Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk

How to Setup "Windows 8 To Go" on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk in any Windows 7 and Windows 8​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to manually setup Windows 8 To Go from any Windows 7 or Windows 8 (except Windows 8 RT) to be able to install and run Windows 8 from a USB flash drive or external USB disk. The procedure for the USB stick is discussed in Chapter A, the procedure for the USB attached disk is shown in Chapter B.

You should expect the whole process to take about 3 hours elapsed time if you do not have the WAIK on your system and about 1 hour if the WAIK is installed on your system.

If you install on a stick, it is very important to choose a fast USB stick of at least 16GB size. For the USB attached disk it is preferable to use a USB3 attachment, but USB2 should also work. In addition, you need a program to create a virtual CD and the Windows 8 .iso. The rest is done in Command Prompt.

For more information and details about Windows To Go workspaces, see: Windows To Go: Feature Overview

   Note

Those of you who have an Enterprise edition of Windows 8, you can also explore this option which is built into the Enterprise edition.

How to Create a "Windows To Go" Workspace on a USB Flash Drive in Windows 8 Enterprise

   Tip

It is highly recommended to use a USB 3.0 flash drive or disk. Otherwise it will run like a snail from it.

Chapter A - Installation on a stick


Step 1 - Check the speed of your USB stick


To measure the speed of your stick I recommend Atto Disk Benchmark. It will produce a benchmark result like this picture.




It is the example of a 32GB USB2 stick that is not very fast. Especially the 4K read/write speeds are pretty slow. It is important to focus on the 4K size because that is the blocksize that the system uses most of the time. The large blocksizes are unimportant.

Loading the system (appr. 600MB to 1GB) at boot time will take over 3 minutes at a read speed of 4.7MB/sec. But, since there are also other activities going on at this time, the boot is even longer.A stick with characteristics like this one is not recommended.





This is a USB3 stick which runs Windows 8 fluently. The initial system setup still takes a bit more time than on a fast disk, but it is not really out of the ordinary.

On this stick I have loaded the 64bit Windows 8 and I am very pleased with both the boot time and the execution of programs and system facilities.


Step 2 - Download the WAIK and extract the imagex file

If you do not have the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) on your system, then you have to download from this Microsoft site. This will be a bit lengthy because the WAIK is 1.7GB - figure a 2-hour download.

When you are done downloading the KB3AIK_EN.iso file, mount this .iso, open and run the StartCD.exe file to install WAIK on your system.



Then you have to copy the imagex.exe. You find that in C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools. There is a 32bit version and a 64bit version.





You choose 32bit when you install a 32bit version of Windows 8 on your stick - 64bit when you install the 64bit version. Copy the one that corresponds to your Windows 8 .iso to the desktop. You can copy it to any other folder, but then you have to change the path in the installation command that we will run later in Command Prompt.

I have tried both the 32bit version (on the slow USB2 stick) and the 64bit version (on the fast USB3 stick). Both work as far as I can tell although there is a significant difference in performance.


Step 3 - Mount the Win8 .iso in a virtual BD ROM

We first have to create a virtual BD ROM with theVirtual Clone Drive Program. Download, install and run this program. It is very simple. When you start the program, you get this window. Just click OK and you are done.

You then go to Computer and you find your BD ROM.

Note: If you are working in Windows 8, you can mount the .iso directly from File Explorer. Just right click on the .iso and you will find a mount option. See: ISO Images - Mount or Unmount






To mount the .iso in the BD ROM, follow the instructions in the next picture. Make sure you remember the drive letter of the BD ROM (in my case 'H:') because you will need that later.







Step 4 - Prepare your USB stick

We now have to define a primary active partition on the USB stick. For that we open an elevated Command Prompt (run as administrator). Type or paste each of the following commands (one by one) and hit Enter after each command.

Diskpart
List disk
Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your stick in List disk)
Clean
Create partition primary
Format fs=ntfs quick
Assign
Active
Exit

Your stick is now ready for the installation of Windows 8.


Step 5 - Install Windows 8 on the stick

This is very easy now with a command in Command Prompt. It may take a little while to transfer the whole system, so be patient. The Command is:

"C:\Users\Your Name\Desktop\imagex.exe" /apply H:\sources\install.wim 1 F:\

Your Name is the name of your system. H: is the letter of my BD ROM (step 3). If your BD ROM has another letter, you have to change that accordingly. F: is the drive letter of my stick (step 4). Here you also have to replace it if your stick is on another letter.

