Portable Windows on USB SSD Drive

As a concurrent Mac / Win user one of the capabilities that I make use of on Mac is the ability to boot a full working OS from an external USB or Firewire drive. Makes it incredibly easy to do backups and restores and provides a high level of redundancy.

Understanding that Windows To Go is dead and buried, has anyone been able to create something similar that can be used with a USB attached SSD drive (not a USB flash drive)? I've been able to make various WinRE bootable SSD drives but they are very restrictive and tend to be application specific (ie. Macrium Reflect, AOMEI etc). Ideally want something more flexible. It doesn't have to be bootable across different different hardware as it solely for my laptop use.

Currently running Windows 10 (always the latest version).

cereberus said:

You can do this using Rufus or wintousb.

Rufus doesn't support USB hard drives (at least I've never been able to get it to work). Likewise WintoUsb, however looking at it now it seems to have advanced quite a bit so maybe time to revisit so thanks for the tip.

- - - Updated - - -

wintousb seems to be just what I want now, thanks again.

Paul Black said:

For informational purposes.

If you wanted to have several Bootable ISOs on a USB, you could use the following . . .

 Ventoy

Basically, depending on the size of the USB, you can have ALL your Bootable ISO's on the USB. Additionally, you can also have Portable Apps, Tools, Utilities, Folders, and Files, ALL on the Non-Bootable Partition of the USB.

> Ventoy - Main Page
> Ventoy - Screenshots
> Ventoy - Download Page

Also, @EdTittel, a Windows Insider MVP member, wrote this in his blog . . .

> TOP 3 2020 WINDOWS 10 UTILITIES

I have created a USB using Ventoy and find it an invaluable resource. It is probably the best thing that has ever happened to Bootable Media!

---

I hope this helps.

Interesting, could have some use for this. thanks.

Hi there
Wintousb is now a paid product but it does work.

However you can do it manually as per several threads in te Forum. You can either dism -> apply image from a running system or for a clean install use a Windows install iso and then create the boot file but use the bcd command from latest windows iso you can get.

To use the WintoGo on an internal HDD simply either clone or create image and restore it to the target HDD and then use the free Macrium Stand alone recovery to fix boot problems -- remove though the USB device otherwise you'll get some sort of confused mismash with BOTH devices wanted for boot !!!!!!.

Create Free Windows to Go system on ext USB/SSD disks (UEFI system)

Cheers
jimbo