Installing Windows onto a USB Drive

Last Updated 2020-09-15

In light of the recent surge in the popularity of Windows 10 Ameliorated as evidenced by its presence on YouTube and the widespread requirement of Windows 10 for various educational and professional activities, I have crafted a comprehensive guide for installing Windows onto an external drive. This method offers a more adaptable setup, particularly beneficial for privacy-conscious Linux users. Notably, this version of Windows preserves its state across reboots and operates discreetly, making it virtually undetectable by proctoring software due to its installation directly onto the hardware.

Prerequisites

Before you begin the installation process, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

• A USB drive with a minimum of 128GB of storage capacity.
• A Windows 10 ISO file obtained from a trusted source like the TechBench website.

Instructions

Follow these steps to install Windows onto your USB drive:

1. Prepare a Windows Virtual Machine (VM)

If you don’t have access to a computer with Windows installed, you can create a Windows virtual machine (VM) using software like virt-manager. Within the VM, you will be able to set up Windows on your USB drive.

• Ensure that you enable the passthrough of USB devices to the virtual machine. This will allow you to connect your USB drive to the VM.

2. Download the Windows 10 ISO

Inside the virtual machine, download the same Windows 10 ISO file that you obtained from the TechBench website. This ISO file will be used for the installation onto your USB drive.

3. Create a Bootable USB Drive

To create a bootable Windows USB drive, we recommend using a tool like Rufus. Rufus supports creating a “Windows To Go” USB drive, which allows you to install and run Windows from an external drive.

• Launch Rufus and select your USB drive as the target device.
• In the “Boot selection” section, select the Windows 10 ISO you downloaded in step 2.
• Choose the “Windows To Go” option as the partition scheme.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to create the bootable USB drive. This process may take some time, so be patient.

4. Install Windows on the USB Drive

Once Rufus has completed the process, you can now boot your physical computer from the USB drive. Access your computer’s boot menu and select the USB drive as the boot device. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows onto your USB drive, just like you would on an internal hard drive.

5. Finalize Windows Setup

After the installation is complete, you can customize your Windows settings and set up user accounts. You now have a portable Windows installation on your USB drive that you can use on any compatible computer.

Notes

• Ensure that the USB drive you use for this installation has a minimum capacity of 128GB to accommodate the Windows installation and any additional software and data you may need.

• Download the Windows 10 ISO file from a reputable source to ensure its authenticity and security. The TechBench website is a trusted source for Windows ISOs.

• It’s important to consider the purpose of your Windows installation when choosing an external drive. If you will primarily be using it as a testing environment, I highly recommend purchasing a fast and small flash drive that can fit flush in a USB port to get decent speed without drawing attention to yourself (if your tests are proctored). Alternatively, if you need to use Windows for specific classes or projects, I would suggest considering an external SSD or a larger, faster USB-C flash drive for better performance.

• You can encrypt the Windows USB using Bitlocker to ensure the security of the data stored on the drive. However, if you do not plan to store sensitive information on the drive, it is not necessary to encrypt it. You may also suffer from a performance penalty at boot time if you are using a slower flash drive to run Windows. That being said, it’s a good option to consider if you want an extra layer of security.

References

For more information and detailed instructions, you can refer to the following resources:

• Rufus to Create Windows To Go USB Drive
• Windows 10 Ameliorated
  • Please note that this article focuses on a standard Windows installation and not Windows 10 Ameliorated
• TechBench for downloading Windows ISOs
• virt-manager for creating Windows virtual machines.
• The Ultimate Windows Utility for debloating Windows post-install.