Portable Windows can bring convenience to our work and digital life. This tutorial will detail how to Clone Windows 11 to a USB drive as a portable Windows 11 with Hasleo WinToUSB, covering the following aspects:
Windows 11, the latest version of Microsoft's operating system, is compatible with PCs and tablets. Announced on June 24, 2021, it launched globally on October 5, 2021. Any device meeting the Windows 11 system requirements can install it. Windows 11 introduces many innovative features, like the redesigned Start Menu and Android app support, while improving legacy functionalities. It supports hybrid work environments and focuses on increasing end-user productivity in a flexible and changeable experience. The following are Windows 11 system requirements:
| Processor | 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or system on a chip (SoC) |
| RAM | 4 gigabytes (GB) or greater |
| Storage | 64 GB or greater free storage space is required to install Windows 11 |
| System firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| TPM | Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 |
| Graphics card | Compatible with DirectX 12 or later, and a WDDM 2.0 driver |
| Display | High-definition (720p) display, 9-inch or large monitor, 8 bits per color channel |
| Internet connection | Internet connectivity is necessary to perform updates, and to download and use certain online features |
If you work in different places and want to use the same Windows environment across multiple offices, clone Windows to a USB drive, carrying it to your different office locations. Then boot Windows from the drive to avoid reinstalling the same Windows OS and office software on each computer.
Another use case is when you want to create a full backup of your current Windows OS and work environment, so that you can quickly restore them after a crash. In this case, you can use Windows backup software to back up the Windows OS, and another solution is to clone the Windows and office environment to a USB drive.
If you have installed Windows 11 on your computer’s internal hard drive, you may want to clone it to a USB drive to create a portable Windows 11 workspace. For this, a third-party tool like Hasleo WinToUSB helps you clone Windows 11 to the drive. Hasleo WinToUSB is a professional portable Windows creation tool. The portable Windows 11 created by it can run on computers not meeting the minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11.
Are you looking for a tool to clone Windows 11 to a USB drive as a portable Windows 11? Hasleo WinToUSB is the world's first software to clone Windows to a USB drive as a portable Windows. With this tool, you can easily clone a Windows 11 installation from an internal hard drive to a USB drive, creating a portalbe Windows 11. Please download and install the software before heading to the next steps.
Step 1. Connect the USB drive to your computer, and run Hasleo WinToUSB. Click the "Windows To Go USB".
Step 2. Click "Select installation source" and then select "Current Windows OS" from the pop-up list.
Step 3. Click "Select destination drive" and choose the target drive from the pop-up list.
Step 4. Select your preferred partition scheme and installation mode. Optionally, you may specify additional drivers or enable BitLocker encryption for the Windows To Go drive, then click "Proceed".
* Tips: For detailed information about "Partition scheme", "Installation mode" and "Enable BitLocker", please refer to: How to Clone an Existing Windows to a USB Drive as a Windows To Go Workspace?
Step 5. After clicking "Proceed", a confirmation dialog will appear asking whether to continue formatting the drive. Click "Yes" if you accept the operation.
Step 6. After clicking "Yes", WinToUSB initiates Windows cloning on the destination drive. Cloning time depends on the size of the data being cloned.
Step 7. Wait for the cloning process to finish. Upon successful completion, restart the computer and enter UEFI/BIOS settings to boot from the USB drive.
To boot the computer from a USB drive, set it as the first boot device in the UEFI/BIOS settings. How do you get into the UEFI/BIOS setup and change the boot order? Press a specific key to enter the UEFI/BIOS settings during startup. The key varies by brands of computers and motherboards. Usually you can find it in your motherboard manual. The following diagram displays BIOS/UEFI access keys for popular computer manufacturers and common motherboard brands.
Step 1. Connect the USB to the computer and turn it on, then press the specific key to enter UEFI/BIOS.
Step 2. After accessing the BIOS/UEFI interface, change the boot order to set your Windows 11 To Go USB drive first.
Step 3. Windows 11 starts running after installation. The Windows OS on the USB drive is cloned from a fully installed system, so you don't need to wait long before you boot into Windows.
As mentioned above, Hasleo WinToUSB, the world's first third-party software to create Windows To Go, can easily Clone Windows 11 to a USB drive as portable Windows 11. In addition, you can use Hasleo WinToUSB to install Windows 11 from a Windows 11 installation ISO file on a USB drive.
As a professional portable Windows creation tool, Hasleo WinToUSB supports creating portable systems from Windows 11, 10, and 8 installations.
