hp microserver

[ianh21]

hi

i have just purchased one for home use but i'm having trouble installing windows 8.1 onto a memory stick for the OS. it doesn't detect it. am i missing something as this is the first time i've used one.

i aim to run the os from the usb stick on the inside usb port and have my 4 hard drives that store my movies etc in the hdd bays.

i have the os on a bootable disc with the drivers from the hp site, but it only goes to install when i chuck my ssd drive in to see if it works. it then doesn't detect the drivers. is it really usb stick fussy?

any ideas?

 

[AndyM]

Ian, can you give us more details? There are many different versions of HP Microservers, so we'll be searching for a needle in a haystack with the suggested answers here.

Andy

 

[ianh21]

Sorry Andy, it's the new gen8 1610t version

 

[freedomit]

I'm not sure you can install Windows 8.1 onto a USB can you? There is something called WindowsToGo but you need an enterprise licence.

 

[ianh21]

yes you can, i've found a way. trying it now

 

[Markverhyden]

I'm not sure you can install Windows 8.1 onto a USB can you? There is something called WindowsToGo but you need an enterprise licence.

That's what I have seen as well over the years. Unless you were building a PE version M$ would not let you install on anything attached via USB. But you could install on a VM layer running on a USB device. I've read about the WindowsToGo but have not tried it. Wonder if it's some kind of PE flavor?

 

[ianh21]

i have a programme called gimagex that is creating a instal on a usb for me, so i'll see if that works. if not, back to the drawing board and seeing if i can get windows installed on this thing.

 

[freedomit]

I wonder if you can get a portable hypervisor to boot off the USB which runs Win8.1 from a virtual hard drive on the stick. Does something like that exist?

 

[Markverhyden]

I took at quick look at the gimagex tool. Looks like it's a deployment tool not a underlying platform for running a live OS. A few years ago I looked at installing Windoze on an SD card on my Sierra AT&T WLAN device. I could install a M$ PE but the problem was loading additional drivers and apps as well as the 24 hour limit for run time. After experimentation I was able to load a *nix and then a M$ VM but the performance was horrible.

You can install ESXi on a USB stick or SD flash. If it's big enough you can then load a VM on top. Link below for ESXi.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/mi...nguage=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2004784