Some of us love to install and carry Windows on USB Drives. But Microsoft does not support these scenarios. Booting Windows from external devices is unsupported, and such installations are not supported.
Microsoft does not support booting Windows from external drives
If you do decide to install Windows to a USB drive, a Flash Drive(UFD) drive, ESATA drive or store Windows Native Boot VHD on USB/UFD drive, it will not be supported by Microsoft.
The reasons why this is not supported have been mentioned in KB2485453:
- Activation issues.
- Potential Boot Path support issues.
- You must disable the device write cache or click ‘safe removal’ before unplugging the cable. Otherwise, data loss could occur.
However, some specialized products support this type of scenario, viz., installation on external drives :
- Windows Embedded supports this scenario
- Microsoft Hyper-V Server supports the ability to boot from a USB flash device (UFD). Booting Hyper-V Server from a USB flash drive is only supported for OEMs.
Just so you know.
Can Windows be booted from external hard drive?
Yes, Windows can be booted from an external hard drive. Windows natively supports running the operating system from an external drive, making it a useful option for those who find replacing or upgrading internal drives challenging.
Why can’t Windows boot from USB drive?
If Windows can’t boot from a USB drive, it might be due to incorrect BIOS/UEFI settings, a faulty USB drive, or corrupted installation files. Ensure the USB drive is recognized and verify that the BIOS/UEFI boot order includes it.
How to convert external hard drive to bootable?
To convert an external hard drive to a bootable drive using Command Prompt, you can use the DISKPART utility to format the drive and make it active. Then, copy the OS installation files onto the drive. This method ensures the external drive is properly configured to boot your system.
How do I fix Windows not booting from SSD?
If Windows is not booting from your SSD, access your BIOS settings and set the SSD as the boot device. Restart your PC and open the BIOS menu by pressing a key like F2 or Del. Navigate to the boot order section and select your SSD as the primary boot device. Save and exit BIOS.
Informative! :)
i like it…
Thats awful funny since I boot off of a fhantom black 2 tb hard drive hooked to whichever machine I want to use I boot up win 7 ultimate 64bit on all of them you must have a very old pc if you cannot set it to boot without harddrive in it only cd / dvd drive s
Also, you can get it for free if you use an external drive
Windows 8 has this feature Windows To Go. Windows To Go allows users to install Windows 8 on a USB device, and take the bootable copy of the operating system with them.
you did not get the concept right it seems. windows 7 onwards supports installation from USB, they do have official tool at microsoft market place as well.
point is we are not talking about installation. We are talking about “booting native OS” off from a USB stick natively, like from an internal HDD storage medium.
Being said about “Windows to Go” feature, that also will not boot the windows 8 OS from USB for a normal end user. the feaute allows you to boot almost any computer into Windows 8 using a USB thumb drive. Dubbed Windows To Go, it is effectively a Windows live CD. And as far i know “it’s an enterprise tool for IT administrators.”
What it means vaguely is that a live cd type usb boot will enable u to connect the USB to any PC and boot to a relatively native running OS environment on that PC. and since cloud services like Windows live if u use to signin, u will have access to all ur cloud data, including mails, music and synced files.
I hope this help you understand the feature.
if im wrong, or if my information is unclear, always welcome..
Mister Lee / http://www.iamlee.com
ofcourse there are all possible ways to boot, but however Microsoft does not “support” doing that. being said, yours must be one among those exceptional cases, however in most other cases if u try booting to the OS from different PCs using same usb stick, mostly we end up with hardware incompatibilities, Activation issues and BSOD.
I hope this help you understand the feature.
if im wrong, or if my information is unclear, always welcome..
Mister Lee / http://www.iamlee.com
i dont get it?? so why do we need/have HDDs in the first place when we can run windows on solid external drives?
I wanted to create all installation of windows on my external HDD but seems not avalaible…:(