How to install and run window 10 in USB drive
How to install and run window 10 in USB drive
Usage Impressions and How to Build Your Own "To Go" Drive
Did you know that a full copy of Windows can be installed and run from a USB drive? Microsoft introduced "Windows To Go" with Windows 8 Enterprise and has continued supporting the feature in Windows 10, which can be kept on a pen drive in your pocket as a portable operating system.
This feature is intended as a convenient way for workers to carry their corporate environments with them, but having your own copy of Windows on a thumb drive could be handy for backup purposes, too, or if you frequently use public machines that lack your preferences/applications or that have a restricted OS.
arry their corporate environments with them, but having your own copy of Windows on a thumb drive could be handy for backup purposes, too, or if you frequently use public machines that lack your preferences/applications or that have a restricted OS.
For a long time this was a neat thing you could do with many Linux distros (we plan to cover Linux Live on a separate article soon), but barring driver complications and hardware limitations, a Windows To Go drive should boot from "most" computers.
Booting a Windows 10 "To Go" drive on a modern machine that shipped with Windows 10 is likely to work fine, and because performance if often of the essence, a USB 3.0 port is always desirable. Older systems that originally sold with Vista or XP may work, too, but will have reduced processing power and slower USB ports, meaning they might not meet the minimum hardware requirements, listed below:
The ability to boot from a USB drive
USB 2.0 ports or better
A 1GHz+ processor
2GB of RAM, and...
DirectX 9 with WDDM 1.2 or greater
Microsoft's To Go documents note that a process called "respecialize" identifies and loads drivers for a specific machine during the first boot-up, along with disabling drivers that aren't required. This profile is remembered and automatically selected on subsequent boot-ups. "In general this feature is reliable and efficient when roaming between PCs of widely varying hardware configurations," the company says, and that's a "generally fair" statement based on our observations from testing.
On the upper side of performance, running Windows 10 To Go from a 32GB USB 3.1 flash drive was quite usable for general computing/basic productivity on an old desktop and a modern laptop. However, we also experienced various complications when creating and booting different versions of Windows To Go...
Hardware and software configurations tested
Before we get to creating a Windows To Go drive, here's an overview of the testing that was performed using a variety of hardware and software combinations as well as some recommendations and considerations about configuring a portable Windows drive.
Systems used for testing
An old Core i5 Lynnfield-based enthusiast desktop PC with USB 2.1 ports
A new Dell XP3 13 9370 laptop with USB-C ports & USB 3.1 adapter
As a side note, the desktop also has a USB 3.1 PCIe adapter card, but the motherboard's BIOS can't see or boot from drives attached to this device. This is typical for USB expansion cards and worth mentioning in the event that you attempt to boot from one. Here is more information on how to boot from a USB drive if the subject is unfamiliar to you.
USB drives tested
16GB Patriot Xporter XT USB 2.0 drive (up to 30MB/s reads)
32GB Samsung Bar Plus USB 3.1 ($9 drive with 200MB/s reads, 300MB/s on 128GB+ models)
128GB Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.1 ($47 drive with 440MB/s reads & writes)
None of these are officially "certified" for Windows To Go. Besides being fast enough to run an operating system, certified USB drives are designed to appear as fixed instead of removable devices when plugged into Windows. Both types of drives can technically be used for Windows To Go, but only fixed ones will work with the creation tool built into Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise.
We'll elaborate on this later, but note that despite not being an official Windows To Go drive, the Corsair Flash Voyager GTX does appear to Windows as a fixed drive, it certainly meets the speed requirements, and is considerably cheaper than ~$200 "certified" options such as the Kingston Data Traveler Workspace, Kanguru Mobile Workspace and Super Talent Express RC4.
The ancient Patriot drive was included out of curiosity and its performance was as poor as you'd expect. Running Windows 10 on the 16GB USB 2.0 drive wasn't what we'd deem usable and no greater success was had with Windows 7 or 8. Sometimes the initial setup process for Windows 10 would BSOD or fail some other way, and when the process did complete, the performance was slow to say the least, taking upwards of 30 seconds to open a menu for instance -- if it would open at all. This configuration might only be useful for a recovery environment if you had no other option, though a lightweight Linux distro might make more sense on such a slow drive.
Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 are supported (not Windows 7). However, Rufus 3.3.1 doesn't list the Windows To Go option when using a Windows 10 1809 ISO while an 1803 ISO works fine.
The software might also send a warning if you aren't using a fixed drive, though the resulting portable OS drive still works and in fact Rufus provided the best overall performance of all the Windows To Go creation tools we tested, generally having less errors/failures.
