By now, you probably know what is Windows To Go drive and how to create one. For those users who are not aware of Windows To Go, it’s a feature introduced with Windows 8 to install Windows on USB drives and carry the OS on USB drives.
The Windows To Go feature is present only in the Enterprise edition. Although there are some workarounds to create Windows To Go drive on all editions, a couple of free tools are out there to install any edition of Windows on USB drives.
About a year ago, we first talked about WinToUSB. Several weblogs have reviewed this tool since then. In addition to Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, WinToUSB is also compatible with Windows 7. That is, in simple words, you can install Windows 7 on USB drives with ease.
Recently, the developer has released WinToUSB 2.0. The newest version of WinToUSB is capable of cloning your existing Windows installation to a USB drive and then make it bootable. In other words, you can transfer your current Windows 10/8/7 installations to a USB drive to use it as portable.
This feature is a boon for many users who don’t wish to perform a fresh install of Windows on USB drives just to create a Windows To Go drive. The feature is very helpful as we neither need to install our favorite third-party software nor change Windows settings post the creation of Windows To Go drive.
Creating a Windows To Go drive using WinToUSB is fairly simple. You just need to browse to your Windows ISO file and then select your USB drive to begin creating the Windows To Go drive.
Clone current Windows installation to USB and make the USB bootable
Complete the given below instructions to clone your existing Windows 10 (any other version of Windows) installation to a USB drive and then make the drive bootable.
Step 1: Connect your USB drive and backup all data to a safe location.
Step 2: Visit this page of WinToUSB, and download the latest available version of the software. The download size is under 4MB.
Step 3: Run the downloaded WinToUSB executable and follow on-screen instructions to get it installed.
Step 4: Run the tool as administrator, click the third icon (Physical to USB) in the left-pane to see the following screen.
Step 5: Click the Next button to see a pop-up with “Need to build a WinPE image, this may take several minutes. Are you sure you want to continue?” message.
Click the Yes button.
Step 6: Once the WinPE image is ready, you’ll be asked to select the destination USB drive.
Here, you need to also select system partition as well as the boot partition of your existing Windows installation. The system partition is usually the small 100 or 200 MB partition. And boot partition is nothing but the partition containing your Windows 10 installation files, which is usually “C” drive.
Step 7: Finally, click the Next button. Click Yes button when you’re asked to reboot your PC.
After rebooting your PC, the clone process will start and might take a few hours (depending on your boot partition size and system performance). That’s it!
Once your Windows To GO USB drive is ready, simply change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI to boot from USB to begin using the drive. Good luck!
Zanussi says
Refuses to clone Windows Pro unless you pay up first
elmer says
I use to clone my surface pro 4 yet afterward, my surface pro will not boot anymore using its internal HDD. It took me days to find out and fix my surface pro 4 using installation media and the recovery image. Otherwise, the clone USB system works to any computer only since I don’t have enterprise license so it always says windows needs activation. Activation needed only if you want to personalized your windows.
outrageous says
will this delete my files or anything when successful? I mean, I dont want to boot from my USB stick. I just have an SSD i need to give a fresh installation of windows to. Dont want to lose any files
elie nshimiye says
this thing is so nice and very pround!
it is good for every one b’se is not complecated to understand it.
thanks for your support.
Chan says
The USB clone works for me with the following additional step:
After cloning, with the USB drive still attached, go to elevated command prompt and run the command
bcdboot.exe X:\Windows /s X: /f ALL
where X is the drive letter of the USB drive with Windows To Go on it.
Exit and restart the computer to boot from the USB with Windows To Go and it will come up with an error screen.
Press Enter to retry and it will boot up.
JReality says
Did not work for me. in terms of the clone being BOOTABLE. The USB clone simply will not boot, even when selected as the boot device in my UEFI setup. I am running Windows 10 Home Edition. I get the blue screen error message that says “Inaccessible Boot Device” Booting from the internal hard drive, and selecting the tool to do a WindowsToGo conversion and doing that conversion did not solve the problem either. Windows 10 just refuses to BOOT from a USB external hard drive.
Enoke Jensen says
Doesn’t work. It hung at 2% during reboot for hours on end, then had to force shutdown. Luckily it only destroyed my flash drive and nothing else. Do not use this software unless you are ready to lose everything.
Vincent Wolf says
Doesn’t work. The error I get is it during reboot as it can’t find destination disc is the error. USB flash is in the same USB port as during initial WInPE image build–which only happens once regardless of how many times you retry running the program again–and it’s plugged into a motherboard USB 3.0 port (Slider II USB 256 GB flash drive). That drive is recognized during initial steps (has reformat it) but it can’t seem to find it during a reboot in the final step. Strange can only build the WINPE once–it skips that step every time you try to rerun the program. Possibly store on PC somewhere but I can’t find it. Anyway, junk method simply doesn’t work.
admin says
Scott, I really don’t think that it’s possible on a Windows 2000 PC. Sorry.
Scott says
Will this work on a Windows2000Pro installation?
admin says
@ Mark, it’s false positive. The software doesn’t include viruses.
Mark says
File deleted by PC as contains VIRUS.
Gordon M says
So, could I clone a win 7 ssd disk to an external usb harddisk, boot from the eternal usb, upgrade to win 10 and then at some point in the future clone this drive back to the ssd?
The reason is that I like my Media Cneter, but would to take advantage of the win 10 free upgrade that runs out at the end of July 2016.
admin says
Pete,
Although I believe it should be possible, not sure about the exact procedure. Sorry.
Pete says
Or lets ask different. If I manage to copy/clone #1 HD with Windows 10 installed on it to #2 HD
Then how do I create a Windows 10 MBR on that second disk.
Also win10 setup automatically creates a 350 MB system/boot partition. How does this play a role when cloning
from one HD to another.
Pete says
Hey thank you for that tutorial!
I have a question though.
Is there any way to clone the installed Win10 image with boot sector to a new HDD/SSD from that USB?
Thanks!
admin says
Alan
Yes, it’s the clone of the operating system and installed apps. In other words, it’s the clone of the drive where Windows OS is installed.
Alan says
I have a question. This feature is like a Image of the whole system? With the Files and folders?.
Or is just the O.S copy + the software installed?
Please answer.
greetings :)