How to install Windows 10 on a USB flash drive as portable Windows 10?

Updated on July 1, 2023 by Admin to Windows 10 To Go

Is there a way to install windows 10 on a USB flash drive? I basically want to use a 128 GB USB stick to run Windows 10, so that I can just plug it in to a pc and boot into a preinstalled version of Windows 10. Is that possible? Thanks!

Since portable operating systems have many advantages, many people want to install Windows 10 onto a USB flash drive. Unfortunately, Windows Installer does not allow you to install it to a USB flash drive. Is there a way to install windows 10 on a USB flash drive? The answer is positive, you can try a professional portable Windows creation software - Hasleo WinToUSB, here you will find instructions on how to install any edition of Windows 10 onto a USB flash drive and run Windows 10 from the USB flash drive with the help of Hasleo WinToUSB. After the installation is complete, you can install programs and copy files to the USB drive, then you can take the portable Windows 10 USB flash drive to anywhere you want to go and use it on any computer, whether it is a Legacy BIOS or UEFI computer.

 

Tutorial to install Windows 10 on a USB flash drive with Hasleo WinToUSB.

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, download, install and run Hasleo WinToUSB and then click the "Windows To Go USB".

Click Windows To Go creator

Step 2. Click "Select installation source", then click "Browse image file" and select the Windows 10 installation ISO file from the open dialog box as installation source, or choose a CD/DVD drive with a Windows 10 installation DVD inserted as the installation source.

Select installation source for Windows To Go

* Tips: If you don't have a Windows 10 installation ISO, please download Windows 10 installation ISO first.

Step 3. Hasleo WinToUSB scans for and lists installable operating systems, select the edition of Windows you want to install.

Select Windows edition

Step 4. Click "Select destination drive" and select the destination drive from the pop-up drive list. If the drive is not correctly recognized by Hasleo WinToUSB, you can click the refresh drive list button for the program to recognize the drive.

Select destination drive

Step 5. Choose the partition scheme and installation mode you want to use, and you can specify additional drivers or enable BitLocker to encrypt the Windows To Go USB drive according to your needs, then click "Proceed".

Select partition scheme and installation mode

* Tips:

  1. We recommend using the VHD/VHDX installation mode for better compatibility when creating Windows To Go using a USB flash drive.
  2. For more detailed information about "Partition scheme", "Installation mode" and "Enable BitLocker", please refer to: How to create portable Windows 11/10/8/7 from an ISO, WIM, ESD, SWM or VHD(X) file?
  3. If you choose "Keep the existing partition scheme", you need to manually prepare the partitions on the USB drive before this step, and here is the user guide on how to manually prepare partitions for Windows To Go.

Step 6. After clicking "Proceed", a pop-up will appear asking you if you want to format it to continue, click "Yes" if you are sure.

The drive needs to be formatted prompt

Step 7. After clicking "Yes", WinToUSB begins installing Windows to the destination drive.

installing Windows to USB

Step 8. It takes some time to install. After installation restart the computer and change BIOS to boot from your USB drive.

change BIOS to boot from USB

Step 9. Windows 10 normal installation starts up and you have to complete all the installation steps. After that, you can install programs, copy files, etc.

Windows normal installation

 

Conclusion

Follow these simple steps, you can install Windows 10 onto a USB flash drive and then boot Windows 10 form that USB flash drive with the help of Hasleo WinToUSB. As the most professional Windows To Go Creator software, you can also use Hasleo WinToUSB to install or clone Windows 10 to an USB drive as portable Windows.

 

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