Windows 10: Create Windows to Go without using the WAIK or ENTERPRISE

You might want to check out this if you haven't (from whs) Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk - Page 21
There is some good reading *Smile

 

You might want to check out this if you haven't (from whs) Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk - Page 21
There is some good reading *Smile Yes, thanks. I bookmarked it for now, will read through it latter on. A quick glance and I see a Sandisk drive being mentioned. I have a couple of those and for what ever reason they show up as fixed disks. I'm not sure why Sandisk does this but they do, for their newer drives anyway. They would work for the official Windows to utility, except mine are only 8 GB drives. If I had bought a 64 gig Sandisk instead of a Kingston I'd likely be all set without all this messing around. Anyway for now I'm just going to sit back, have a coffee, and browse the forums a bit. Thanks for the replies guys.
*Thumbs

 

Ok, I put my Crucial SSD and put it in my external USB 3 enclosure. Then I followed the powershell commands listed in the TechNet article. Windows To Go Step by Step - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki I did this all on my desktop PC. When I try to boot from it I get:
Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows Installation disc an restart your computer
2. Choose your language settings, and the click "Next
3. Click "Repair your computer"

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0x0000001

Info: An error occured while attempting to read the boot configuration data

Then after a while it reboots automatically.

On my laptop, if I select "UEFI entry for Windows to Go drive" I can boot into it. I think that entry is a left over from the last time I created a WTG drive through an enterprise install. I went though the first time setup etc with no issues. There is also a UEFI CR...(the SSD drive) entry in the boot menu. I tried that first and it started to run but rebooted and then loaded the native OS. No error screen that I could see, just the logo with the circle of balls. I then tried it in my desktop PC again and get the same error I posted above. It comes up very quickly. The black screen with the cursor in the top left corner then the error screen.

I think my next step is to install Enterprise on my laptop and create an official drive with the WTG utility. Then try that drive on both PC's. I likely won't look at this thread again until I'm done.

 

USB2 is tough. Performance is very acceptable with an external SSD and a fast stick works also once you are past the boot. But I would recommend a fast USB3 stick or a disk via eSata.

 

The one I was using was an 80 gig 5400 RPM laptop IDE drive in a USB 2 enclosure. I do have a couple of SATA Laptop drives, I assume they are 5400 RPM, in USB 3 enclosures. They came out of our laptops when I replaced them with SSD's. I use them for backup at the moment. One is 500 GB and the other 750 GB. I think I'm going to pull the 500 out and replace it with a 256 GB SSD and see how that works for a WTG drive. Hi there

You don't need any caddies -- just remove the laptop HDD and use the SATA==>USB3/2 connectors and connect to a USB2 / USB3 port. --very acceptable performance on either USB2 or USB 3.

I'm not sure about old IDE drives -- they probably would be slow.

There actually doesn't seem to be much difference in performance with a 7200 (SAMSUNG) rpm or 5400 RPM (Seagate / WD) laptop SATA drive when connected to a USB2 / 3 port --the USB interface can't run at the native SATA speed anyway. On a USB3 connector both drives perform much faster than in the USB2 port though.

(Internally when fitted to the laptop the 7200 rpm HDD blows away the 5400rpm drive - but both are real snail pace drives when compared to an SSD. You won't find too many 7200 rpm 2.5 inch laptop drives any more - they do use more power).

The cable you need to use is shown below. Any similar will work --=forget about caddies etc for old laptop HDD's. !!!


Cheers
jimbo

 

The one I was using was an 80 gig 5400 RPM laptop IDE drive in a USB 2 enclosure. I do have a couple of SATA Laptop drives, I assume they are 5400 RPM, in USB 3 enclosures. They came out of our laptops when I replaced them with SSD's. I use them for backup at the moment. One is 500 GB and the other 750 GB. I think I'm going to pull the 500 out and replace it with a 256 GB SSD and see how that works for a WTG drive. Hi there

You don't need any caddies -- just remove the laptop HDD and use the SATA==>USB3/2 connectors and connect to a USB2 / USB3 port. --very acceptable performance on either USB2 or USB 3.

I'm not sure about old IDE drives -- they probably would be slow.

There actually doesn't seem to be much difference in performance with a 7200 (SAMSUNG) rpm or 5400 RPM (Seagate / WD) laptop SATA drive when connected to a USB2 / 3 port --the USB interface can't run at the native SATA speed anyway. On a USB3 connector both drives perform much faster than in the USB2 port though.

(Internally when fitted to the laptop the 7200 rpm HDD blows away the 5400rpm drive - but both are real snail pace drives when compared to an SSD. You won't find too many 7200 rpm 2.5 inch laptop drives any more - they do use more power).

The cable you need to use is shown below. Any similar will work --=forget about caddies etc for old laptop HDD's. !!!


Cheers
jimbo I have one of those, it came with a cloning kit that came with one of my SSD's. I also have one of these, Vantec 2.5"/3.5"/5.25" SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 Adapter - Model CB-ISATAU2 - Newegg.ca . It will do SATA, IDE and laptop IDE. I use it for recovering files from PC's that won't boot into windows anymore. I already have the enclosures so I use them. I have two of these, Mediasonic HDK-SU3 Aluminum 2.5" Black SATA I/II/III USB 3.0 External Enclosure - Newegg.ca It's just two screws to open it up and swap drives.