As last step you have to run a command to install the boot files. If you are installing on a Windows 7 system, use this command. You have to be aware that this installs a Win7 BCD which works but is slower than the Win8 UEFI BCD.

bcdboot F:\windows /s F:

If you are installing on a Windows 8 system, use this command below. This is the preferred BCD because it is faster for boot and shutdown. You can rerun this command in a Win8 system even if you already installed the Win7 BCD in a Win7 system. It will 'upgrade' the BCD to the Win8 (UEFI) level.

bcdboot F:\windows /s F: /f ALL

Here again F: is the letter for my stick which you may have to adjust.


Step 6 - Run Windows 8 from your USB stick

You are done with the installation and can now run Windows 8 off your stick. For that you have to change the boot sequence in the BIOS pointing at the USB stick as first boot device.

I run the stick version on my laptop and have made the USB #1 in the boot sequence. That way it loads Windows 8 from the stick when the stick is plugged in and Windows 7 from the SSD when there is no Windows 8 stick.

As I said earlier, a USB stick is no SSD - although the technology is similar. So be patient, especially with the initial setup where the system has to do a lot of write operations which are slow on a stick. But once the system is in full swing, it is quite some fun.

Warning: In Windows 7, I usually keep my bootmgr on the C: partition. With that setup I had some problems running Windows 8 from the stick. Each time it would corrupt my bootmgr. I then created a separate 400MB partition and moved the bootmgr there. That seems to cure the problem.

Chapter B - Installation on a USB attached disk


The procedure is very similar to what I described for the USB stick with a few exceptions.

Step 1 - Check the speed of the USB attached disk

This is the HDD I run in a USB3 open enclosure. It is a 5400RPM disk that I had recovered from my laptop when I installed the SSD.

The R/W speeds at the 4K blocksize are very similar to my USB3 stick. The R/W speed at the bigger blocksizes is slower because the disk can only spin so fast.

Performance wise it felt slower than the performance on the USB3 stick but was still very acceptable.






Step 2 - Download the WAIK and extract the imagex file

This step is exactly the same as described for the stick.

Step 3 - Mount the Win8 .iso in a virtual BD ROM

This step is exactly the same as described for the stick. Make sure you apply the correct device letters for the BD ROM and the HDD.

Step 4 - Prepare your USB disk

Here I went a different route. I used Partition Wizardon my Windows 7 system to define a primary active partition on the HDD. That is easier than working with Command Prompt on a multi partition disk.

Note: There have been reports of problems when using Partition Wizard - although I did not encounter any problems myself. The report was that the final system did not boot. In such a case you might want to go back and use Command Prompt as the safer method.

Step 5 - Install Windows 8 on the disk

That is again the same procedure as for the stick. I did the installation step on my Windows 7 system but copied the BCD on my Windows 8 in Virtual Box.

Step 6 - Run Windows 8 from your USB disk

Change the boot sequence in the BIOS to boot from USB and off you go. The setup of Windows 8 took appr. 20 minutes (in the USB3 enclosure). During that setup, there is one reboot where you have to change the boot sequence again - else the system will boot into the first boot device it finds which is probably your default OS. When that was done, operation was as one would expect from a slow HDD.

I then tried it on my desktop in an eSata enclosure. The system first made some automatic adjustments for the different hardware. Then it ran flawlessly. The performance was about the same as from the USB3 enclosure. But both are slower than my USB3 stick.

If you have a USB disk with 20 to 25GB of free space lying around, it is certainly an alternative to run the Windows 8 CP from that. If nothing else, it is a lot of fun making the installation and seeing that it works.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a "Windows To Go" Workspace on a USB Flash Drive in Windows 8 Enterprise
• How to Enable or Disable Store on Windows To Go Workspaces
• How to Hide or Unhide Drives from Host Computer on "Windows To Go" Workspace
• How to Create a Bootable USB or DVD with a Windows 8 ISO
• How to Mount or Unmount ISO images in Windows 8
• How to Enable or Disable Hibernate in "Windows To Go" Workspace
• How to Enable or Disable Sleep in "Windows To Go" Workspace
• Enable or Disable Always Automatically Boot PC from USB Drive in Windows To Go Startup Options
• How to Create a Windows To Go Startup Options Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[whs]

Great tutorial, thanks very much. First really good argument for USB 3 I've come across, aside from the usual impulse to go "Faster, FASTER!" in today's world. I'm thinking long and hard about adding USB 3 to my Lenovo notebooks (X220 Tablet and T520) via the regular (X220 Tablet) and half-size (T520) PCIe card mounts in those devices. I can pick up 2 or 3 ports' worth of USB 3 for around $35-40. Anybody have any recommendations for such devices? Horror stories? I'm as happy to be steered away from the bad stuff as I am to learn about the good stuff, so please share. From what I see on Newegg, the Startech device looks pretty good. And thanks again,
--Ed--

For your PCI Express slot on the laptop you have the USB3 option and the eSata option. Although the specs for eSata are slower than USB3, in the real world it is faster. But, of course, eSata is only good for disks in an eSata enclosure - ideally an SSD.

