Install Disc doesn't see USB-Stick as drive


  1. YannikRoth
    Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
       New #1

    Install Disc doesn't see USB-Stick as drive


    Hello everyone

    I'm having trouble installing windows 8 onto a USB stick. I have created a Win8 install disc and the booted from that disc. So far so good.
    At the point where it asks me where I want to install the OS to, the USB drive doesn't show up. I know Microsoft doesn't want you to install Operating Systems onto portable devices, but I know that this must be possible somehow. I have been researching on the internet for almost a day and tried lots of different processes to achieve my goal. None of them worked. The one that sounded quite well is installing Microsoft AIK and use these tools according to a documentation I have found on the internet. This also did not work though.

    About a year ago, I installed Win8 successfully onto an external HDD connected via USB. I think this does make a difference since a USB is a flash device and not a physical device.

    Does anyone have a solution to my problem?

    The computer specs I use to install Win8 onto a USB is as following:
    - HP EliteBook 8560w
    - Windows 7 Professional x64
    - Inter Core i7
    - 8GB RAM

    Again, I want to install Win8 x86 onto a USB device from a windows 7 OS. Thanks in advance.
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  3. theog
    Posts : 11,408
    ME/XP/Vista/Win7
       New #2

    Take a look here:
    Windows To Go - Create in Windows 8 Enterprise
    Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk
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  4. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
       New #3

    As you can see from the second tutorial that theog posted, I have done that a while ago. There are 2 things you have to know:

    1. You need a really fast USB stick, else it will perform like molasses. E.g. this one would be a good choice. Important are the 4K read/write performance and the random access time which should be under 1ms.

    2. You need a seperate Windows license key for that installation.

    It might be easier and less costly to put a Linux distro on a stick. For details see here. That I have running on a 16GB stick with 0.7ms access time which I bought for $7 plus change.
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