Boot from external (usb) disk drive

[Valerie]

Is it factual that XP has inbuilt features to prevent booting from an external diskdrive?

[Idontwantspam]

Are we talking about the installer or windows xp itself? I don't think there's a problem with installing it from a USB device, and if an installer or bartpe etc. can be booted from a usb drive, and if your BIOS supports it, i suppose it's probably possible. you could probably find some information on the subject using google.