USB Drive - Boot from within Windows 8

How to Boot from a USB Drive within Windows 8 and 8.1


information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to boot from a USB drive from within Windows 8 and 8.1.

Note   Note
This is a per usage option that will not configure Windows to always boot from the USB drive.

If you have a UEFI Windows 8/8.1 installation, then you will need a bootable UEFI flash drive to be able to boot from it using the method in this tutorial.





Here's How:

1. If you have fast boot or ultra fast boot enabled in your UEFI firmware settings, then you will need to temporarily disable fast boot or ultra fast boot to be able to boot from a USB.

2. Connect a bootable USB drive to the USB port on your PC.

3. While in Windows 8 or 8.1, boot to Advanced startup using either option 1, 2, or 3 in the tutorial below.

4. After the computer restarts, click/tap on the Use a device option. (see screenshot below)
Choose_an_option.jpg

5. Click/tap on the USB drive that you want to use to boot from. The computer will now restart and boot from the selected USB drive. (see screenshot below)
Use_a_device-2.jpg



That's it,
Shawn


 

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Is there an advantage over the changed boot order method ??
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Hey Wolfgang,

This method doesn't require having to disable Secure Boot, enable CSM, or disable Fast Boot in UEFI settings to boot from the USB. Well, at least I didn't have to on a Surface Pro 2, HP Envy laptop, or my desktop (see my specs) that all have Windows 8.1 installed with UEFI.

However, if you are not able to boot into Windows, then you'll need to use the boot order or boot menu method instead.
 

My Computer

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    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for that. Another way is to set the Change Windows To Go startup options setting to yes. It will then boot from whatever USB you have plugged in. Note I've only tried this on mbr installation of 8.1 Pro - not sure about other versions.


It is easier than changing the BIOS I think.

Capture.PNG
 
Last edited by a moderator:

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    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
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    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
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    40GB
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    Apple
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    Antivirus
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Thank you Adam. You read my mind. I'm working on another tutorial for later just for that with a command and gpedit option as well.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks Shawn. Sounds like a good deal.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi, but when i tried this, it restarted and back to normal win although I pluged my usb? When i tried press f12 to boot menu it still back to normal win. My PC is Acer Aspire V5-571P
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hi Brink,

Thank for your reply. I think win 8 have lock some think. My current win 8.1 is not actived. And when i do as your link it doesn't go to bios when turn on and press f2. It still go to windows.

But when i logged in my pc, and press Shift + Restart > troubleshoot > advanced option > uefi firmware setting . It log into bios. I already enable F12 boot.

Another thing is when i choose boot from HDD in your step 3. Or when i try to safe mode, it still run into windows. So my normal way to renew win is use command prompt to select file in my hdd. But this way can't format the system (C) drive and it's leave a old file win?

Any solution?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
Hi Brink,

Thank for your reply. I think win 8 have lock some think. My current win 8.1 is not actived. And when i do as your link it doesn't go to bios when turn on and press f2. It still go to windows.

But when i logged in my pc, and press Shift + Restart > troubleshoot > advanced option > uefi firmware setting . It log into bios. I already enable F12 boot.

Another thing is when i choose boot from HDD in your step 3. Or when i try to safe mode, it still run into windows. So my normal way to renew win is use command prompt to select file in my hdd. But this way can't format the system (C) drive and it's leave a old file win?

Any solution?


Did you create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/15458-uefi-bootable-usb-flash-drive-create-windows.html

Why isn't your Windows 8.1 activated?

Are you able to reset Windows 8.1 at boot?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2302-reset-windows-8-a.html
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
This UEFI is a handsome frog. I have still not figured out how to boot my Linux system from a flash drive. That is not an installation iso but a running system.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
I'm created successful bootable usb by rufus.

I just reinstall my windows from Command Promp from Shift + click Restart and it's succeed. It now can format the system hard drive. Maybe i remember wrongly.:)

But i still hope we can slove this problem for other user.

I hope UEFI is good but we can't ghost it :( . What the hell when you paid a lot of money for better thing and use ghost and backup whole computer. @@
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
Great news SevenT. :party:

We'll hopefully help solve this for each user one by one.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I hope UEFI is good but we can't ghost it . What the hell when you paid a lot of money for better thing and use ghost and backup whole computer. @@
If you mean making an image by "ghost it", then that is possible with many programs like Macrium, AOMEI or others. But the easiest is with this command:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

You have to replace "X" with the volume letter of your backup device.

Recovery is thru F9 or Restart when holding the Shift key down or your installation/recovery disc. Then you drill down this chain:

• Language setting
• Troubleshoot
• Advanced Options
• System Image Recovery
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
I hope UEFI is good but we can't ghost it . What the hell when you paid a lot of money for better thing and use ghost and backup whole computer. @@
If you mean making an image by "ghost it", then that is possible with many programs like Macrium, AOMEI or others. But the easiest is with this command:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

You have to replace "X" with the volume letter of your backup device.

Recovery is thru F9 or Restart when holding the Shift key down or your installation/recovery disc. Then you drill down this chain:

• Language setting
• Troubleshoot
• Advanced Options
• System Image Recovery

Doesn't that command using -AllCritical basically just create a system image?

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/8956-system-image-create-windows-8-a.html

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742083.aspx
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Yes, it is just making a Windows image including all partition needed for proper operation. I think it is the easiest to make a proper Windows image - but that may be just me.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
Ok good. That's what I was thinking. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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