One of the best features of Windows 8, also remained in Windows 10, is called WindowsToGo, which allows you to install the entire operating system on a USB stick or an external drive, convenient to carry around and use on any PC (compatible with Windows 8). Too bad that to install Windows 8 or 10 on a USB drive you need the Windows 10 or 8.1 Enterprise edition, the most expensive, the one dedicated to companies.
Therefore, those who use the normal version Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Pro cannot, in theory, create a USB drive with Windows To Go.
In a past article we had seen how it was still possible to install Windows 8 on a portable USB stick with Windows To Go, but the procedure, as well as long, also required the download of Windows 8 Enterprise in trial version.
Now let's see how you can put Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 complete on a USB stick or an external drive through a function of the Aomei Partition Assistant program, a popular disk partitioning tool.
Aomei Partition Assistant has a new feature called Windows To Go Creator that allows you to install a complete corporate environment on an external disk or USB stick.
It therefore becomes possible to run a full Windows 10 or 8 environment without having to buy Windows Enterprise Edition .
The requirements are now only an empty USB drive (which will be formatted) with at least 13 GB of space and a Windows 8 installation disk or ISO file that can be freely downloaded (if it has already been purchased).
The best thing about this tool is its wizard interface which makes everything very simple and affordable for everyone.
1) First of all then download and install the free version of the Aomei Partition Assistant Standard program .
If not already done, also download the ISO of Windows 8 / 8.1 or download the ISO of Windows 10 and put it in an easy to reach folder.
2) Launch Partition Assistant and, in the left pane under Wizards, click on the Windows To Go Creator option to open the wizard.
3) Select the USB drive to be used, then press the Browse button and select the Windows 8 installation file, ie the ISO downloaded.
At this stage, if you are using the Windows 10 or 8 DVD, you can also select the install.wim file located in the Sources folder.
4) Press the Yes button when WindowsToGo Creator asks for permission to delete all the data on the USB drive.
5) WindowsToGo Creator extracts the install.WIM file from the ISO, formats the drive and prepares this special version of Windows 8.
The process may take an hour or two or even longer depending on the speed of the USB drive.
Once Windows To Go Creator completes its activity, you will see the message " Operation completely successful " and you can close the program.
Just now attach the USB drive, restart the PC and access the BIOS settings to change the boot order of the computer asking to use the removable device (see here how to change the boot order of the computer) to see loading Windows 10 or 8 in "portable" version .
It is now possible to start the Windows 10 or 8 system just prepared with WindowsToGo by connecting the USB stick or external drive to any computer.
Note that although 'Windows To Go' works with USB 2.0 ports, you get better and decent performance only if you connect the USB drive to an integrated USB 3.0 port on your computer.
Alternatively you can use the WinToUSB program, easy to use and very convenient for copying windows 10, 7 and 8 on a USB stick even with all the data
