“I can use a USB flash to install Windows on my computer from ISO. But I’m often on a business trip, so I’m wondering if I can install Windows 10 to a USB, and wherever I go, I can directly run my customized operating system from the USB drive.”
- Question from Microsoft.com
When you work from home or on a business trip, you may want to run a different Windows system like Windows 10, 8, 7 from a bootable Windows USB. Actually, it is not a difficult operation. And in this post, we are going to give you a tutorial of making a portable system by installing Windows to USB drive.
How to install Windows 10/8/7 onto USB?
To install Windows to a USB, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It has a feature named “Windows To Go Creator” allowing you to deploy a Windows 10, 8, 7 on a USB drive so that you can use your own system wherever you go on any other PC.
And this software can create a Windows USB from ISO files or the system of a Windows PC. Then I will guide you how to use it.
Preparations:
- An ISO file/disc: If you have a computer that running with the system you need, ISO file is not necessary.
- A 2.0/3.0 USB flash drive.
- Backup the USB flash drive, it will be formatted during the process.
✍Note: Go to this page:https://www.diskpart.com/articles/install-windows-to-usb-1881.html to know more and download the tool.
● Install Windows to USB with ISO file
Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant. In the main interface, click “All Tools” > “Windows To Go Creator”.
Step 2. In this window, choose “Create Window To Go for personal computer” and click “Next”.
✍Note: If you are using a Mac computer, you can choose the second option to run windows from USB on Mac.
Step 3. Then select “Create Windows ToGo with system disc/ISO” and choose the ISO file, and click “Next”.
Step 4. Then the USB drive will be detected automatically by the program, if it doesn’t, you can click fresh, and click “Browse” to choose the ISO file. And click “Proceed”.
Step 5. It will pop up a small window to tell you the files on the USB drive will be erased. Please back up the USB beforehand.
● Install Windows to USB with the current system
- Open “Windows To Go Creator”
2. And choose “Create Windows To Go with the current system”.
Step 4. Then select the USB drive, and click “Proceed”.
How to Boot a PC from the portable Windows USB
Now, after installing Windows to USB, you can connect the USB to any other PC, and enter BIOS setup to set it as the boot drive.
Step 1. Insert the USB to your PC, and turn on the computer.
Step 2. When the initial startup screen appears, tap the BIOS key (F2, F3, F4, F7, F8, it depends on the manufacturer that created the BIOS).
Step 3. And the BIOS setup will be launched. And use the arrow keys to choose “Boot” tab.
Step 4. And choose “Change boot order”, and move the USB to the first one on the boot sequence.
Step 5. Save the change and exit, and the PC will be started from the USB.
Conclusion
This is all about how to install Windows to USB. This tutorial can be applied to different Windows systems including Windows 10/8/7, Windows XP, and Vista. Besides, the versatile software AOMEI Partition Assistant provides other functions, extending system disk. And if you meet some boot issues, you can use it to create bootable USB to repair your computer.
In addition, if your computer is running with Windows Server system, you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.
