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Is it possible to create a virtual machine using a USB-connected disk drive?
On my Dell Mobile Precision M4700, I'm running Windows 10. I have an external disk containing a boot image which I would like to run in a virtual machine. I am most familiar with VMware's player, but I'm not averse to using Microsoft's Hyper-V.
In the partition table presented below, it is the device identified as Disk 3 that I'm trying to configure as a virtual machine. I've tried setting it up myself, using both VMware and Hyper V, but have not succeeded. Each time I try starting the virtual machine, I get the startup repair screen. I'm not even sure of an independent method for determining whether that device is bootable. I thought of using BCDEdit to configure the boot menu, but I don't have any experience with that tool. Even if it is bootable, I guess it's possible that the hypervisor applications just don't like booting from USB-connected devices.
If anyone can tell me whether what I'm trying to do is feasible and if so, how to do it, I would appreciate.
![Partition table]()
In the partition table presented below, it is the device identified as Disk 3 that I'm trying to configure as a virtual machine. I've tried setting it up myself, using both VMware and Hyper V, but have not succeeded. Each time I try starting the virtual machine, I get the startup repair screen. I'm not even sure of an independent method for determining whether that device is bootable. I thought of using BCDEdit to configure the boot menu, but I don't have any experience with that tool. Even if it is bootable, I guess it's possible that the hypervisor applications just don't like booting from USB-connected devices.
If anyone can tell me whether what I'm trying to do is feasible and if so, how to do it, I would appreciate.
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