topic VGN-FE31H with Latest BIOS, USB BOOT - Is it possible??? in PCs & Accessories

VGN-FE31H with Latest BIOS, USB BOOT - Is it possible???

nio_7 — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:05:43 GMT

Hello there!

I own a vaio FE31H and i have successfully upgraded to Vista.
I have also updated the Bios with the latest available release from
Sony.

I was just wondering if it would be possible for my laptop to boot from an external USB hard disk i have, so that i can have XP on that disk and boot from there optionally.

Now basically the only reason that i would like to do so, is because a game i like to play
(Lineage2) crashes in Vista at times and i have to restart my laptop abruptly as it won't ever respond after the crash.

And another related question i have. On that USB external Disk i have, i've made some partitions, so i was wondering if the OS (let's say XP) installation would have to be made in the Primary partition or in any other partition of the Disk.

Thank you!!

Re: VGN-FE31H with Latest BIOS, USB BOOT - Is it possible???

Blencogo — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:27:08 GMT

Hi nio_7.

Microsoft say that it is not possible to boot a full version of Windows from an external drive - and they have spent a lot of money to stop you doing it. However, you can hold just the boot files externally to start Windows installed on the Vaio in case of problems.

There are workarounds that require modifying the Win ISO files - I am not sure if they are illegal or not. I do not want to discuss these anyway as they probably contravene the Windows EULA. Google can be your friend!

However, nothing will work unless your Vaio can boot from USB. Look into the BIOS and see if booting from USB is an option.

If I were you, I would forget that way forward and try something like this fix in Vista: -

http://www.mmosecrets.com/content/Lineage-2-General-Discussion/566/Running-Lineage-2-on-Vista/