How to make a Bootable USB hard drive

Having a start up drive that is external to the computer with all your tools (anti virus, check disk, etc) comes in handy when the installed Operating System is not functional. With this handy tool you can run diagnostics not only on the installed Operating System but the hardware with better results. You can recover deleted files, use an imaging program to replace a damaged Operating System or replace corrupt files. This is one of the most useful tools you will make.

Note: You have to have an understanding of the start up process and either a bootable floppy or bootable cd.

You can side step these procedures if you use a WintoFlash type program...

Making a bootable usb hard drive instructions:

Choice # 1: If you have a computer that you can disable/disconnect the internal hard drive and boot from a cd or floppy here are the steps:

         1) Disable or Disconnect the internal hard drive (power or controller cable will do it)

         2) Connect the usb drive to the computer, start the computer with bootable cd
              (See my page on making a bootable CD) 

             or floppy (See my page on making a bootable floppy).

         3) Once the system has booted into DOS, using FDISK partition the hard drive with one partition, make it a small partition, 2 gig max, ensure it is an active partition (See my page on Formatting a hard drive)

         4) Restart and format the drive, add the files you want to the C: drive.

         5) TEST the drive!

         6) Reconnect the internal drive

Choice # 2: If your system does not allow you to access the USB device with FDISK.

         1) Remove the drive from the external enclosure.

Warning! This will invalidate the warranty on the enclosure if it is sealed!

         2) Disconnect the internal drive in your computer.

         3) Install/Connect the external drive in your computer
        
         4) Go into BIOS and check for the presence of the external drive.

         5) Start the computer with bootable cd
             (See my page on making a bootable CD) 
            

             or floppy
             (See my page on making a bootable floppy).

         6) Follow the above instructions on FDISK and Format.

         7) TEST the drive!!

         8) Reverse installation procedures to put the drives back into
             original positions.

I do not take any responsibility for these instructions! I will not warranty any part of these instructions. If you feel these instructions are beyond your capability to complete safely then check with a local repair shop about the feasibility of them making the drive bootable.

Good luck with your project.

Down load this Free Computer Repair Eight Part Checklist save it to your hard drive, print it out when you do your repair. Send your friends here for their copy!

Once you have your bootable usb hard drive made you will want to add some 'tools' to make troubleshooting and repairing your computer easier. Here is a list of tools I use on my startable U S B device.

Or you could make your external hard drive a custom Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) for Windows 7 /8/10  - Check this out.