Windows 8 is straightforward, perhaps Windows 10 will have similar functionality:
Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk
It won't work for Windows 7.....its far too sluggish to run on any USB drive, no matter how good it is.
Hi there.
You need the Enterprise edition at least to "strip" the boot command off or it won't work. !!! The method in the link will create a Windows to go (Enterprise) version on a "Non-certified" device though from a Windows Enterprise iso.
What you CAN do though is create a portable windows version using any decent Linux distro and VMware. If you've got a USB3 device or a spare SSD then the response time of the Windows VM is pretty good -- very useable -- and you don't have to touch ANYTHING on your existing HDD's so this should make a good system for testing Windows 10 preview without altering a SINGLE BYTE on your existing machines.
Here's a link to the procedure I did -- it's back on the W8 Forum - read carefully - especially if you have a UEFI enabled machine.
How to make Portable Windows system (any version)
Running Windows to go from an external SSD works just fine -- even when connected to a USB2 port via a SATA==>USB connector -- connected to a USB3 port it works BETTER than the built in standard HDD / non SSD on a laptop. !!!
I use the windows to go on a dedicated SSD device to get the SKY GO streaming TV service -- the SKY GO won't run from a VM -- something about Silverlight detects a VM and you have a limit of two computers so it won't tolerate a VM -- you could clone zillion of these !!!. My main machine runs a LINUX host so if I want SKY GO I do it that way rather than mess around with dual boot.
Cheers
jimbo
Last edited by jimbo45; 01 Oct 2014 at 05:49.
Thanks for the extra info
Going to wait about a week see how things work (getting the download is painful)
If all looks good and first reports of it are promising I might go for the download next week
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