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    e1705 usb boot?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Sneakyasiankid, Feb 13, 2007.

  1. Sneakyasiankid

    Sneakyasiankid Notebook Consultant

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    Can the e1705 boot from a USB hard drive or a usb flash drive?
     
    Sneakyasiankid, Feb 13, 2007
    #1
  2. Phillip

    Phillip Phillip J. Fry

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    no, last time I checked you can't boot off a usb because the usb is not active until you are in windows.
     
    Phillip, Feb 13, 2007
    #2
  3. Metamorphical

    Metamorphical Good computer user

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    You need to select the USB from the boot menu in the bios, say if you going to boot some tiny version of linux from the flashdrive.
     
    Metamorphical, Feb 13, 2007
    #3
  4. Phillip

    Phillip Phillip J. Fry

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    I though I read someware that you can't boot either XP or Vista from a flash drive. Is this true or am I imagining things.
    as for booting with linux, I'll have to make sure I read up on that, when I put it on my system this weekend.
     
    Phillip, Feb 13, 2007
    #4
  5. PhoenixFx

    PhoenixFx Notebook Virtuoso

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    I don’t think you can boot/use a full blown Windows operating system using a USB drive. But you can boot a cut down version of XP with some repair tools for emergencies. Read : Windows In Your Pocket @ Tomshardware
     
    PhoenixFx, Feb 13, 2007
    #5
  6. Phillip

    Phillip Phillip J. Fry

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    Thanks,I'll look into it soon.
     
    Phillip, Feb 13, 2007
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  7. mtor

    mtor Notebook Deity

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    You have to indicate it on the bios, and then you should be able to.
     
    mtor, Feb 13, 2007
    #7
  8. Lil Mayz

    Lil Mayz Notebook Deity

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    And to do that you probably need a BIOS upgrade, so that there is USB boot option in the BIOS. you press F12 or something at the Dell startup screen to get to the boot menu.
     
    Lil Mayz, Feb 13, 2007
    #8
  9. shinji257

    shinji257 Notebook Deity

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    The USB boot option only appears when you have a USB storage device connected at startup. You can boot from a flash drive you just cannot boot a full blown copy of Windows from a USB storage device. It ends up crashing with a UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_DEVICE error. Linux is possible with some elbow grease but a couple of factors play here.

    The device node can change so a script written to scan and rewrite the /etc/fstab file is needed.
    USB support has to be compiled into the kernel. It cannot be a module.
     
    shinji257, Feb 15, 2007
    #9
  10. kegobeer

    kegobeer 1 hr late but moving fast

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    I haven't tried this, but I'm pretty sure you can put BartPE on a USB boot device and run it without any problems. That's as close to a full Windows install as you can get.
     
    kegobeer, Feb 15, 2007
    #10