In order to run their own familiar system or other purposes, many users will create a bootable USB drive, but what about the SD card? Can we create a bootable SD card and boot from it?
Yes, you can create a bootable SD card and boot your PC from it. Like booting from a USB drive.
Choose a Windows media creation tool
You can turn to a powerful Windows media creation tool named AOMEI Partition Assistant. Its “Windows To Go Creator” feature can help you to install Windows 10, 8, 7 on an SD card, as well as USB flash drive. So you can run a system you installed on any other PC. And it owns several highlights to meet your different demands.
● Better compatibility: It allows you to create a bootable SD card from all versions of Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7 and other Windows OS.
● Less limitation: Some traditional tools only support several certified USB manufacturers to create bootable devices. But the “Windows To Go Creator” provided by AOMEI Partition can create a bootable SD card with different USB and SD card as long as it has enough space to contain the system.
● Comprehensive features: It also allows you to make a WinPE bootable USB if your PC can’t boot up successfully one day. You can enter a fixing program to repair the boot issue or perform other tasks, such as format and wipe a disk with this Windows PE USB.
Note: Click here to know more information and download the tool
Two steps to boot Windows from SD card
Next, connect SD to a PC via an adapter, and we demonstrate to you how to create a bootable SD card and boot from the SD card.
Step 1. Create a bootable SD card
● Create a bootable SD card with ISO file
1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Click “All Tools” on the left side of windows and choose the “Windows To Go Creator”
2. Choose “Create Windows To Go with system disc/ISO”, and click “Next”.
3. And select the SD card and click “Browse” to choose the ISO file.
4. Then click “Proceed”, and it will note you that the program will delete all data on this SD card. Make sure you have had a backup, and click “Yes”.
5. Then choose the SD card as the target location, and click “Proceed”.
● Create a bootable SD card with the current system
1. The first step is the same with creating a bootable SD card with installation ISO file, you click “All Tools” > “Windows To Go Creator”.
2. And choose “Create Windows To Go with the current system” and click “Next”.
3. Then the current OS information will be demonstrated on a pop-up window. And click “Next”.
4. Then select the SD card, and click “Proceed”. If the program will note you the Windows will be restarted and all data on the SD card will be wiped, read it and click “Yes”.
Tip: you can choose the type of created system and startup mode by click “Advanced”.
When the process is over, you can plug this bootable SD card to another computer, if you have a USB flash drive, you can also create a bootable USB drive with the same steps.
Step 2. Boot OS from SD card
BIOS is the program that makes the computer system started after you turn it on. So you have to enter it to “tell” BIOS you want to boot the system from SD card, and your computer can boot from SD card. Let’s see how to do it.
Step 1. Plug the SD card into another computer, power on the computer, once you see the first screen, press functional key (F2, F3, F4, F5, ESC), and enter BIOS.
Step 2. In the BIOS menu, choose “Enter setup”
Step 3. Choose “Change boot order” in the “setup” utility
Step 4. To give the SD card a boot priority, you need to move it to the top of the boot sequence list.
Step 5. Press “Enter” or follow the instruction on the right side of window to save the operation.
Step 6. Restart the computer, and it can boot from SD card successfully.
Conclusion
This is how to make your OS boot from SD card. AOMEI Partition Assistant provides easier and more flexible solutions than Microsoft Windows To Go. The same methods are also applicable to boot OS from SD card in HP, Lenovo, Acer, and other computers. More importantly, you don’t need to buy other Windows versions and prepare installation ISO files.
Besides, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional provides many other features like high-level formatting hard drive, allocating free space between different partitions, changing SD card serial number.