 

[Night Hawk]

I have eSata ports on the front of the case here but ended up with a fan cooled USB 2.0 enclosure that's been working out well as far as the 1tb drive presently in it. The live 88 stick however was made up here using a 32gb Kingston Data Traveler flash drive which worked well for the CP.

I have to wonder if someone wrote up a similar guide for 7? I wanted to show a few people how much better 7 was over Vista or XP!

 

[whs]

I have to wonder if someone wrote up a similar guide for 7? I wanted to show a few people how much better 7 was over Vista or XP!

For /7, you need the Enterprise edition - because of the licensing. For /8 it only works right now because the license is free. After January 2013, that will stop too.

 

[Coke Robot]

I have a question for the audience, has someone used a USB 3.0 flash drive on a USB 2.0 port? And if so, is that acceptably fast?

Good question:
Yse I guess you get the maximum speed of USB 2.0 (practically around 40 mb/s max more or less).

Don't have any USB 3.0 devices yet since I don't have USB 3.0 ports (better to run at optimal speeds).

That would be 30mb per second not 40 as far as 2.0 is concerned. And even that is never maintained steadily! People goof themselves thinking that each bus will alsways see the "maximum" speed at all times? Not so! Under "ideal" conditions you will simply peak at the maximum speed. As far as plugging a 3.0 device into a 2.0 port the obvious would be plugging a device designed to run on a faster bus being into the slower and not able to run any faster then the slower bus's speed if reaching peak.

Bench testing two identical installs on the same brand and same flash drives only one being the 3.0 stick and the other a 2.0 stick would be interesting. The only difference for the exact same model as well as size and brand would then be the results from each bus when comparing boot times and other things.

I would figure that since the flash on a USB 3.0 stick would prove to be faster on the USB 2.0 port since USB 2.0 flash speed is hindered genuinely by the slow speed of the flash. I think the same type of flash memory is used with USB 3.0 drives as SSDs.

 

[Coke Robot]

I have eSata ports on the front of the case here but ended up with a fan cooled USB 2.0 enclosure that's been working out well as far as the 1tb drive presently in it. The live 88 stick however was made up here using a 32gb Kingston Data Traveler flash drive which worked well for the CP.

I have to wonder if someone wrote up a similar guide for 7? I wanted to show a few people how much better 7 was over Vista or XP!

You can use Windows 7 Embedded Standard and I think it's a similar process to install it on a flash drive as it is doing it with 8. Also, you could try using a .vhd file and install 7 onto that and copy it over to the flash drive, make the flash drive a bootable device and make the virtual hard drive a bootable drive as well.

That's what I actually used to get Windows 7 onto my flash drive before I got 8 installed natively onto it. It seemed to work a bit better than 8, but Windows 8 is still an unfinished product.

 

[Night Hawk]

What I was mainly pointing to was when 7 was still seen in beta and RC form not RTM. I ran across one guide to see the 7 RC run from a flash drive using Portable VirtualBox. This wouldn't be for any long term use to start with as the W8 portable installs here would only be temporary as well.

Likewise I know how you feel about wanting to show how different 7 is to the two previous versions as well with some hanging onto XP with one friend willing to look at Vista due to his better half's Vista laptop. Since his old XP case bit the dust I am in the process of getting the old Vista build running again.

He didn't have much of an opinion for 8 however when showing him how it looks and feels when making up a flash drive using the guide here for the CP install. But he didn't like the 7 RC either when I had that set up at one point on his old XP case to dual boot the then new version either.

 

[Night Hawk]

I have eSata ports on the front of the case here but ended up with a fan cooled USB 2.0 enclosure that's been working out well as far as the 1tb drive presently in it. The live 88 stick however was made up here using a 32gb Kingston Data Traveler flash drive which worked well for the CP.

I have to wonder if someone wrote up a similar guide for 7? I wanted to show a few people how much better 7 was over Vista or XP!

You can use Windows 7 Embedded Standard and I think it's a similar process to install it on a flash drive as it is doing it with 8. Also, you could try using a .vhd file and install 7 onto that and copy it over to the flash drive, make the flash drive a bootable device and make the virtual hard drive a bootable drive as well.

