Windows 10: Boot from SD card Reader?

Thanks for all the inputs. I linked this thread to the thread over at DP Review for quick reference should anyone have any further questions.

I'm glad I posted this question, as I didn't think it was possible. You learn something everyday.

Peace *Cool

 

Hi there

Link please.

Also if it didn't show up in the BIOS what did the ORIGINAL bootstrap loader -- was this off the HDD, a USB drive or whatever.

If you REALLY did this - it should work WITH NO OTHER HDD'S or devices connected to the system -- remove the laptops HDD and any other devices and then try again.

(The bootstrap loader is usually started from the Bios to read the ist instruction (ONE instruction) into the machine and then execute it. This then executes a piece of code to read a block of code which starts the computer boot process. This second piece of code now reads the rest of the start up process. To perform a boot you need the HARDWARE bootstrap instruction and the block of code which reads the rest of the start up process in (two instructions - which is called "bootstrapping" -- computers 101 !!).

If the bootstrap loader can't read the SD card -- no BOOT -- the BIOS / hardware can only read data from devices it sees when the boot loader is started. !!!

Cheers
jimbo

 

If you guys are trying to make this work to have a portable OS that you can carry around, it won't work like that. It will only work on a machine it was installed from (if it even work).

 

Your 1st statement is true, but I made them on another machine, and it worked fine on this Gateway. Mind you I didn`t fully install Windows, I just tested the SD card because of this thread *Wink

They`ve been sitting in a drawer for a year or 2 now. (32 and 64 bit Windows 7 installers)

 

Yes the OS will load up on another PC but it will be deactivated and erratic due to hardware issues. You can boot it up but you can't use it properly.

 

Hi there

Windows to Go will install properly and run from an external device even with NO HDD's in the host computer so it IS possible to load and run Windows in some instances from an external device. Linux of course has no issues with being bootable and runnable from external devices.

(The windows to go - create from the Enterprise version of W8 / W10) will load and run on different computers - however it *might* require re-activation if the hardware is considerably different -- however it DOES seem to be reasonably tolerant of different hardware).

Now IF the computer recognizes say an EXTERNAL card reader as a USB device then the computer *Might* boot from the sd card.

However I can't see any way the computer could boot from an INTERNAL SD card if the device wasn't recognized by the BIOS at boot time since where would the 2nd instruction in the bootstrap read the block of code from to load up the start up sequence to begin to load the OS and start running.

The process is explained here.

Booting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cheers
jimbo

 

Any of " require re-activation if the hardware is considerably different" would negate it's existence, ne spas ?

 

The official Windows To GO that is part of Windows Enterprise, is meant to be run on different PC's other than the one it was created on. That's its main purpose. Activation should not be an issue with it.
A home grown Windows To Go though, especially one that's not Enterprise will likely have activation issues if used on multiple PC's. I say likely because I haven't tested it myself so I'm guessing.

 

Plop / Elmar Hanlhofer - Boot Managers (2)
If for whatever reason your bios does not see what you want to boot from this tool will make it bootable.

 

Hi there

OK that's fine too - but you see what I mean - the OS has to basically load a driver if the device isn't recognized at BIOS power on.

IMO having a small Linux OS to load the drivers and then boot is fine but essentially a "Get around".

You'd still need to run this OS from an EXTERNAL device before the system would boot from say an INTERNAL Card reader so you'd still have to initially plug in a USB stick or other device to get this to boot from an internal SD card. (If you didn't do this and used this program on an internal HDD then it's also "cheating").

With say no HDD in a laptop and just the INTERNAL SD card present can this program boot the computer -- I somehow don't think so. With an HDD in place - then yes it can. I can boot a Linux system from /dev/mmcblk01 (internal sd card) if the bootstrap is read first from the HDD in the laptop - but that's not what I think we are trying to do. !!

What I want someone to do is REMOVE the HDD from a laptop and with ONLY the internal SD card available BOOT the laptop with NO EXTERNAL USB DEVICES connected.

Cheers
jimbo

 

Even if it works, I don't understand why one would ever want to boot from SD card. It's a slow and painful task to run an OS on SD card. I am not even use a 7200rpm spinner anymore. *Biggrin The best solution for Windows portability is an 8" tablet with micro-HDMI to HDMI cable (if there is an available bigger screen).

 

Once upon a time, bootstrap had to be loaded on HDD (old MFM and BFI drives) before DOS would recognize it. So you would have to boot to it's utility diskette, make a bootstrap on HDD and only than to be able to use it.

 

Even if it works, I don't understand why one would ever want to boot from SD card. It's a slow and painful task to run an OS on SD card. I am not even use a 7200rpm spinner anymore. *Biggrin The best solution for Windows portability is an 8" tablet with micro-HDMI to HDMI cable (if there is an available bigger screen). Hi there

My best "Portable Windows" is my SP3 -- so I sort of "semi agree" with you there.

I wouldn't also use an SD card for running an OS - an external SSD drive (quite portable) makes for me the best solution - and with a Windows to Go system on it it's also a totally useful windows system that runs almost as fast as a native windows even if plugged into a USB2 port via a USB2==> Sata connector. With a Windows to Go system I can run different language versions of Office etc if I'm on a clients site etc etc.

Even running a Linux system and then bringing up a standard version of Windows as a VM can run really great from an external SSD (which are cheap enough these days anyway) so the whole SD thing is a bit of a waste of time - but it WAS an interesting technical challenge,

Now what *Could* be interesting is to see if you could create a Windows to Go or a Linux system to boot up from a MOBILE PHONE connected as a USB device to your PC.

As the phone is an ACTIVE device it *should* be able to interact with the computer BIOS .

Any takers on this one !!!

Cheers
jimbo

 

I don't think it's entirely a waste of time - take the scenario where you are on the move - in some remote place - nothing but your notebook with a single SSD which suddenly goes nuts and can't boot - would be nice to restore from SD...

 

Hi there

You can do this relatively easily -- if you have say a usb stick you can boot a Linux system up (absolutely no prob booting Linux from a USB stick) and then restore an image existing on an INTERNAL SD card (even a micro SDHC card which fits into those SD adapters).

Most Linuxes recognize the internal SD card as something like /dev/mmcblk01. Now use the DD command to restore a stored image on the card to your internal HDD. There are zillions of live Linux distros out there so you don't even need to create / install one.

Another solution is a stand alone restore program that you boot from the USB stick which can read / write to an internal SD card -- Acronis can - but I'm not sure about Free Macrium. A Linux based recovery program should be able to read / write to the SD card.

Note you still need the USB stick to boot the original program but the internal SD card will be fine for holding the recovery images -- you'll probably need the 32 GB micro sd card though. Note this DOES work but it's not the fastest method as I/O on an internal SD card is quite slow.

So if you don't mind just having a USB stick for your boot program you can even store the images on a micro SD card on your phone if need be. !!!

Cheers
jimbo