How to Create a Windows To Go USB Drive

Published in Windows 8 How-To by Steve Sinchak with !"#8"$ views and % co&&ents

Windows To Go is a new feature of Windows 8 that allows enterprises to provision a full corporate environment that will boot from a USB drive. Once the instance of Windows 8 is booted it functions and is controlled by standard enterprise management tools such as S ! and "ctive #irectory group policies. Wor$ at home and disaster recovery are the primary use cases as Windows To Go can transform any % into a corporate % with your application stac$& all on a USB drive. Windows To Go is also perfect for trying out Windows 8 on your primary machine without destroying the native OS or building a home'use portable OS.

To be'in you will need the (ollowin')

() GB or larger USB (.* drive +,t can also be an e-ternal USB .ard #rive/. Some USB ).* drives will wor$ but will be very slow and are not officially supported. " Windows 0 or 8 % to build the USB drive on. Windows 8 #1# ,SO.

#epending on the OS and edition you are currently running& follow the relevant instructions below.

Create Windows to Go on any edition o( Windows %)

,t is possible to use Windows 0 to create your Windows 8 To Go USB device. 2ou will 3ust need some additional software. Before you get started& download and install the Windows 0 "utomated ,nstallation 4it. 2ou will need to use ,mage5 to deploy the Windows 8 image to the device. 6. 7aunch the #eployment Tools ommand %rompt with administrative rights from the Start !enu. ,t can be found under "ll %rograms and then !icrosoft Windows ",4. ). !a$e sure that your USB #rive is plugged in and then type in dis$part and hit 8nter. (. 7ist the available dis$s by running 9list dis$9 and you should see your usb device. :. Select your USB drive by typing 9select dis$ ;9 and hit 8nter. <or e-ample& =select dis$ (>. ?. lean the partitions on the dis$ by typing 9clean9 and hit 8nter.

@. Aow create the boot partition by running the following commandB create partition primary siCeD(?* 0. Aow create the OS partition by running the following command to create a partition ta$ing up all remaining spaceB create partition primary 8. The boot partition needs to be formatted& configured and assigned a drive letter& run the following commandsB select partition 6 format fsDfat() Euic$ active assign letterDb +if the b drive letter is already in use on your % & substitute a different letter and replace b with your letter throughout the rest of this guide/ F. The same must be done for the OS partition& run the following different commandsB select partition ) format fsDntfs Euic$ assign letterDo +if the o drive letter is already in use on your % & substitute a different letter and replace o with your letter throughout the rest of this guide/ 6*. 8-it #is$part by typing 8-it. 66. 8-tract the install.wim file from the GsourcesG directory of the Windows 8 install ,SO to cBGwimG. 2ou will need use a tool such as WinH"H or Win,SO to e-tract the file if you donIt have a burned disc. 6). Use ,mage5 to deploy the Windows 8 files to the OS partition of the USB device by runningB ,mage-.e-e Japply cBGwimGinstall.wim 6 oB 6(. The boot manager needs to be installed on the boot partition with the help of the bcdboot utility. Hun the following commandB oBGwindowsGsystem()Gbcdboot oBGwindows Jf "77 Js bB 6:. Heboot your computer and test your new Windows 8 To Go device built on Windows 0. !a$e sure the % is configured to boot to USB before your local hard drive.

Create Windows To Go on any edition o( Windows 8)

6. ). (. :. 7aunch an administrative level command prompt. !a$e sure that your USB #rive is plugged in and then type in dis$part and hit 8nter. 7ist the available dis$s by running 9list dis$9 and you should see your usb device. Select your USB drive by typing 9select dis$ ;9 and hit 8nter. <or e-ample& =select dis$ (>. ?. lean the partitions on the dis$ by typing 9clean9 and hit 8nter.

@. Aow create the boot partition by running the following commandB create partition primary siCeD(?* 0. Aow create the OS partition by running the following command to create a partition ta$ing up all remaining spaceB create partition primary 8. The boot partition needs to be formatted& configured and assigned a drive letter& run the following commandsB select partition 6 format fsDfat() Euic$ active assign letterDb +if the b drive letter is already in use on your % & substitute a different letter and replace b with your letter throughout the rest of this guide/ F. The same must be done for the OS partition& run the following different commandsB select partition ) format fsDntfs Euic$ assign letterDo +if the o drive letter is already in use on your % & substitute a different letter and replace o with your letter throughout the rest of this guide/ 6*. 8-it #is$part by typing 8-it. 66. 8-tract the install.wim file from the GsourcesG directory of the Windows 8 install ,SO to cBGwimG. On Windows 8 you can 3ust double clic$ an ,SO to mount and then browse it. 6). Use #,S! to deploy the Windows 8 files to the OS partition of the USB device by runningB dism Japply'image JimagefileBcBGwimGinstall.wim Jinde-B6 JapplydirBoBG 6(. The boot manager needs to be installed on the boot partition with the help of the bcdboot utility. Hun the following commandB oBGwindowsGsystem()Gbcdboot oBGwindows Jf "77 Js bB 6:. Heboot your computer and test your new Windows 8 To Go device built on Windows 8. !a$e sure the % is configured to boot to USB before your local hard drive. Originally published FJ6FJ)*66& updated FJ)J)*6).