Windows 10 on a USB stick

[whs]

For those that are interested I have posted a tutorial on the tenforums that explains how to install Windows 10 on an external device.

Windows 10 to go - without Enterprise

PS: Just ran it on my laptop. Boot in 10 sec and shutdown in 2 sec. Fantastic !! Unfortunately my desktop does not boot from USB3 - only USB2 and eSata.

 

[JRockZ]

How about another link or cut and paste that we can see??
im registered at ten forums but cant open that still.
Is this for running right from the usb stick? or for installing to a drive?
I was looking for something like this this morning as I just got a new 32gb thumb drive so I have like 5 free unused thumbdrives now that everythings copied to the 32gb.

 

[whs]

Try this link

Windows 10 Forums

And yes, it is for running Windows 10 TP directly from the stick. Take the stick with the fastest access time. Check that with HD Tune.

 

[JRockZ]

Ok great and nope still getting

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Ive already tested speeds thanks WHS!!

 

[whs]

Sorry for the troubles. I have made a PDF and uploaded it to my OneDrive. If you left click on the icon, you can read it in your browser. If you right click on the icon, you can download the PDF.

 

[JRockZ]

Thank you very much WHS!!! Appreciate it

 

[whs]

You are welcome. Any time.

 

[JRockZ]

WHS once the stick is created it is only bootable from the specific machine you set it up on correct? Not like a Ubuntu stick you can boot from almost any pc from what I gather?
I just skimmed tut real fast so far,, waik is 4+hr d/l for my slow internet ughh!

 

[whs]

No, you can boot it on any PC that can boot from USB.

 

[whs]

I have uploaded the Imagex folder to my OneDrive. That is all you need from the WAIK and it is only a few KBs. It is the 64bit version. If you need 32bit, let me know.

Right click on the OneDrive icon and download the folder. Then put the imagex.exe on your desktop.

 

[cmmtch]

Win 8 iso?

Thanks for the post whs, I downloaded and started following the pdf, so far so good until Step 3 installing the BD ROM. That step directs to mount a Win8 iso, I don't have a Win8 iso, maybe I missed it but I thought this would work for Win7.

I've downloaded the imagex from your onedrive and am ready (I think) but the Win8 iso direction stopped me from going on.

I'm using Win7 Home Premium 64x. Also have Win7 Pro 64x on a laptop.

 

[whs]

That's a typo in the tutorial. It should read Windows 10. I will correct that.

Also, I found out later that my imagex.exe may not work on your PC. It does create the bootable stick but there may be a booting problem. Try it anyhow. I would be interested in the result. If it does not work, you will have to download your own WAIK - unfortunately.

 

[cmmtch]

Thank you for the very fast response, that was my first thought that it was a typo. I wanted to ask just to be sure though.

Again thank you very much for the post, very easy to follow instructions, and putting it all on your onedrive

Edit: I will post back my results, may not be today but I will report back.

 

[cmmtch]

whs, I've done all things to get it to work except having Win10. I don't know what I was thinking when I started maybe that I could install it on a stick from your directions to try it out, I don't know and can't explain it.

Couple things, I got the same error after downloading and using WAIK as I did using the imagex from your onedrive (only took about 10 minutes for the download, I have a pretty good connection so that was no problem)

The error occurred when I was using the command prompt to transfer from BD ROM to the USB stick. It was worth a try anyway, wish I hadn't been so thick about it and realized I needed a Win10 iso to start out with to get it work.

Thanks for putting a tutorial together, I'm sure it would have worked for me if I actually had Win10, I'm happy with Win7 but at some point in the future I'll have to move on to the next OS.

 

[whs]

Hi Sreve, this is just supposed to be a fun project. Here is another similar (and easier) one if you want to have a really useful OS on a stick - watch the video demo in the tutorial.

Tutorial on One Drive

Left click on the OneDrive icon if you want to read it in the berowser, right click when you want to download the PDF.

 

[Anshad Edavana]

Nice tutorial indeed but the requirement to download huge WAIK for Windows is waste of bandwidth. Those who run "Win8.0/8.1/10" already has new DISM which is the successor of old Imagex. The user doesn't need to download anything simply to apply the wim.

DISM Image Management Command-Line Options

DISM /Apply-Image can apply the Win10 image to USB.

The version of DISM included with 7 doesn't have WIM apply functions but still there is no need to download full WAIK. Just download and run the ADK Setup from Download Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1 Update from Official Microsoft Download Center and deselect everything except "Deployment Tools". Then the download will be reduced to around 55MB and when the setup is done, there will be "Windows kits\Windows ADK\Deployment and imagingTools" Command Prompt on start menu. Use that command prompt to execute Win8 version of DISM commands including WIM apply operations, Bcdboot etc.

Example : Dism /apply-image /imagefile:H:\Sources\Install.wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:F:\

Where "H:" is the virtual CD drive and "F:" is the USB stick.

 

[whs]

Very good point. With your permission I will add that to the tutorial. Thanks for posting that.

 

[Anshad Edavana]

With your permission I will add that to the tutorial.

Of course you can .

 

[whs]

Thanks

 

[Anshad Edavana]

Hi whs

Since "Win8" family can mount ISO files without the help of third party tools, i would also recommend to include a link to ISO Images - Mount or Unmount in step 3.