Hello,

I've just installed Windows 10 using WinToUsb Free edition on a Sandisk CZ80 64GB. It was super easy to install (all thanks to WinToUSB) and my new Windows environment works like a charm (very fast!).

There are just a couple of questions I still have... could anyone share his/her opinion please?

1. Flash disk lifetime. Is the limited number of write cycles of a non-certified USB stick like the Sandisk, something to worry about? I've turned off defragmentation, search-indexing and hibernation, which should minimize unnecessary writing according to some websites I've googled. But of course there is still activity to the USB disk every few seconds due to background processes, so I wonder, how worried should I am? I'm hoping to use the Windows stick perhaps about 1,5 hours every day.
   
2. VHDx support. I'm using the latest version (2.7 I think) of WinToUSB. VHDx is one of the shown options, but it is greyed out. How can I make it available?
   
3. Backups. Does it make sense to make backups of the VHD file? Or is my windows-to-go really "tied" to the stick, and won't I be able to recover it if the flash disk would fail and I only have a backup of the VHD file?
   
4. Sandisk vs. USB drive. How does a stick like the Sandisk CZ80 compare to a "simple" (WD elements or WD passport Ultra or so) USB 3.0 drive? Flash stick is of course much more compact and much more expensive per GB, but how does performance and reliability compare? Perhaps a USB hard drive is more reliable since it doesn't suffer from limited write cycles?
   
5. Disconnections. What happens if I (or my 1,5 years old toddler running around) would accidentally unplug the Sandisk? Am I really using Windows-to-go (despite the VHD approach) which supposedly would "pause" for 60 seconds? Or do I risk damage?
   

Hi there.

I would like to install in my HP Laptop 8740 a SSD evo850 and use the currend HDD with WIN7 pro x64 installed on it as an external USB 3.0 Boot HDD.
On the internal SSD I will install WIN10 pro x64.
I would like to make a dual boot, WIN7 external and WIN10 internal.
My question is: can I make my internal HDD external bootable without loss of my data and installed programms?
I have read the instructions but didn't find my answer (or didn't understand it ).

Thanx in advance!

Is there any way to add drivers during configuration process?

I have successfully installed WintoUSB / Win 7 Ultimate on a WD Passport 1TB USB drive running off of a Dell Laptop (Latitude e6120 ?).  The laptop only has USB 2, no USB 3.0.  After many updates (no problems) and then the SP1 big update I get BSOD "Stop: 0x00000050" after the Win7 splash screen. There is no further info as to which file or driver is causing this. So then I found the Win 7 ISO with SP1 on it already.  This seemed to work as well, then after a couple of updates...BSOD!  It will boot in Safe Mode. There is no minidump file generated. I need to check if minidump is enabled. I have uninstalled the last 4 Windows updates, but one of them, KB2515325, keeps re-installing itself on reboot even though I have selected "No automatic install..."  This is suspicious.

I've seen lots of threads about BSOD from trying to boot WintoUSB/Win7 from USB 3.0 but nothing like I have described.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Todd K.

I purchased a WD mypassport ultra 3tb usb 3.0 external hard drive and wanted to partition this drive into multiple OS partitions for example Windows 81. / Windows 10 / Server 2012 / Remaining space
However when I select the drive in wintousb i get an error sector size not supported (0x057800c106360000)
I have tried to partition using GPT and MBR does not make a difference still get this sector size not supported error
Even with 1 partition i get this error... Any Help???

Why does wintousb automatically format my USB sticks? I'd like to partition and format myself so I could explore and use various options. Thanks.

Sorry if I missed this in the docs (rtfm) but can someone explain what the three options (Legacy, VHD, VHDx I think) are after formating the device? I won't get overwhelmed if you give a lot of detail

HI guys,

I succesfuly installed windows 7 on a 16GB usb flash drive, but when I try to install it on my laptop everything goes fine untill it stucks at "setup is installing devices".
I left it more than 24 hours but it didn't move along, what could be the problem???

Hi,

I've just tried WinToUsb with my old harddrive via usb 2.0 connection, i've installed win 8.1 and surprised how fast it is with an old drive and a usb 2.0.

I'm now planning to buy Sandisk Extreme CZ80 and will install windows 10 64 bit, and run it from my laptops usb 3.0.

Does it have a trim support or is it reliable ? How long it should last, i will use it for web develpment and will not copy-erase large amounts of data, also will disable superfetch options to make the usb flash life better.

Has anybody used the flash drive for a year and had problem ?

Thanks.

Hello,

I have a MacBook Air and I'm using win to usb to run Windows 10 via a 64Gb USB stick.

I use it mainly for a few older games and it's running well however I have a couple of questions:

When I boot into Windows I've noticed the C drive is created from a VHD file contained on the USB stick. The file and the remaining space show as the D drive. Some things such as the DX9 files I need for older games install to the virtual C drive so space is very tight. Is it 
possible to resize the virtual drive? Does running software from the VHD incur any noticeable performance decrease over running directly from the stick?

Secondly I've tried to update Windows 10 however after downloading the updates Windows states it can not install to a virtual hard drive. How can I fix this?

Thanks

Mack