"You are trying to install Windows To Go, but your target drive doesn't have the fixed attribute. Because of this Windows will most likely freeze during boot, as Microsoft hasn't designed it to work with drives that instead have the removable attribute. Do you still want to proceed? Note: The fixed/removable attribute is a hardware property that can only be changed using custom tools from the drive manufacturer. However those tools are almost never provided to the public."
While Rufus is the most commonly available third-party tool we can recommend for creating an "unofficial" Windows To Go drive, the software lacks some features that others provide, such as the ability to export your currently running operating system onto a portable USB drive, though this is generally locked behind a paid license.
Here are many other tools that can make a portable Windows drive:
WinToUSB - This tool is dedicated to creating Windows To Go drives and has already received an update to work with the latest build of Windows 10 (1809).
Getting started: Select a Windows image file (.iso, .wim, .esd, .swm) and continue with the prompts. The MBR + UEFI boot configuration requires a $30 upgrade, as does the ability to export your current OS (tools > Windows To Go Conversion).
Aomei Partition Assistant - Along with being able to create Windows To Go drives from image files (.iso, .wim and .esd), this software includes a full drive partitioning suite in the same 11MB package -- convenient given the task at hand.
Getting started: Click the "Windows To Go Creator" on the left and follow the prompts. The option to export your current OS is also in this wizard, but only the paid Professional edition (~$50) has this feature enabled.
FlashBoot - Has a variety of features for USB drives, including the ability to create one that will boot independently from your primary operating system. Again though, only the Pro version ($30) can clone your current OS as a Windows To Go drive.
Getting started: Click Full OS > USB, select whether to prepare the drive for UEFI or MBR-based systems and then you can choose a .iso or .esd file. The software can also use the .esd file on your current installation (C:\ESD\Windows\Sources\install.esd) without downloading any additional OS data.
Note: Perhaps all of the third-party tools do this, but FlashBoot's website mentions that by using registry/driver tweaks the software "will make removable USB thumb drives always appear as fixed to Windows To Go."
Creation methods that are more hands-on
Before there were so many third-party tools to build a Windows To Go drive, the commonly recommended approach was to:
Prepare the USB drive yourself from DiskPart in a Command Prompt.
Use a tool to extract/install the install.wim or .esd file from a Windows ISO.
Create boot entries on the USB drive, again using the Command Prompt.
Useful downloads for manual creation: DISM++ | GImageX
Usage Impressions and How to Build Your Own "To Go" Drive
Did you know that a full copy of Windows can be installed and run from a USB drive? Microsoft introduced "Windows To Go" with Windows 8 Enterprise and has continued supporting the feature in Windows 10, which can be kept on a pen drive in your pocket as a portable operating system.
This feature is intended as a convenient way for workers to carry their corporate environments with them, but having your own copy of Windows on a thumb drive could be handy for backup purposes, too, or if you frequently use public machines that lack your preferences/applications or that have a restricted OS.
arry their corporate environments with them, but having your own copy of Windows on a thumb drive could be handy for backup purposes, too, or if you frequently use public machines that lack your preferences/applications or that have a restricted OS.
For a long time this was a neat thing you could do with many Linux distros (we plan to cover Linux Live on a separate article soon), but barring driver complications and hardware limitations, a Windows To Go drive should boot from "most" computers.
Booting a Windows 10 "To Go" drive on a modern machine that shipped with Windows 10 is likely to work fine, and because performance if often of the essence, a USB 3.0 port is always desirable. Older systems that originally sold with Vista or XP may work, too, but will have reduced processing power and slower USB ports, meaning they might not meet the minimum hardware requirements, listed below:
The ability to boot from a USB drive
USB 2.0 ports or better
A 1GHz+ processor
2GB of RAM, and...
DirectX 9 with WDDM 1.2 or greater
Microsoft's To Go documents note that a process called "respecialize" identifies and loads drivers for a specific machine during the first boot-up, along with disabling drivers that aren't required. This profile is remembered and automatically selected on subsequent boot-ups. "In general this feature is reliable and efficient when roaming between PCs of widely varying hardware configurations," the company says, and that's a "generally fair" statement based on our observations from testing.
On the upper side of performance, running Windows 10 To Go from a 32GB USB 3.1 flash drive was quite usable for general computing/basic productivity on an old desktop and a modern laptop. However, we also experienced various complications when creating and booting different versions of Windows To Go...
Hardware and software configurations tested
Before we get to creating a Windows To Go drive, here's an overview of the testing that was performed using a variety of hardware and software combinations as well as some recommendations and considerations about configuring a portable Windows drive.
