The official Windows Media Creation Tool typically only writes to USB flash drives. To force it to recognize an external HDD:
| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | | Boot order not set correctly | Enter BIOS and change boot priority | | Windows cannot be installed to this disk | Partition style mismatch (MBR/GPT) | Convert target disk via diskpart clean convert gpt or convert mbr | | Missing media driver | USB 3.0 driver missing on older Windows 10 builds | Use USB 2.0 port or slipstream drivers into ISO | | External drive not listed in boot options | Drive not properly made bootable | Re-run Rufus with correct partition scheme (MBR for BIOS, GPT for UEFI) | | Installation restarts from external drive | Boot order persistent | Remove external drive after first reboot | install windows 10 from external hard drive
This paper aims to:
Save as make_bootable.txt :
The drive is now bootable.