drive into your computer and start the computer from the external hard drive.

However, there are several limitations for users to use this way to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10:

  • First, to use Windows To Go, your Windows 10 must be Enterprise or Education or Professional version. (In addition, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise Edition has this feature, and other versions or operating systems do not have Windows To Go feature.)
  • Second, Windows To Go can only be run when the USB drive is certified and the storage space of it must be at least 32GB. If the USB drive does not have enough space or is not certified, Windows To Go cannot be used to create Windows bootable USB drive.

Then how to use Windows To Go to make Windows 10 bootable USB drive? The method is below.

Step 1：You need to download Windows 10 ISO file in your computer and insert a larger than 32GB certified USB drive into the computer.

Step 2: Type control panel in the search box at first and click Control Panel to continue.

Step 3: You can set view by Small icons or enter Windows To Go in the right top search box, and click Windows To Go to continue.

Step 4: Choose the drive you want to use in Create a Windows To Go workspace window. Then click on it and click Next to continue.

Step 5: Click Add search location to search for the Windows 10 ISO file and choose the Windows 10 ISO image to continue.

Step 6: Choose whether to set a BitLocker password. If you want to set a password, then enter your password, but you need to type your password to unlock the drive in the future. If not, click Skip to continue.

Step 7: All the data on the USB drive will be deleted because the USB drive will be reformatted. Remember to back up important files before click Create.

Step 8: After finishing, select Yes or No to boot the computer from the new created Windows 10 bootable USB drive or not. If you want to test whether the USB drive is bootable, choose Yes and click Save and restart. If not, select No and click Save and close.

After these operations, you can make USB drive bootable Windows 10. But there are limitations that don’t suit everybody. Therefore, I highly recommend you try the second method to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.

Use MiniTool ShadowMaker to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a piece of powerful and effective software to back up the operating system, disk and partitions, files and folders. What’s more, you can use it to sync files and folders quickly and safely. It can also clone disk making external hard drive bootable Windows 10. So why don’t you just download it and have a try?

Step 1: Please launch MiniTool ShadowMaker first, then choose Local or Remote to get the main interface by clicking Connect.

Note: If you want to manage a remote computer, computers need to be on the same LAN.

Step 2: Please click Clone Disk on the Tools page to continue.

Step 3: Please click Source to choose the clone source, then choose system disk and click Finish to continue.

Step 4: Please click Destination to select the external hard disk to save the copy and click Finish to continue.

Tip: If your external hard disk is too small, then you cannot continue.

Step 5: After you have selected the source disk and the target disk, please click OK to continue.

Step 6: Please read the warning and click Yes.

Note: Please make sure that there is no important data on the target disk because all the data will be destroyed. If there is, please back up data at first.

Step 7: Please read the information in the pop-up window carefully: If both disks are connected to the computer, one will be marked as offline. Then click Yes and Finish to finish cloning disk.

Tip: If the Remaining Time is so long that you don’t want to wait, you can check Shut down the computer when the operation is completed.

After you have read the steps above, you can clearly draw that this method is much easier and more convenient than the first method. Besides, you can transfer OS from one computer to another as long as they are in the same LAN.

Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 with Windows Command Prompt

If you are good at using Command Prompt, then you can also use Command Prompt to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. But you also need to pay attention not to enter wrong command in case that you lose data or damage system files.

There are two things you need to do to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.

Format external hard drive

In order to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10, you need to format external hard drive at first.

Step 1: Insert the external hard drive into your computer. Type cmd in the search box and right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator to continue.

Step 2: You need to format the external hard drive first. Then type the following instructions one by one, and remember to press Enter every time after you typed instruction.

Diskpart> list disk > select disk n (n represents the drive letter of external hard drive) > clean > create partition primary >format fs=ntfs quick > assign letter=H (you can also choose other letter to assign primary partition) > exit

Copy files from a DVD to bootable USB using CMD

Update mac os sierra to high sierra. Above you have assigned the letter H to the external hard drive, and you have inserted a DVD inside the DVD drive to copy data from it to create a bootable USB drive. By default, the active directory of the Command Prompt's administrative permissions is located at C:WindowsSystem32>, so you need to set the DVD (G) as active directory using CMD.

Tip: Make sure that you have already inserted a DVD inside the DVD drive.

Step 1: Type G and press Enter in Command Prompt window at first, then enter cd boot and press Enter. (If the drive letter of the mounted DVD drive in the File Explorer is not G, you can change it.)

Step 2: Enter bootsect /nt60 H and press Enter. Then type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.

As you can see, this method is too troublesome. And if you enter the wrong instructions, your computer could get in trouble. You may even lose your data, but you can use third-party software to recover data.

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10

MiniTool Partition Wizard is also a piece of efficient software for you to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10. Besides, you can convert MBR disk to GPT disk and migrate OS to SSD/HD. So come to download MiniTool Partition Wizard and have a try.

Now follow the following steps and make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.

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Step 1. Please download MiniTool Partition Wizard and launch it to open its main interface to continue.

Step 2. There are two options you can choose.

