Boot from USB

I have done some hunting here for an answer - if I missed it, please post a link. My old Inspiron finally died and the new one (3537) has Windows 8 installed. I would like to boot from the old hard disc via a USB as my backup for the old machine is incompatible with the new. (OK- I could transfer simple files easily enough, but life isn't that simple, unfortunately). I see from almost countless forums etc. that this would be simplest to achieve by changing the boot order where any bootable USB device is preferred. All of the instructions that I can find suggest that I use - Settings - Change PC Settings - General.... "General" is not an option when I click "Change PC Settings" I have used both F2 and F12 as the machine boots but the options they provide are not what I am familiar with from Vista.

Responses(2)

Kioes

25 Posts

0

July 16th, 2014 01:00

You can't just boot from the old HDD as none of the drivers will match up with your new machine,

What i would sugest doing is purchasing a "Dock" for your old HDD (this essentially turns it into an external hard drive) which should then allow you to copy your files over.

Spirono

25 Posts

0

July 16th, 2014 09:00

Thanks. While I understand your answer, my limited understanding of the background software that runs computers leaves me surprised that it isn't possible. I did say that I wanted to boot from the old HDD via a USB - a dock ;-). (Is there another simple way to connect the old HDD to the new laptop?) In exactly similar vein, which I had hoped the answer to the HDD problem would explain, how do I get the laptop to preferentially look for a bootable DVD (ideally every time that it boots), defaulting to the on-board HDD if there isn't one? My backup is an image (Macrium Reflect) on an external hard drive, and that requires the machine to boot from a CD/DVD.

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Windows General

Boot from USB