Run several operating systems from a single external hard drive.
Run several operating systems from a single external hard drive.
Hi everyone, I have a Windows 10 PC and an empty 2TB external drive that’s connected but not actively used. I’m curious if it’s feasible to install multiple operating systems—like Linux Mint, Windows 7, and Ubuntu—on this drive so I can boot any of them whenever I want. I also want to keep around 500GB free for storing files. Would that be possible? Thanks in advance.
It's feasible. The ease often hinges on specifics. I possessed a secondary storage with two operating systems (still present), and today I can still access them via boot from my laptop even though the drive isn't connected, because the data remains in the MBR. These are exact duplicates of a prior dual-boot setup I had on this machine. The backup tool generated the entries for me, but I believe it shouldn't be complicated to create them manually—or have the operating systems installed on the external drive handle the task (as grub used to do before its UEFI features clashed with my BIOS). It might also help that I chose an eSATA device, making it feel similar to a standard internal drive from the laptop's perspective. This detail likely shouldn't be significant except for ensuring the drive appears during boot from installation media.
Installing standard Windows on external storage isn't practical, whether it's a thumb drive, DVD, or HDD. A tailored version of Windows 10 is available if you're looking for that option. For older systems, workarounds exist, though they're not as straightforward. Generally, Windows lacks the performance needed to run smoothly on USB 2.0 like Linux does. To choose your desired operating system each time, a bootloader such as GRUB is used. Instead of launching directly into the OS, it starts a selection menu where you make your choice.
Thanks for the support. I’m actually more interested in Linux than Windows, so installing Windows isn’t my priority. I’m planning to set up four different operating systems and, based on your advice and some online research, it’s definitely feasible. I wasn’t aware of any good bootloaders, but GRUB was mentioned by both of you, which makes sense. Appreciate the help again!