Install Windows 8.1 On External Hard Drive

I use windows 8.1 quite often. On this mac, all drives (except the internal flash drive) are external. Windows runs great off Thunderbolt connected drives. You can have multiple window drives and select the one you want on boot by holding down the option key.

This external hard drive was easy to install and use and works as expected.

This is an internal drive, plain and simple. Starts up fast, extra thin (half the thickness of a normal 3.5 drive), runs cool (thinness allows for more heat dissapation). But... I had bought this to put in an external USB 3.0 enclosure to use with my Dell XPS 8700 which has Windows 8.1. Unfortunately, after hooking it up, it would perpetually disconnect itself during file transfers, especially with files upwards of 1gb. Thinking the drive was defective, I took the internal drive of my Dell, which was the same brand, model and capacity, and put that into the enclosure. Same disconnects occurred. Then I replaced the cable between the drive and computer with a USB 2.0 cable, and the disconnects stopped, although file transfers took 10x longer. This proved that the drives were fine, but they did not work in a USB 3.0 enclosure. I could live with that, until... After a week or so, my computer developed the same symptoms (constant disconnects) for other USB storage devices. Since it was USB 3.0, I blamed the USB 3.0 drivers which Windows 8.1 seems to have implemented so poorly. BUT THEN I STARTED GETTING READ ERRORS ON MY SYTEM DRIVE. I could not back up files without drives disconnecting every few seconds. In short, THIS HAD SCREWED UP MY OPERATING SYSTEM. After a complete reinstall of Windows, everything was back to normal and all my drives (except the Barracuda in external enclosure) could read and write properly. The next day I bought a WD Black and put that in the enclosure... BOOM ... 100gb of files transferred seamlessly. So, to summarize... DO NOT PUT THIS DRIVE IN A USB 3.0 ENCLOSURE OR IT WILL WRECK THE WINDOWS 8.1 OPERATING SYSTEM. 1 month of my life wasted, I can't return the drive since it isn't actually defective, thought I'd at least write about my experience.

Likes: - Works with Windows Vista, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Home (no need to manually install the driver for Windows 10 - just plug and play) - Reliable connection with my 2.4GHz Access Point - LED activity status - Tight fit cap Dislikes: - Slippery plastic case

Had to replace old external hard drive for back up. The Passport fit seamlessly into my new Windows 7 program without any set up and my data was backed up in short order. It is so compact and convenient with the best price that I found on the internet

Excellent External hard drive.

I use it as an external hard drive for photos.

I upgraded my Windows 7 machine from a 1TB to a 2TB hard drive it was easy to install. I used Clonezilla Live to transfer an image of my old drive to the new one and then expanded the 1TB partition to a 2TB partition using AOMEI Partition Assistant pro.

i use to change my slow hard drive in my lenovo twist (Thinkpad S230u) i change also the windows 8 which are garbage and i did a clean install of windows 7 ultimate and wow works better than new. All the drivers are at lenovo's website just make sure you change the bios to install windows 8 otherwise you can't install it.

Easy to install a Samsung 860 EVO SSD into it to make a great external hard drive.