Option A: Select the disk which has OS installed and right-click it, then click Copy to continue.

Mac

Option B: Please click on the Copy Disk Wizard on the left action panel and click Next to continue.

Step 3. Please choose the external hard as the target disk, and click Next, then click Yes to continue.

Note: Please make sure you have backed up all important data on the target disk because the data on it will be destroyed. If you accidentally click Yes before you have backed up the data, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data.

Step 4. Please choose copy options and click Next to continue.

Step 5. Please read the notification on the interface and know how to use the external hard disk to boot the computer and then click Finish to continue.

Step 6. Please click Apply to copy the operating system to the external hard disk.

Step 7. Please click Yes, then click Restart Now to copy system files to the external hard drive. After that, you can use your external hard disk to boot the computer.

This method is also much more convenient than using Windows built features. So you can also use this method to make external hard drive bootable Windows 10.

Bottom Line

This article has introduced four solutions to make external hard drive bootable, which offers you different choices. But using Windows 10 built-in features not only has several limitations but also may cause data loss and operating system damaged. Using third-party software is safer and can save a lot of time for you. In addition, there are plenty of useful functions with MiniTool ShadowMaker and MiniTool Partition Wizard.

If you have any better advice or confusion, please leave comments below or send an email to [email protected].

Make External Hard Drive Bootable Windows 10 FAQ

  1. Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker, then click Connect.
  2. Click Clone Disk on the Tools page, then choose the system disk as the source and choose the external hard disk as the destination.
  3. Click OK and Yes to begin making an external hard drive bootable.
  4. Click Yes and Finish.
If you want to make a USB drive bootable, then you should make sure that there is no important data in it because all the data will be erased. Read this post to create a bootable USB drive - How Do You Make A Bootable USB Drive – Easy Tutorial.
Can you install Windows from an external hard drive?

How To Make Bootable External Hard Drive Mac

Of course, you can install Windows from an external hard drive. And if you want to know detailed instructions to do that, then you should read this post carefully - How to Install Windows 10 on a New Hard Drive (with Pictures).
You should create Windows 10 installation media at first, then boot your computer with the installation media. Then choose the Language to install, Time and currency format, and Keyboard or input method. Click Install now and then follow the instructions to finish installing.

Here is a guide on how to create a bootable external Mac hard drive to run macOS from an external hard drive.

There are quite a few reasons for why you may want to be able to have an additional startup drive for your Mac. One of the main reasons is backup of your current system. Another is creating a drive for testing your Mac’s hardware. No matter the reason, having an additional bootable option on an external hard drive is definitely a good tool for any Mac user to have.

How to Make a Bootable External Mac Hard Drive

Here are the steps to create a bootable external volume to start up to on your Mac.

How to Create a Second Boot Volume

In order to create another boot volume for your Mac, you will need a form of external storage such as a hard drive. The faster the drive the better and a connection speed like Thunderbolt is preferred. You are going to be utilizing this hard drive, Disk Utility and MaOS installer from the App Store.

If you are running the newest version of Sierra, you will be able to use the Recovery Boot option to launch your installation of MacOS to install it on your external drive. In order to boot to Recovery, restart holding Command and R. You will then choose Reinstall a new copy of MacOS to begin the next step.

If your secondary hard drive was just purchased, you may need to open Disk Utility prior to starting your installation. You will want to ensure that your hard drive is in the proper partition scheme and is available to install to. Many drives purchased from third party retailers may come unformatted or formatted to Windows based schemes like NTFS and FAT32. In Disk Utility you will want to make sure it is set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Upon starting the Install feature of Recovery, you will be presented with the option of choosing which Disk the installer is going to do its work on. You should see your current Macintosh HD and also your external hard drive. Choosing this as your install target should begin the installation process and install MacOS Sierra on your external hard drive. When the machine reboots, it will be booting to your external hard drive where you can set up an account and get to your desktop.

How to Use Your Bootable Mac Disk

Now that you have created a second bootable drive, you are able to plug it in and reboot to it at any point in time. When you wish to do this, plug in the drive and reboot your Mac holding the Option key. Much like you did when installing, you will see your Macintosh HD and your now bootable External Drive show up as options. Clicking the External will start your Mac up on this new volume.

Make External Hard Drive Bootable Mac Catalina

Make+external+hard+drive+bootable+startup+from+external+hard+drive+macMake Bootable External Hard Drive Mac

If you have completed the setup process and have an account enabled, the Mac will perform almost identically to how it would using the built-in drive. You are able to install applications on this drive and store media and information as backup or just additional copies. Many users will actually utilize a second hard drive option strictly for work related activities and then use the built-in drive for personal use.

This method is a safe way to keep a second bootable machine safely on a hard drive in the event of your internal hard drive crashing. You will also be able to test if it is indeed an issue with your hard drive by attempting to boot to your second drive and see if you can reproduce your issue.

Having a secondary boot volume has always been a personal recommendation as it comes in handy when you need a secondary place to separate data or use as a recovery tool in the event of mishaps.

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