That's what I actually used to get Windows 7 onto my flash drive before I got 8 installed natively onto it. It seemed to work a bit better than 8, but Windows 8 is still an unfinished product.

Both VM Player and VBox allow you to choose the type of VM where the option for a VHD would be a thought. One of the guides seen for a custom install of 7 on a flash drive would be able to see this done for a temp with any edition using VBox as the host for the VM you can carry with you as explained in one guide. How To Install Windows 7 On USB Flash Drive

The thing I had in mind however was through the use of the WAIK to see a temp 7 install using just about the same procedures pointed out in the guide here for 8. Once I have a new mini tower case running the RP will have a new home besides a VM where the 7 flash drive set up would allow me to show others still running XP or Vista the improvements as well as differences between the two newer versions.

 

[adamus]

whs

I'd like to try using your tutorial.

Before I proceed.

Nelson

 

[whs]

That stick looks OK from a performance point of view but don't expect super performance. 8GB will probably work but it is tight.

 

[adamus]

whs

My mistake, got the wrong drive that I've process. The previous post was drive C:

Here is the Drive H:

WAIK still download..

 

[whs]

Looking at the 4K nums, that stick is not that great. For the installation it will probably take a long time. Running it later may be a bit better but nothing really satisfactory.

My stick that really ran well was at 24.5/29.6 - compare that to the 1.5/6.8 on your stick (4K nums). Here is the one I used: Newegg.com - Lexar JumpDrive Triton 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Model LJDNV16GCRBNA

 

[adamus]

I will contact and visit the re-seller here in my place if they have the Lexar JumpDrive Triton 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive.

For the mean time I'll use 1st the 8GB, if the installation get rough then I will take now the Lexar.

 

[whs]

You don't need a 32GB stick - 16GB will suffice for the purpose.

 

[adamus]

So, 16 GB is good enough for space and what I need is the 3.0 speed? Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[adamus]

Step 4 - Prepare your USB stick

We now have to define a primary active partition on the USB stick. For that we open an elevated Command Prompt (run as administrator). Type or paste each of the following commands (one by one) and hit Enter after each command.

In this step, I will execute the command in C: or H: (usb)

 

[whs]

1. 16GB is enough
2. the stick I linked is a USB3 stick - so you need a USB3 port
3. you run command prompt from your OS which is C, but you select the USB stick as target

 

[adamus]

Here are the scenario, for I've been busy yesterday and can't finish the installation.

1st thing that I have made after the download, installation was I mounted the .ISO file and open the mount drive (I'm using Win8 OS, as you have mention in 1st post just to right click the iso file and mount is available, as it was present in the properties) were executable file was there but it didn't install properly.

2nd try was I've burn the .ISO file in a DVD/CD were DVD/CD drive will ask you to run the installer that I have executed the installer still it wasn't successful.

3rd try, was I use google search for the related troubleshoot Trouble installing Windows AIK for Win 7, 7zip was download and the ISO file extracted in the desktop when I RUN the program I still got the same error for WinPE.



Then I use the command sfc /scannow replied by MBridge.

MCBridge,
If you found errors with
sfc /scannowand found corrupted system files, then your system probably still has some problems.​

And everything looks good for that scan.

Now, do I still need to download the iso file again?or is there any alternative way to resolve the iso?

Any suggestion for the WinPE to proceed the installation?

 

[fafhrd]

Adamus, you do not need the WAIK or imagex.exe any more.

In Windows 8 all the functions of Imagex can be done using Dism.exe -either the dism loaded in the WinPE or WinRE of the Windows 8 setup .iso, or the dism.exe found in c:\windows\system32\
.
see earlier in this thread http://www.eightforums.com/tutorial...tup-usb-flash-drive-usb-disk-6.html#post98278

DISM Improvements in Windows 8 - MSFN Forum

How to Apply Images by Using DISM

Image Management Command-Line Options

 

[adamus]

I'm now having a hard time for which one will start to figure out the command.
Still trying..
Maybe a few minutes more need to take a rest for I still have work for tomorrow.

 

[Cly]

Warning: In Windows 7, I usually keep my bootmgr on the C: partition. With that setup I had some problems running Windows 8 from the stick. Each time it would corrupt my bootmgr. I then created a separate 400MB partition and moved the bootmgr there. That seems to cure the problem.

Great tutorial. I did not understand this warning though. What does it mean for when I take the USB stick "To go" on a friend's/client's system?