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i'm having an issue with my three years old laptop ( msi gl 62, windows 7 64-bit) drive which seems to die very soon. I'm a poor student so i can't afford a new laptop at this time. If i buy an external usb drive (like wd passport) and clone my whole drive into that, will i be able to boot from it and use it instead the old broken drive? I've read something about cloning software like Macrinum or Clonezilla but i'm not sure if it does what i want. Also things like Rufus or Win2Usb, does it actually work? If yes, which one would you recommend? Thanks in advance.

LostBoy
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  • Rufus would convert a bootable CD/ CD ISO, to USB. And Macrium or clonezilla would clone a hard drive to a hard drive. Maybe a USB can be seen as or is seen as an external hard drive, then it seems possible with macrium or clonezilla. Most haven't 'cos USBs are so much smaller than hard drives. – barlop Nov 20 '19 at 15:09
  • You would probably be best to replace the drive with an inexpensive hard drive and then restore the image to the computer and use it for more time. – John Nov 20 '19 at 15:16
  • Rufus is used for installing an iso file on usb.Then you can live boot windows 7 from there – Broly LSSJ Nov 20 '19 at 15:18
  • @BrolyLSSJ Windows 7 _Installer_, not Windows 7 OS. – gronostaj Nov 20 '19 at 15:18
  • Windows does not allow for booting the actual OS from an external drive and trying to will result in issues. I'm assuming your internal HDD in your laptop has a hardware error? If so, just remove the 2.5" HDD out of the external WD casing and install that HDD inside your laptop, replacing the failed HDD. Once done, use the commands under **Imaging** in [this](https://superuser.com/questions/1503059/windows-10-refuses-to-boot-after-ssd-upgrade-xps-9360/1503102#1503102) answer to image the old system partition and apply it to the new `C:` partition on the replacement drve. – JW0914 Nov 20 '19 at 15:22
  • How do you say "the drive seems to die very soon"? – Broly LSSJ Nov 20 '19 at 15:23
  • Thanks for your answers! I know that win doesnt allow to boot from usb but i hoped there's some hack around it. Anyway, the physical drive replacement as JW0914 stated seems to be the only solution. – LostBoy Nov 20 '19 at 15:38

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You're overthinking it. Just replace the drive and clone old one onto the new one. It will be cheaper than an external one and you can keep your laptop.

Now, regarding your idea. It could work... maybe. But it's against the license.

Windows can boot from external disks if you install it as Windows To Go. Conversion of a regular installation is possible, but there's only the hard way and the paid way.

You most likely have Windows 7 installed using the license that came with the laptop. It's probably Windows 7 Home and certainly an OEM license. OEM licenses can't be moved to other devices and Windows To Go is officially only available for Enterprise editions. So by doing this you're voiding the license and your installation may deactivate anytime.

gronostaj
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  • There's also a myriad of cons for Windows To Go, as it's a limited version of Windows. Using an external mechanical HDD connected via USB will result in OS crashes and data corruption at some point, as the USB port and HDD are bound to get accidentally bumped/disconnected at some point. Throughput speed will also likely be throttled by the limited throughput of USB _(~60MB max)_ compared to >=SATA2 _(~100MB max for a mechanical 2.5" HDD)_, likely a throttling of ~40% - 50% of that of USB2 _(it's unlikely a Windows 7 laptop will have USB3)_ – JW0914 Nov 20 '19 at 15:30