WinToUSB for Windows

Make a portable version Windows

WinToUSB, a lightweight, free application, allows you to install and use a fully functional version of Microsoft Windows on an external drive, USB flash drive or Thunderbolt drive. Windows To USB software uses an ISO file or an installation CD to create a portable version Windows 10/8/7 that can be used on any computer with a bootable drive.

WinToUSB, also known as Windows To USB, is a Windows To Go application that is completely free. There are also paid versions.

This program can be used to turn an external drive into a Windows installation source instead of using a physical disk. You can create a Windows To Go workspace on any computer by connecting an external USB drive. This allows you to boot your system environment and access data. Microsoft must have certified external drives as compatible.

Windows To Go is a feature that can be found in Windows 8 Enterprise and Windows 8.1 Enterprise as well as Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education. It was created to allow administrators of enterprises to provide users with an imaged Windows version that reflects their corporate desktop. Microsoft has discontinued Windows To Go development in 2019. It is no longer available in Windows 10 version 2004.

WinToUSB can create an imaged Windows version. It is also useful if you want Windows to be run on a non-Windows machine (such as a Mac), or to create a testing environment for diagnostics. It allows you to save the Windows installer from an external source and keep it with you at all time. Simply copy the file to your removable drive and then insert it into any computer.

WinToUSB doesn't require you to install WAIK or WADK (Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit). To create a Windows To Go USB stick, you can use any version of Windows 10/8/7 or Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2010.

WinToUSB, when downloaded from a trusted source, is a safe program that many people use for installing WinPE/Windows on external hard drives. To ensure that your system is not damaged during the installation, it's important to follow the proper steps.

Windows 7/2008 R2 may not be fully portable. You might experience activation or driver problems when you boot it on different computers. Windows 7 does not support USB 3.0, so you will need to boot it from a USB 2.0 port.

Rufus is an alternative to WinToUSB. It is a crowdsourced, free resource that creates bootable USBs. WinUSB allows you to create Windows multi-boot USB flash drives with just three steps.

WinToUSB offers an easy-to use wizard interface that will guide you through the process of installing Windows/WinPE on an external hard drive. It will take a while to create a portable Windows version using a USB flash drive or a regular Pendrive. Therefore, it is recommended to use an external drive to create Windows To Go. You will also need administrator rights on the computer where you want to install WinToUSB.

After downloading WinToUSB free of charge, insert your external drive and then run WinToUSB. Click the folder button at top of the main interface and select the Windows ISO files. WinToUSB scans the ISO file for all operating systems.

Click Next to select the ISO file that you wish to install, then click Next to choose the target USB. A pop-up will inform that the USB must be formatted. Make sure that you have backed up the USB and choose a partition scheme before clicking Yes. Follow the rest of the instructions on-screen.

WinToUSB is a simple and effective way to clone Windows. It only takes a few steps to create your first portable Windows 10/8/7 from an ISO, WIM or ESD image file, CD/DVD drive, or ISO, WIM. It can also be used to clone Windows OS installations (Windows 7 and later) to USB or Thunderbolt drives to create portable Windows.

WinToUSB's main problem is that Windows To Go is no longer supported and maintained by Microsoft. It does not receive feature updates to keep it current. Windows To Go requires a particular type of USB that is not supported anymore.