Booting from an external hard drive involves using an external hard drive as the primary storage device for a computer system, allowing the computer to load its operating system and programs from the external drive rather than the internal hard drive.
This technique offers several benefits, including the ability to boot from a portable device, increased storage capacity, faster boot times, and the potential for data recovery in case of internal hard drive failure. Historically, booting from external hard drives has been challenging due to BIOS limitations and compatibility issues, but modern computers and operating systems generally support this functionality.