Is it possible to boot from an external dvd drive?

[Hurin]

The reason I'm asking is I have an external DVD drive I got about a year ago (since my laptop's was a bit too slow for me) that works great and would like to save the money of buying a new internal drive. I just need to know if I can install the os from it for a new build.

[twilyth]

Depends on your bios. Next time you reboot, there should be a list of options at the bottom of the screen right after the machine does it's POST. One should be 'press xxx to enter setup' and another should be something like 'xxx-key for boot menu'. Make sure the external dvd is plugged in and turned on and connected before you reboot. When you press the boot menu key (think it's usually f12), there should be and option for 'usb cd', 'usb dvd', 'external cd/dvd' or something similar. If there is, put in your OS boot disk and press that key. It should work.

If you get a logo screen when you boot until windows starts to boot up and never see these selections, then if you press either the tab or esc key as soon as the logo comes up, that should show you the boot screen with the options.

If not, you will have to enable this feature in the bios. Pressing the del key as soon as you see the logo/boot screen should get you into setup, but some bioses use another key and I can't remember what it is.

[s1nykuL]

If not, you will have to enable this feature in the bios. Pressing the del key as soon as you see the logo/boot screen should get you into setup, but some bioses use another key and I can't remember what it is.

Other keys I have come across are F10 and F2 for BIOS and F8 for Boot menu screen.

[Hurin]

Ok thx guys