I have a mini PC with an M.2 NVMe SSD that has my OS installed on it. I'm wondering if I can remove this SSD, put it in a USB enclosure, and then still run my Local Disk (C:) from it. Would this lead to any problems? Thanks for any help! I'm not too experienced with this tech stuff and would also like to use the M.2 slot for an external GPU later on.
3 Answers
No, Windows won't boot from a USB device. The short version is that it's not going to work if you're trying to run your OS that way.
To sum it up, while you technically can make it work, it would be so slow and not practical. There are tools like RUFUS or WinToUSB but be prepared for a sluggish system. If your mini PC supports it, using a thunderbolt connection for the external GPU would be better. Without that, it might be best to reconsider your setup, especially if you don’t have another M.2 slot available.
That definitely sounds like a hassle! I don’t have a thunderbolt port, so I guess I’ll have to rethink my plans for this.
Unfortunately, you can't boot from a USB enclosure since it uses its own chipset that won't be recognized as a bootable drive by the motherboard. You're going to need to consider alternative setups if you want to use that NVMe drive for an external GPU.
That's a bummer! I guess I'll need to set up my other SSD with a new OS before I start this process.
Thanks for clarifying! I’ll look into different options.