Systems used for testing
An old Core i5 Lynnfield-based enthusiast desktop PC with USB 2.1 ports
A new Dell XP3 13 9370 laptop with USB-C ports & USB 3.1 adapter
As a side note, the desktop also has a USB 3.1 PCIe adapter card, but the motherboard's BIOS can't see or boot from drives attached to this device. This is typical for USB expansion cards and worth mentioning in the event that you attempt to boot from one. Here is more information on how to boot from a USB drive if the subject is unfamiliar to you.
USB drives tested
16GB Patriot Xporter XT USB 2.0 drive (up to 30MB/s reads)
32GB Samsung Bar Plus USB 3.1 ($9 drive with 200MB/s reads, 300MB/s on 128GB+ models)
128GB Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.1 ($47 drive with 440MB/s reads & writes)
None of these are officially "certified" for Windows To Go. Besides being fast enough to run an operating system, certified USB drives are designed to appear as fixed instead of removable devices when plugged into Windows. Both types of drives can technically be used for Windows To Go, but only fixed ones will work with the creation tool built into Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise.
We'll elaborate on this later, but note that despite not being an official Windows To Go drive, the Corsair Flash Voyager GTX does appear to Windows as a fixed drive, it certainly meets the speed requirements, and is considerably cheaper than ~$200 "certified" options such as the Kingston Data Traveler Workspace, Kanguru Mobile Workspace and Super Talent Express RC4.
The ancient Patriot drive was included out of curiosity and its performance was as poor as you'd expect. Running Windows 10 on the 16GB USB 2.0 drive wasn't what we'd deem usable and no greater success was had with Windows 7 or 8. Sometimes the initial setup process for Windows 10 would BSOD or fail some other way, and when the process did complete, the performance was slow to say the least, taking upwards of 30 seconds to open a menu for instance -- if it would open at all. This configuration might only be useful for a recovery environment if you had no other option, though a lightweight Linux distro might make more sense on such a slow drive.
Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 are supported (not Windows 7). However, Rufus 3.3.1 doesn't list the Windows To Go option when using a Windows 10 1809 ISO while an 1803 ISO works fine.
The software might also send a warning if you aren't using a fixed drive, though the resulting portable OS drive still works and in fact Rufus provided the best overall performance of all the Windows To Go creation tools we tested, generally having less errors/failures.
"You are trying to install Windows To Go, but your target drive doesn't have the fixed attribute. Because of this Windows will most likely freeze during boot, as Microsoft hasn't designed it to work with drives that instead have the removable attribute. Do you still want to proceed? Note: The fixed/removable attribute is a hardware property that can only be changed using custom tools from the drive manufacturer. However those tools are almost never provided to the public."
While Rufus is the most commonly available third-party tool we can recommend for creating an "unofficial" Windows To Go drive, the software lacks some features that others provide, such as the ability to export your currently running operating system onto a portable USB drive, though this is generally locked behind a paid license.
Here are many other tools that can make a portable Windows drive:
WinToUSB - This tool is dedicated to creating Windows To Go drives and has already received an update to work with the latest build of Windows 10 (1809).
Getting started: Select a Windows image file (.iso, .wim, .esd, .swm) and continue with the prompts. The MBR + UEFI boot configuration requires a $30 upgrade, as does the ability to export your current OS (tools > Windows To Go Conversion).
Aomei Partition Assistant - Along with being able to create Windows To Go drives from image files (.iso, .wim and .esd), this software includes a full drive partitioning suite in the same 11MB package -- convenient given the task at hand.
Getting started: Click the "Windows To Go Creator" on the left and follow the prompts. The option to export your current OS is also in this wizard, but only the paid Professional edition (~$50) has this feature enabled.
FlashBoot - Has a variety of features for USB drives, including the ability to create one that will boot independently from your primary operating system. Again though, only the Pro version ($30) can clone your current OS as a Windows To Go drive.
Getting started: Click Full OS > USB, select whether to prepare the drive for UEFI or MBR-based systems and then you can choose a .iso or .esd file. The software can also use the .esd file on your current installation (C:\ESD\Windows\Sources\install.esd) without downloading any additional OS data.
Note: Perhaps all of the third-party tools do this, but FlashBoot's website mentions that by using registry/driver tweaks the software "will make removable USB thumb drives always appear as fixed to Windows To Go."
Creation methods that are more hands-on
Before there were so many third-party tools to build a Windows To Go drive, the commonly recommended approach was to:
Prepare the USB drive yourself from DiskPart in a Command Prompt.
Use a tool to extract/install the install.wim or .esd file from a Windows ISO.
Create boot entries on the USB drive, again using the Command Prompt.
Useful downloads for manual creation: DISM++ | GImageX
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