I finished installing 8.1 enterprise on my laptop and have made a Windows To Go drive with the above enclosure and a 256 GB Crucial SSD. I haven't booted from it yet. The NFL Football playoff game is soon going to start so I may put it off until tomorrow.

 

Booted from my WTG drive on my laptop, seems to work Ok. I'm posting this from it. I noticed one thing that may have messed me up earlier. On first boot it does the "Getting devices ready" and eventually reboots. If I'm not watching it then boots into the internal hard drive instead of the windows to go drive. I think that happened when I was testing earlier and I didn't notice. Footballs on now so I think this will be it for tonight.

 

Yeah, it reboots once and then you have to set the boot priority again. Else it goes to default.

 

Hi there

Note that WTG activation seems OK - I've run the WTG on many different computers without activation being required.

What DOES seem to require activation a lot is OFFICE 2010. I've got round that problem by running Office 2010 (32 bit) on an XP VM on the windows to go system. The XP Virtual machine takes minimal resources and works for this purpose brilliantly. Simply set the XP VM up to use HOST ONLY networking so you can access office documents you create and you won't have any security problems with the XP machine either. Just install the minimum XP system plus office. Works a treat.

I still haven't made up my mind whether the best sort of portable system is to use a very fast booting Linux system and having a full Windows VM on it or to use the Windows to Go system. Open to suggestions here. Whether services like NETFLIX / SKY GO etc will run decently on a VM running from an external USB might be an issue though. Office is the one I want though - I often work in different places so it's nice to have English plus a few language packs for Office wherever I am.

Cheers
jimbo

 

Yeah, I had to click the activate Windows and then enter one of my MSDN keys when I installed enterprise on my laptop. And then do it again for the WTG drive. I used to different codes. You don't get prompted to enter a key during install and the generic key it uses won't activate. If I use a PID.tx file I get and invalid key error. I don't remember what the exact error was but it wouldn't accept the key. Doesn't match this version or something. Yet, I can clip and past that same key from the PID.tx file in and it will work once Enterprise is installed. So I know there was no typo in the PID.tx file and the key in it is good. I've only booted it up on the one PC so far, my laptop. I just got up and I am just sipping my first cup of coffee. After that i'm taking my dog for a walk in the woods. Then after that I'll play around with this some more.

 

Yeah, it reboots once and then you have to set the boot priority again. Else it goes to default. I think that caught me out at least once where I though the thumb drive didn't work. Just not paying enough attention. I wish the normal Windows 8 would offer up those setup options during install. Country, Language, Time Zone etc. In Windows 8 if I select English US for keyboard layout is assumes I live in the US, so I have to go in latter and change it to Canada. Time Zone gets set to Pacific so that's another change. I hardly had to do anything once the WTG was setup. Usually I have to dive into 2 or 3 different menus of setup options to get thing correct for my local and time zone. I really wish I knew how to create one of those auto answer files but the few times I've tried the instructions just give me a headache and I get lost with what goes where and what syntax to use. *Confused

 

I just tried my WTG drive on my desktop and got that same

Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem:

1. Insert your Windows Installation disc an restart your computer
2. Choose your language settings, and the click "Next
3. Click "Repair your computer"

If you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0x0000001

Info: An error occured while attempting to read the boot configuration data

Doesn't like that hardware I guess. I am "almost" positive that I've booted a WTG drive from this PC in the past? Likely Windows 8.0 though. I can't install Windows 10 from a thumb drive on this same desktop PC. 8.0 and 8.1 no problem, but 10 just stops at the black screen with the flashing cursor. I had to burn a DVD and install from that. The same thumb drive worked fine on my laptop though. The laptop has UEFI the desktop doesn't. Anyway I think I'm done messing with this for now. I have some other stuff I have to get to so I'll put it on the back burner for now. Thanks again for the replies.

 

Hi there

Final thing - Don't use UEFI for the windows to GO - then it will work on any computer. Ensure the external USB is MBR formatted. Switch off protected boot too on the laptop -- when you boot from the laptop boot menu don't boot from notebook hard drive or UEFI file but boot from something like USB drive noname. You might see too entries for the same drive - one is UEFI and the other non UEFI.

Cheers
jimbo

 

On my laptop (UEFI BIOS) I see two entries and they both list UEFI. The two entries look identical actually. I'll have to plug the drive back in and have another look see. On my desktop PC with the non UEFI BIOS there is just the one entry, USB something. I'll have to plug the drive back in and see what it shows. I get the same error if I boot from my thumb drive created as per post 1 and my official WTG drive, on my desktop PC.

 

The WTG hard drive shows up as UEFI: Crucial_ CT256MX100SS MU01 twice on my laptop. selecting the first entry boots to the WTG drive. selecting the second entry boots to the internal hard drive. On my desktop PC there is just the one USB: Crucial_CT256MX100SS entry.

The thumb drive shows up as UEFI: Kingston DT Hyper X 3.0 PMAP on my laptop. It's only listed once in the boot options. I just tried to boot from it on my laptop and got a blue failed to start screen with Recovery options. I clicked try again and now its sitting at the juggling balls screen with no disk activity. I have to press the power button to get out of it which is likely why I'm getting the failed to start menu. I'll let it go for a while and see what happens. I waited over 30 minutes last time and nothing happened. I'm guessing it will be listed as USB: Kingston DT Hyper X 3.0 on my desktop PC.