My apologies for taking so long to respond, I have had other things taking up my time.
I tried the new version of the beta. I tried to "clone" the existing installed Win8.1 from the internal drive to an external USB HDD. It appeared to run, but when I tried to boot the external drive, I got the Blue Screen Of Death and an error message saying inaccessible boot device.
*****
In the mean time, I managed to do something that did work. (Unfortunately not with WinToUSB)
When I first bought the computer, the first thing I did was use the "Make Recovery Disks" function to create a set of backup DVDs. While the Recovery partition seems to resist attempts and playing with the contents (I have been reluctant to do anything too weird to it, as I did not want to damage it) the Recovery DVD set is easy to work with. I copied the contents of the Recovery DVD set into a folder, and discovered that the main installation file is a ".swm" file set, or a ".wim" file that is broken up into pieces small enough for DVDs. I was able to use DISM to apply the installX.swm to a USB HDD, and get it to install and boot.
After doing this, I used a backup software application to make a compressed copy of the external USB drive. So now, I can very quickly and easily "restore" this to an external USB at my whim. I have thus achieved my goal of being able to do exactly that, and have a "disposable playground" that I can play with and do not have to worry about messing up, as I can make a new one anytime with a couple of mouse clicks and about twenty minutes. (Hurrah!)
*****
One thing though, I thought that if you had a "real" "win2go" and you booted from it, that the existing HDD on the host computer was supposed to be inaccessible. (this would actually be desirable for my purposes) However, I have full access to the existing internal HDD when booting from the external drive.
*****
I don't know how easy this would be for you to do, but something that may make WinToUSB work for more people would be for it to be able to work with .swm files if a user has that on their DVD.
*****
I took a look at my Recovery DVD files, and I can not find a "bin" folder or a "boot.wim" (or .swm) file. There is a "boot.sdi" file in a directory labeled "boot".
*****
I appreciate your time and efforts to assist me, so even though I have achieved my goal, if there is anything else I can do to assist you with testing WinToUSB, or tests you would like me to try, please let me know.
I tried the new version of the beta. I tried to "clone" the existing installed Win8.1 from the internal drive to an external USB HDD. It appeared to run, but when I tried to boot the external drive, I got the Blue Screen Of Death and an error message saying inaccessible boot device.
*****
In the mean time, I managed to do something that did work. (Unfortunately not with WinToUSB)
When I first bought the computer, the first thing I did was use the "Make Recovery Disks" function to create a set of backup DVDs. While the Recovery partition seems to resist attempts and playing with the contents (I have been reluctant to do anything too weird to it, as I did not want to damage it) the Recovery DVD set is easy to work with. I copied the contents of the Recovery DVD set into a folder, and discovered that the main installation file is a ".swm" file set, or a ".wim" file that is broken up into pieces small enough for DVDs. I was able to use DISM to apply the installX.swm to a USB HDD, and get it to install and boot.
After doing this, I used a backup software application to make a compressed copy of the external USB drive. So now, I can very quickly and easily "restore" this to an external USB at my whim. I have thus achieved my goal of being able to do exactly that, and have a "disposable playground" that I can play with and do not have to worry about messing up, as I can make a new one anytime with a couple of mouse clicks and about twenty minutes. (Hurrah!)
*****
One thing though, I thought that if you had a "real" "win2go" and you booted from it, that the existing HDD on the host computer was supposed to be inaccessible. (this would actually be desirable for my purposes) However, I have full access to the existing internal HDD when booting from the external drive.
*****
I don't know how easy this would be for you to do, but something that may make WinToUSB work for more people would be for it to be able to work with .swm files if a user has that on their DVD.
*****
Quote:"before retry, please remove the boot.sdi and boot.wim file located in the bin folder under the installation directory. "
I took a look at my Recovery DVD files, and I can not find a "bin" folder or a "boot.wim" (or .swm) file. There is a "boot.sdi" file in a directory labeled "boot".
*****
I appreciate your time and efforts to assist me, so even though I have achieved my goal, if there is anything else I can do to assist you with testing WinToUSB, or tests you would like me to try, please let me know.