If you need to create Windows to go USB drive and take your own OS everywhere, you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This freeware allows you to create Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7 portable USB stick in simple steps.
For many users, a Windows to go USB drive is very important and necessary. It provides an easy and convenient way for workers to take their own familiar operating system environment with them and boot any computer on business travel, instead of carrying the huge laptop. Besides, having a complete copy of your Windows on a USB stick could also be handy for backup purposes during any OS crashes. Furthermore, it can help you out if you frequently use the public machines that are lack of your preferences or applications.
To help users create a Windows to go USB drive, the Microsoft provides the “Windows To Go” feature, but it only works in Windows 8.1 Enterprise, Windows 8 Enterprise, Windows 10 Enterprise, and Windows 10 Education. If your system is included in the operating systems, you can use it to create a Windows To Go workspace and boot computers from a USB-connected external drive. Besides, you have to use a USB drive certified by the Microsoft, otherwise, you cannot select it as a destination drive during the process.
What if you don’t have either the compatible operating system or the certified USB drive? In such a case, you can switch to the free partition manager: AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Its “Windows To Go Creator” is available for all editions of Windows 10, 8, 7 operating system. Besides, certified or non-certified USB drive is supported. It breaks out all limitations of Microsoft’s “Windows To Go” feature and is a great choice for users to make Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 portable USB drive.
Now, you can free download the software and check out the detailed guide on how to make a portable Windows workspace step by step.
Important: ☞The 3.0 USB drive is more recommended because of its faster read and write speed. ☞ All data on the USB drive will be erased, so please move data to another drive for a backup. ☞ Make sure the Windows ISO files are prepared well.
Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard on your computer. Click “Tools” in the top toolbar, and choose “Windows To Go Creator”.
Step 2. Then, choose the first option “Create Windows ToGo for personal computer”, and click “Next”.
Note: if you want to boot Windows from USB on Mac, you can choose the second option.
Step 3. Choose “Create Windows To Go with system disc/ISO” and select the prepared ISO file. Click “Next” to proceed.
Step 4. Select the USB drive you have prepared and click “Proceed".
Step 5. When receiving the data loss not, click “YES” to continue.
With the Windows ISO files, it is easy to create a Windows to go USB drive via above steps. However, some users don’t have Windows ISO file. Thus, they would ask “can I create Windows to go USB drive without Windows ISO file?”. Fortunately, you can create a Windows to go USB drive with current operating system after you upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Just choose “Create Windows to Go with current system” in the step 3 and finish the rest as prompts.
One thing you should note: this method is actually transferring the system partition to the USB drive. So, please ensure the prepared USB is large enough to hold the system drive. If not, you can shrink boot partition first.
This is how to create Windows to go USB stick via AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. You can also use an SSD or HDD as the target device to make them bootable, which would be much faster than USB flash drive. Besides, this software also allows you to make a Windows repair bootable CD/DVD/USB drive via “Make Bootable Media”function, with which you can troubleshoot some computer boot problems and recover data when the native system fails to boot.