There are a few different ways that you can make an external hard drive your primary storage device. The first way is to simply connect the external hard drive to your computer and drag all of your files over to it. This is probably the easiest way to do it, but it can take a while if you have a lot of data.
The second way is to use disk partitioning software like Disk Utility or Partition Wizard to create a new partition on your external hard drive and make it active. This method is a little more complicated, but it’s faster than dragging and dropping all of your files.
The third way is to install your operating system on the external hard drive.
This is the most complicated method, but it will make the external hard drive your primary storage device. You’ll need to reinstall all of your programs, but this is the best way to ensure that everything runs off of the external hard drive.
- Connect the external hard drive to your computer
- Open Disk Management (dm
- This can be done by either opening the Start menu, and searching for “disk management”, or by running “diskmgmt
- msc” from the Run dialog box (Win+R)
- In Disk Management, find your external hard drive in the list of drives, and note its current “Status”
- If it says “Primary”, you’re all set! Otherwise, right-click on the drive and select “Mark Partition as Primary”
Credit: en.wikipedia.org
How Do I Make My External Hard Drive the Main Drive Windows 10?
If you’re looking to make your external hard drive the main drive on Windows 10, there are a few things you’ll need to do. First, you’ll need to format the external hard drive using NTFS. Next, you’ll need to change your BIOS settings so that your computer boots from the external hard drive.
Finally, you’ll need to copy over your operating system files from your internal hard drive to the external hard drive.
Formatting Your External Hard Drive
The first thing you’ll need to do is format your external hard drive using NTFS.
This can be done by right-clicking on the external hard drive in My Computer and selecting Format. In the Format window, select NTFS as the file system and click Start. Once the formatting is complete, click Close.
Changing Your BIOS Settings
In order for your computer to boot from the external hard drive, you’ll need to change some settings in your BIOS. To do this, restart your computer and press either F2 or Del during startup (depending on your BIOS).
This will take you into the BIOS setup utility. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the Boot tab and then use arrow keys again to move External Device up above Hard Disk Drive0 in the boot priority order list. Press F10 when finished and then Enter when prompted to save changes and reboot.
Can I Use an External Hard Drive Instead of Internal?
If you’re looking to save money on your next computer purchase, you might be wondering if you can get by with using an external hard drive instead of internal storage. The short answer is yes, you can absolutely use an external hard drive as your main storage device. In fact, many people do just that!
There are a few things to keep in mind if you’re planning on using an external hard drive as your primary storage, though. First, make sure that the drive is large enough to hold all of your data. You’ll also want to invest in a good quality external hard drive; otherwise, you run the risk of losing data if the drive fails.
Finally, remember that external hard drives are slower than internal ones, so don’t expect lightning-fast performance from your system.
Overall, using an external hard drive as your main storage device is a perfectly viable option and can save you a lot of money. Just be sure to do your research beforehand and choose a quality product.
Windows 10 Low Space on C: Drive? Change Default Storage Locations. 2019 Update in the Description!
How to Make External Hard Drive Primary Windows 11
Windows 11 is out and with it comes a whole new set of features and improvements. One of the most significant changes is how you can now make your external hard drive your primary Windows drive. This means that you can install all your programs and files on your external hard drive, making it much easier to keep everything organized and backed up.
Here’s how to do it:
First, connect your external hard drive to your computer. If you’re using a USB 3.0 drive, make sure it’s connected to a USB 3.0 port for the best performance.
Next, open up the Disk Management tool by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Manage. Then, select Disk Management from the left-hand side of the window.
Find your external hard drive in the list of disks displayed and right-click on it.
Select Initialize Disk from the menu that appears.
When prompted, choose MBR (Master Boot Record) as the partition style for compatibility with older versions of Windows. You can also choose GPT (GUID Partition Table) if you’re only going to be using this drive with Windows 11 or later versions of Windows.
Click OK to continue.
Right-click on the unallocated space next to your newly initialized disk and select New Simple Volume… from the menu that appears. Click Next in the wizard that opens up.
Choose how much space you want to allocate for this volume and click Next when you’re done deciding. Make sure not to create more than three primary partitions or four total partitions on any one physical disk or else you won’t be able to install Windows 11! Choose NTFS as the file system format unless you have a specific reason not too and give your new volume a label before clicking Next yet again.
, In most cases, you’ll probably want to leave Allocation unit size set at its default value so just click Next once more here.. Review your choices one last time before clicking Finish which will create your new volume and bring up a Properties window for it., Highlight Compress this drive to save disk space checkbox if desired then click OK when finished configuring properties for this volume.
Conclusion
Most people don’t know how to make an external hard drive their primary storage, but it’s actually pretty easy. You just need to format it correctly and then set it as your default drive in your operating system. Formatting is the process of setting up a new drive, and you can do this from the Disk Management tool in Windows or the Disk Utility app in macOS.
Once you’ve formatted your external hard drive, you just need to set it as your primary storage in your operating system settings. In Windows, you can do this by going to the Control Panel and selecting “Storage” or “Storage Spaces.” In macOS, you can go to System Preferences and select “Startup Disk.”
From there, simply select your external hard drive as the default location for storing files.