Windows won't boot when external hard drive is connected?

Question

I have a 1TB WD external hard drive but when i turn the PC on, the boot freezes on the black screen with basic computer info on, you know the one before windows xp bit starts.

Trying to access the boot menu doesn't work either, but if i start the pc without the external hard drive plugged in, and plug it in after xp starts, it starts fine.

Also, I can't access the boot menu or startup menu when the drive is plugged in, the screen just stays the same except where it would normally say " F11 Boot Menu" it says "Go -> Boot Menu" but does nothing.

I can access the boot menu when its not plugged in and the internal hard drive is first boot priority but I suspect the external HDD is taking priority when plugged in, but I can't access the boot menu to change it.

How can i sort this out?

Answer 1

the jumpers on your external hdd are set to master, so your system try's to boot to it,



you could:



open your hdd case and set the jumpers to slave



or



partition your external hdd and install your preferred operating system on the newly created partition, this way you can have your external hdd act as your personal computer & you can boot to your pc wherever you bring your external hdd



hope this makes some sense!

Answer 2

There might be an issue with your BIOS since my brother says he has seen this issue before...his issue was for a USB drive stick not booting into windows. Yours being an external HD yea it seems it wants to take priority...



Is your external HDD hooked up via USB or is it conncted to a PCI bay interface? I am guessing it is via USB.



I was going to say something about Slave/Master jumper pin but i cant recall if this is necessary for edternal HDDs...so never mind this last sentence.

Answer 3

You have to remove the external hard drive before you can boot Windows anyway. I do not believe there is a way you can boot Windows while having an extra, native drive hooked up to your computer. This is because the localising of an extra, native drive confuses the BIOS, so only connect the external hard drive once you have booted Windows fully.



For additional information email me at [e-mail]

Answer 4

headbut the 'pooter,then threaten it!