How to create Windows To Go with a non-certified USB flash drive?

Updated on August 20, 2024 by Admin to Portable Windows Creator

Recently, I noticed that Windows To Go creator has now appeared in the Windows 10 Pro control panel, I was so excited, because I had a chance to create a Windows To Go. I didn't have an external hard drive, so I plugged a USB flash drive into the computer and opened Windows To Go Creator from control panel. Windows To Go Creator recognized the USB stick, but when I clicked on the stick listed, Windows To Go Creator said "This is a removable drive and isn't compatible with Windows To Go. Choose a drive that meets the required hardware specifications.". Does anyone knows how I can create Windows To Go on this non-certified USB flash drive?

Windows To Go can not Non-certified USB stick

Windows To Go is an enterprise feature of Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8, and Microsoft only allows users to use Windows To Go Certified Drives to create Widnows To Go. If you use a non-certified USB flash drive to create Windows, you'll probably encounter the error prompting an incompatible issue.

The following are the USB drives currently certified for use as Windows To Go drives:

  • Imation IronKey™ Workspace W300 / W500 / W700
  • Kingston DataTraveler Workspace
  • Spyrus Portable Workplace
  • Spyrus Secure Portable Workplace
  • Spyrus WorkSafe
  • Super Talent RC4 / RC8
  • WD My Passport Enterprise

Some of these drives listed above have been discontinued, but that doesn't matter because we'll go into detail how to create Windows To Go with a non-certified USB drive.

Now we know that the Microsoft's official Windows To Go Creator Wizard does not allow us to install Windows to a non-certified USB flash drive. Well, don't worry, we can use a third-party Windows To Go Creator tool such as Hasleo WinToUSB to achieve this.

As the world's first third-party Windows To Go creation tool, Hasleo WinToUSB not only allows the use of any edtition of Windows 11/10/8/7 to create Windows To Go, but also allows the use of a non-certified USB flash drive to create Windows To Go. Below we will explain in detail how to create Windows 11 To Go using Windows 11 Pro and a non-certified USB flash drive.

 

Tutorial to create Windows To Go with a non-certified USB flash drive.

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to the computer, download, install and run Hasleo WinToUSB and then click the "Windows To Go USB".

Click Windows To Go creator

Step 2. Click "Select installation source", then click "Browse image file" and select the Windows 11 installation ISO file from the open dialog box as installation source, or choose a CD/DVD drive with a Windows 11 installation DVD inserted as the installation source.

Select installation source for Windows To Go

* Tips: If you don't have a Windows installation ISO, please download Windows installation ISO first.

Step 3. Hasleo WinToUSB scans for and lists installable operating systems, select the edition of Windows you want to install.

Select Windows edition

Step 4. Click "Select destination drive" and select the destination drive from the pop-up drive list. If the drive is not correctly recognized by Hasleo WinToUSB, you can click the refresh drive list button for the program to recognize the drive.

Select destination drive

Step 5. Choose the partition scheme and installation mode you want to use, and you can specify additional drivers or enable BitLocker to encrypt the Windows To Go USB drive according to your needs, then click "Proceed".

Select partition scheme and installation mode

* Tips:

  1. We recommend using the VHD/VHDX installation mode for better compatibility when creating Windows To Go using a USB flash drive.
  2. For more detailed information about "Partition scheme", "Installation mode" and "Enable BitLocker", please refer to: How to create portable Windows 11/10/8/7 from an ISO, WIM, ESD, SWM or VHD(X) file?
  3. If you choose "Keep the existing partition scheme", you need to manually prepare the partitions on the USB drive before this step, and here is the user guide on how to manually prepare partitions for Windows To Go.

Step 6. After clicking "Proceed", a pop-up will appear asking you if you want to format it to continue, click "Yes" if you are sure.

The drive needs to be formatted prompt

Step 7. After clicking "Yes", WinToUSB begins installing Windows to the destination drive.

installing Windows to USB

Step 8. It takes some time to install. After installation restart the computer and change BIOS to boot from your USB drive.

change BIOS to boot from USB

Step 9. Windows 11 normal installation starts up and you have to complete all the installation steps. After that, you can install programs, copy files, etc.

Windows 11 normal installation

 

Conclusion

Follow these simple steps, you can create a Windows To Go on a non-certified USB flash drive that greatly reduce worry in case of an unexpected system failure, crash and similar disasters that cause a complete shutdown. You'll definitely like it!

Please note that with the help of Hasleo WinToUSB you can not only use a non-certified USB flash drive to create Windows To Go, but also use an external hard drive (HDD/SSD) to create Windows To Go. However, in order for Windows to run smoothly, we recommend using an external SSD to create Windows To Go.

 

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