Can I run Windows 10 from a USB drive?

Can I run Windows 10 from a USB drive

Can I run Windows 10 from a USB drive? The title really says it all, right? In this article, you’ll learn how to run Windows 10 from a USB flash drive. Microsoft Windows is the most popular and most used computer Operating System (OS) in the world.

An operating system is a primary software that manages and intermediates between hardware and software resources. They are considered to be the Godfathers of computer machinery.

Table of Contents

  1. Why do you need to learn how to run Windows 10 from a flash drive?
  2. How to install and run Windows 10 from a USB flash drive?
    1. A step-by-step guide to installing and running Windows 10 from a USB hard drive:
  3. Wrap Up

Why do you need to learn how to run Windows 10 from a flash drive?

Sometimes, bugs may appear in Windows 10 operating system for one reason or another. There may be different reasons causing problems in your OS. For instance, an issue may appear in your Windows 10 due to incorrect installation of software, accidental deletion of a critical file, or due to some malware activity.

Small problems or bugs in the operating system can be fixed quickly, but more severe issues may lead to system crashing and sometimes loss of valuable data. To avoid such a troublesome situation, it is always a good idea to keep a copy of Windows on your flash drive.

You may be wondering; can I run Windows from a flash drive? Well, the answer is YES! However, the process of installing and running Windows from a USB drive is not as simple as it may sound and varies for different Windows versions.

Therefore, we have crafted for you the entire process (step-by-step) on how to run Windows 10 on a USB flash drive.

How to install and run Windows 10 from a USB flash drive?

The aforementioned “Windows To Go” feature is also available in Microsoft Windows 10. However, like its predecessor, this option is not available in all versions of Windows 10.

Windows 10 Education and Windows 10 Enterprise provide you with the flexibility to install and run Windows from a USB drive. If you do not have either of the two versions, do not worry – we have got you covered.

You can use “WinToUSB” to install and run Windows 10 from USB hard drive. “WinToUSB” developers have updated the software to work with Windows 10. The process to install and run Windows 10 from a USB flash drive is straightforward and below are the steps required.

A step-by-step guide to installing and running Windows 10 from a USB hard drive:

  1. Download and install the free version of “WinToUSB” on your computer. Please note that the free version does not give the liberty of installing Windows 10 Professional or Windows 10 Enterprise. However, you can create an installation of Windows 10 Home using the free version of “WinToUSB”.
  2. Attach a USB disk to your computer. Ascertain that the drive does not have any valuable data, and the USB has around at least 16 GB capacity.
  3. Run “WinToUSB” and select the “Installation from an image file” option.
  4. Browse your computer and provide the location of your Windows 10 image file (.iso)
  5. Now, select the version of MS Windows 10 that you want to clone onto your thumb drive. If you have the Enterprise Edition of the software, you will see all the different versions of Windows 10, but if you are using the free version, you will observe the “Windows 10 Home” version. Select the version and click “Next”.
  6. Now you will need to provide the destination where you want to install Windows 10. Select your USB drive from the drop-down menu.
  7. A pop-up message will appear before you now. You can select the MBR for BIOS option and press “Yes”.
  8. The next screen will show you the option for Legacy to choose the Installation mode. You need to pick from “Legacy”, “VHD”, and “VHDX”.
  9. Click “Next” now. The process will take some time, depending on the build and kind of your USB drive.
  10. Once the progress bar reaches 100%, you can safely remove the flash drive.
  11. Now you have a working copy of Windows 10 on your USB disk. You can take it anywhere, plug it in and enjoy using your Windows on any computer.

You can also use Rufus – another free software to install and run Windows 10 from a USB drive.

Wrap Up

By following the procedures mentioned above, you can easily install and run Windows on USB without any external help.

It is a simple and straightforward process and we hope this article has been helpful for you if you’re wondering how to run Windows on a flash drive.

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