How to Install the Windows 7 OS on a Portable Hard Drive

This article will explain on how to install the Windows 7 OS system on your portable hard drive.

Part 1
Part 1 of 2:

Preparing for Installation

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    Open up Command Prompt as administrator by clicking the Windows Start button. Type in 'cmd', then right click cmd, click 'Run as administrator' and enter the password if prompted.
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    Type 'diskpart'.
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  3. Image titled Install the Windows 7 OS on a Portable Hard Drive Step 3
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    Type 'list disk'.
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    Type 'select disk #' (replace # with your portable drive number). You can find which one it is by checking the size of its hard drive and matching it up with one on the list.
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    Type 'clean'.
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    Type 'create partition primary'.
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    Type 'select partition 1'.
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    Type 'active'.
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    Type 'format fs=ntfs quick'.
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    Type 'assign'.
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    Exit out of Command Prompt.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:

Installing Windows

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    Open Windows Easy Install. Extract it to your desktop or somewhere where you can find it.
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    Open Windows Easy Install. Click on the folder Windows Easy Install, then folder NT6.x_fast_installer, then finally click on the folder Windows 7.
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    Click on installer and run it as administrator. Enter the admin password if prompted. A green command window should open up. Press enter.
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    Wait for it to say "Please select the path of install.wim". Open your Windows 7 Installer USB or CD. When it is opened, click on sources.
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    Find install.wim at the bottom. Click on it then open it. There should be a list of Windows 7 versions, select one.
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    Enter the drive letter of the partition where you want to install Windows. Simply select your portable drive number.
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    Enter the drive letter of your active primary partition. Enter your portable drive where you will be installing Windows' number
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    Enter Y when it asks, "Is YOUR DRIVE NUMBER a USB hard disk?"
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    Wait for it to tell you the information is collected. If you want to use another drive letter, put it in then press enter.
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    Wait for the installation to complete. When it's done, boot it up from your portable drive.
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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 38,097 times.
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Co-authors: 4
Updated: October 8, 2019
Views: 38,097
Categories: Hard Drives | Windows 7
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