Installing Windows 10 to an external HDD for use as bootdisk

Hi,

I have a problem I've been trying to solve for some weeks. I have an ASUS K95VJ with a broken screen. It was working fine and booted up Win 10 so I could use it on my TV through HDMI. Last fall, I got a new computer through insurance, as the screen on the ASUS wasn't replaceable according to the repair firm that I asked to take a look when the screen broke. I took out the original 3.5" 3TB HDD, formatted it and have been using it as an external USB HDD on my new computer. Now I want to get the ASUS going again to give it away as a sole Kodi media computer. Seems it was stupid of me to format the 3TB HDD, though, as I can't get the ASUS to boot. Because of the broken screen, I can't access BIOS and neither HDMI or DVI works (I assume the drivers are loaded with Win 10). I thought this would be easy, dumb as I was.

Microsoft doesn't allow installation of Win 10 to external HDDs, but there are guides on the Internet to do so. One of the guides I've tried is here. Also tried the option "Migrate OS to SSD/HDD" in programs like AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro, EaseUS Partition Master and Minitool Partition Wizard.

I've tried the above and other guides, using my new computer to install Win 10 on the original 3 TB, a 500 GB 2.5" (the ASUS K95VJ has a secondary 2.5" HDD slot), USB-memories and burned DVDs. None boot on the ASUS. I got some of them to boot fine on the new computer, but only after changing BIOS settings. The new computer does not have a 3.5" slot

Also contacted ASUS support, and they gave me a totally unhelpful reply saying I must send it to them. There's no warranty since I bought it several years ago, so it would cost me a lot and I really just want to get it working to give it away as a media PC. Optimally, I would like to have the 500 GB 2.5" as the only disk in the ASUS with Win 10, but just getting the damn thing working with the 3 TB would be enough in the present situation.

What can I do? Any help appreciated.

Thanks.

cereberus said:

Dead easy using UEFI boot manager, Windows To Go Creator, All-in-One Microsoft Windows Setup software - The EasyUEFI Development Team.

Download tool, select iso, click ok.

Thanks for this! Will try it tomorrow and report back in the thread.

cereberus said:

Dead easy using UEFI boot manager, Windows To Go Creator, All-in-One Microsoft Windows Setup software - The EasyUEFI Development Team.

Download tool, select iso, click ok.

Hey again. Sorry for the late feedback. I finally was able to get the old ASUS laptop working again using HDMI/DVI some days ago. Thanks for the tips about those programs. I used WinToHDD - very good! The feature to fix the boot right when installing is superb. Before I used WinToHDD, I had to do it manually with Diskpart and Bcdboot and similar. Not so easy. However, this was not how I solved my problem.

Both before and after my original post here, I had got the ASUS to boot some times, loading the correct HDMI/DVI drivers for the graphic card. But I was unable to find out why it occassionally booted when trying different HDDs and settings and most of the times not . When booting to the new MSI computer with newer/different hardware, Windows Update would install updates/drivers for those system specs. I realized that, of course, doesn't work on another Windows installation with different specs. So what I did was first boot the HDD on the new MSI, install the updates, boot same HDD on the old ASUS, then switch the HDD back to the MSI and boot again. The result is that Windows Update now installed updates/drivers for the old ASUS. Switching the HDD back to the old ASUS again and voila - problem solved! Booting perfectly now using both DVI (monitor) and HDMI (TV). Hope this helps anyone else having the same problem.

During these weeks I've had one 500 GB 2.5" corrupted and thrown into the bin. I tried using the UEFI settings program (smart thing!). It worked to change the settings, but the ASUS didn't really fly well with using the 2.5".

alphanumeric said:

Even then, you may trip over the same, non functional screen issue. This is iffy at best but try it. Look at the keyboard for a key that toggles the video out to the ports on the back. It will be one of the special function keys at the top. It will have a icon that looks like a projection screen or something. Pressing Fn and that key may switch the video out the back. If no drivers are needed that is.

Thanks for the tips. I guess there are many people that aren't that "advanced" (this really isn't advanced) asking for help here. I can assure I've been pummeling the FN and F[X] keys like hell the last month. That wasn't the problem though.