{"id":1899,"date":"2015-06-03T20:38:42","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T19:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.hovatek.com\/?p=1899"},"modified":"2022-08-15T22:19:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T22:19:01","slug":"how-to-create-a-portable-version-of-windows-on-a-usb-hard-disk-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-portable-version-of-windows-on-a-usb-hard-disk-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"How to create a portable version of Windows on a USB \/ Hard Disk drive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/How-to-create-a-portable-version-of-Windows-XP-Vista-7-8-10-and-above-on-a-USB-or-Hard-Disk.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/How-to-create-a-portable-version-of-Windows-XP-Vista-7-8-10-and-above-on-a-USB-or-Hard-Disk.jpg\" alt=\"How to create a portable version of Windows on a USB \/ Hard Disk \" width=\"329\" height=\"248\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A portable version of Windows -as the name implies- is a version of Windows you can carry around with you on your storage device. You only need connect such a device to a PC, boot the PC from the device and you have your Windows up and running. You may call it &#8220;Windows-On-The-Go&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>I &#8211; for one &#8211; found this very helpful when a friend was having a major crisis on his PC. The hard disk had crashed and all Windows recovery techniques failed. What I did was to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Remove the Hard Disk<\/li>\n<li>Slave it to a PC as an external Hard Disk Drive (HDD)<\/li>\n<li>Fix the various partitions using the guide at\u00a0http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-repair-corrupt-memory-card-sd-card-or-usb-drive\/<\/li>\n<li>Re-partition the HDD\u00a0into one small (for system) and one large (for boot) partition using the guide at http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-partition-a-hard-disk-or-storage-device-in-windows\/<\/li>\n<li>I then Installed a portable version of Windows on the HDD and slotted it back into the PC&#8230; it worked flawlessly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What are the benefits of using a portable Windows installation?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you do not have a PC of your own, you&#8217;ll find this very helpful as it can act as your own PC that is accessible on any available PC<\/li>\n<li>It can be used to install Windows to corrupted hard disks when Windows CD,DVD &amp; Bootable flash drives (as explained at http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-install-windows-7-with-and-without-the-operating-system-cd-dvd\/\u00a0) fail<\/li>\n<li>For security conscious people, a portable storage device is easier to secure than a laptop \/ desktop PC (speaking in terms of size)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>What are the disadvantages of using a portable Windows installation?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you&#8217;re the careless type then you might find a small portable storage device easier to misplace than a laptop. Hell! I know some people who could misplace an adult elephant in an empty room<\/li>\n<li>The storage device might get corrupted by malware (see http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-recover-corrupted-files-lost-files-from-corrupt-or-accidentally-formatted-usb-devices\/ ) or interruption of read-write processes by pulling out without shutting down or unmounting<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How do I boot a PC from a portable Windows installation device?<\/h3>\n<p>The first thing to do is to connect the portable device to the PC. At this point, there are three options:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Boot into BIOS (keep tapping F10 on boot) and change the boot order (under Configuration) so that USB drive will be at the top<\/li>\n<li>Keep tapping F12 on boot (on other PCs, it might range from F6 &#8211; F12) and select the portable device from the list<\/li>\n<li>A manual technique would be to replace the PC&#8217;s hard disk with the hard disk containing the portable Windows installation<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Can I save \/ transfer files within the portable Windows installation?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, you can do virtually anything you would do on your normal PC on a portable Windows installation.<\/p>\n<h3>What do I need to create a portable Windows installation?<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Windows ISO file (visit the Microsoft website to download this)<\/li>\n<li>WinToUSB (download at <a href=\"https:\/\/hovatek.com\/redirect.php?link=http:\/\/www.easyuefi.com\/wintousb\/\">http:\/\/www.easyuefi.com\/wintousb\/<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>A Windows PC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u00a0How do I create a portable version of Windows on a USB \/ Hard Disk drive?\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p>1. Install and launch WinToUSB<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1901\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-1.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"656\" height=\"518\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>2. Click the browse icon at the top right corner<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1902\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-2.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"656\" height=\"517\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3. In the window that pops up, select the ISO file and click Open<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1903\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-3.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"691\" height=\"515\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>4. Select the version of Windows you wish to install from the list then click Next<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-4.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1904\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-4.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"656\" height=\"518\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>5. Select the storage device you wish to install Windows to from the dropdown menu<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-5.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-5.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"653\" height=\"517\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6. Select the system partition and boot partition then click Next.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A system partition contains the hardware-related files and the Boot folder that tell a computer where to look to start Windows. It contains files like BOOTMGR,\u00a0NTLDR, BOOT.INI etc<\/li>\n<li>A boot partition is a partition that contains Windows Operating System files. For example, if you have a multi-boot computer that contains Windows Vista on one volume and Windows 7 on another, then each of those volumes are considered separate boot partitions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>* Make system partition less than 4GB and boot partition at least 20GB (this is where the Windows OS will be installed to). See\u00a0http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-partition-a-hard-disk-or-storage-device-in-windows\/ for how to partition<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1906\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-6.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"654\" height=\"518\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>7. If you get an error saying &#8220;Already has a version of Windows installed or the same name file has been existed! Please format the destination partition and retry. (0x000000F200AC0000)&#8221; then format the storage device and repeat the procedure<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1907\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-7.jpg\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"518\" height=\"145\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>8. Installation should begin, wait till it reaches 100% and shows completed before disconnecting the storage device<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-8.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1908\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/bpyeki\/uploads\/2015\/06\/how-to-create-a-portable-windows-installation-8.png\" alt=\"how to create a portable windows installation\" width=\"654\" height=\"516\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>How do I fix startup errors that occur after I&#8217;ve started using a portable Windows installation?<\/h3>\n<p>Simply follow the guide at\u00a0http:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-a-computer-that-will-not-startup-or-boot\/<\/p>\n<p>Hovatek&#8230;.just a button away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A portable version of Windows -as the name implies- is a version of Windows you can carry around with you on your storage device. You only need connect such a device to a PC, boot the PC from the device and you have your Windows up and running. You may call it &#8220;Windows-On-The-Go&#8221;. I &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[818],"tags":[80,126],"class_list":["post-1899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-laptop-desktop","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1899\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hovatek.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}