Windows 10: Can you install Windows 10 on a USB stick?

I often run Ubuntu Linux off of a USB onto which it has been installed.

I'm just wondering, can you do the same with Windows 10 in that you install Windows 10 on a USB stick and then you can boot/run Windows 10 off the stick?

Thank you

:)

 

Windows 10 "You can't install Windows on a USB flash drive using Setup" error

What I would do is a
Clean Install Windows 10 Upgrade using the latest media Version 1511 to
Create Windows 10 Installation Media which allows activating directly with the old OS Product Key after install.

How to install and activate Windows 10 using your Windows 7 or Windows - Microsoft Community .

If deleting all partitions during install as illustrated in
Clean Install Windows 10 Upgrade above does not overcome the error, then I would reboot into installation media, at first screen press Shift + F10 or enter the disk Repair Console on second screen to access a Command Prompt, run

Diskpart Clean Command to remove old boot code which might be interfering as suggested in

My computer thinks it's a Windows To Go computer but it's not...


But if you prefer to run an in-place Upgrade the media must be opened in Windows 7/8.1, then right click Setup file to Run as Administrator.

If asked do not insert a Product Key at any time, click Skip, Next or Do this later.

If you want to maximize chances for a successful Upgrade, then choose to Save Nothing so the Upgrade has much less to choke on and has less problems after install. Make sure your files are backed up separately and you have your
program installers and any Product Keys for programs like Office.

To improve the Upgrade's chances turn off everything at Startup:

Type msconfig in Start Search box, right click System Config Utility to Run as Administrator. In Startup and Services tabs
after making sure to Hide all MS Services disable everything except anti-virus, any synch, stickies, printer using scan.

Uninstall any anti-virus except Defender. Bloated AV's like Norton, McAfee, AVG and Avast need to have special
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common antivirus software - ESET Knowledgebase.

It’s highly recommended to Create a backup System Image of
your existing OS before upgrading, which can be recovered using the booted Windows installation media,
Repair CD or
Recovery flash drive in 20 minutes. Type Backup in Start Search box, in Backup and Recovery
Center choose Create a System Image. You can also use a more flexible imaging program like free
Macrium Imaging which allows recovery to any partition position on the hard drive.

Immediately after install, type Update in Start Search box to Check for Updates, expedite these through requested restart, then check again until no more are offered.

Next right click Start button to open Device Manager, import any drivers still missing from the PC or Device's Support Downloads webpage.
How to: Install and Update drivers in Windows 10 - Microsoft
Community

Stick with built-in Defender in Windows 10 for best performance and adequate protection. If you get infected add the inexpensive Real Time protection from the best-in-class free malware scanner
Malwarebytes . No one I’ve had do this has ever been infected again. I'd also periodically scan with free Malwarebytes and
AdwCleaner scanners.

Feel free to ask back any questions and keep us posted on how it goes

Please let us know how this goes.

 

Windows 10 "You can't install Windows on a USB flash drive using Setup" error

Please
Post a screenshot of Disk Mgmt - Microsoft Community .

Have you tried to
Create Windows 10 Installation Media for the matching version to run it from the desktop to Upgrade, or do the preferred

Clean Reinstall Windows 10 Upgrade which will now activate directly with the Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 Product Key? See the FAQ for Version 1511 section in

Activation in Windows 10 - Windows Help.



But if you prefer to run an in-place Upgrade the media must be opened in Windows 7/8.1, then right click Setup file to Run as Administrator.



If asked do not insert a Product Key at any time, click Skip, Next or Do this later.



If you want to maximize chances for a successful Upgrade, then choose to Save Nothing so the Upgrade has much less to choke on and has less problems after install. Make sure your files are backed up separately and you have your program installers
and any Product Keys for programs like Office.



To improve the Upgrade's chances turn off everything at Startup:

Type msconfig in Start Search box, right click System Config Utility to Run as Administrator. In Startup and Services tabs
after making sure to Hide all MS Services disable everything except anti-virus, any synch, stickies, printer using scan.



Uninstall any anti-virus except Defender. Bloated AV's like Norton, McAfee, AVG and Avast need to have special
Uninstallers (removal tools) for common antivirus software - ESET Knowledgebase.



It’s highly recommended to Create a backup System Image of
your existing OS before upgrading, which can be recovered using the booted Windows installation media,
Repair CD or
Recovery flash drive in 20 minutes. Type Backup in Start Search box, in Backup and Recovery
Center choose Create a System Image. You can also use a more flexible imaging program like free
Macrium Imaging which allows recovery to any partition position on the hard drive.



Immediately after install, type Update in Start Search box to Check for Updates, expedite these through requested restart, then check again until no more are offered.



Next right click Start button to open Device Manager, import any drivers still missing from the PC or Device's Support Downloads webpage.
How to: Install and Update drivers in Windows 10 - Microsoft
Community



Stick with built-in Defender in Windows 10 for best performance and adequate protection. If you get infected add the inexpensive Real Time protection from the best-in-class free malware scanner
Malwarebytes . No one I’ve had do this has ever been infected again. I'd also periodically scan with free Malwarebytes and
AdwCleaner scanners.



Feel free to ask back any questions and keep us posted on how it goes.

 

4 Tools To Create Windows To Go USB Of Windows 10

 

Hello ChristmasPi,

In addition: *Smile

WinToUSB - Install and Run Windows on a USB Drive

Windows 10 - Setup and Run on USB Flash Drive - Windows 10 Forums

How to Create a Windows To Go Workspace USB in Windows 10

 

You might need another licence to run Windows 10 from a USB drive?

 

Hi there

another quite useful solution is to install a minimal Linux system on a USB stick and then have Windows as a VM - you can use VMware player or VBOX on almost all known Linux distributions.

This makes quite a reasonable Portable windows system -- Windows to Go often pops up for re-activation if you run the stick on different Hosts -- the Windows VM seems much more tolerant of being run on different hosts without a re-activation prompt.

Use an external SSD or USB 3 stick --if using an SSD connect to USB3 via SATA-->USB3 connector -- around 5 USD/EUR for the cable. Perfectly acceptable response with an SSD or even an old laptop HDD -- not to sure though what it would be like on a USB stick though.

Note though you will still need the initial Licence -- or you could use the Insider version for testing.

Cheers
jimbo