How to Install Windows 10 on External Hard Drive [2 Ways]
Have you ever imagined that to use your own Windows 10 OS wherever you go? If yes, follow this page and you will uncover two practical ways to help you install Windows 10 on an external hard drive:
By doing so, you can take your Windows to anywhere and boot Windows 10 on any computer via the external hard drive.
Is It Possible to Install Windows 10 on an External Hard Drive
«I have a Seagate 2TB Expansion Desktop External HDD. Thinking that it will be cool to have an OS on the External. So I want to install the Windows 10 OS on this external HDD. But whenever I tried to install Windows 10 straight onto the external disk, I get an error message saying that windows cannot be installed on a USB drive or IEE 1394.
I was just wondering if it is possible to install Windows on an external hard drive. If so how can I get the Windows 10 OS installed?»
As you might know, although one can install Windows on an external hard drive, you can’t install the same to an external hard drive with default settings. Installing Windows 10 on an external hard drive is not an easy task for average users.
Usually, Windows recognizes and displays the USB hard drive on the installation screen but it doesn’t allow you to install Windows on it. If you attempt to so, you will get «Windows cannot be installed to this disk» error.
Don’t worry! Here you can find two complete solutions to install Windows 10 on an external hard drive and take Windows anywhere as you want.
How to Install Windows 10 on An External Hard Drive (Two Ways)
It only takes two stages to install Windows 10 on an external hard drive. First, preparations — back up the external hard drive data and delete all the partitions on the external hard drive. Then, install Windows 10 on the external hard drive .
To install Windows 10 on the external hard drive, you have two options here: 1. Using system clone feature with EaseUS Todo Backup; 2. Use Windows To Go. Both two options allow you to execute the operation and make sure is bootable on the external hard drive.
Follow through the guidance here to install Windows 10 on the external hard drive and make it bootable on your own:
Preparations — Back-Up the External Hard Drive in Advance
You can simply copy the data to another disk or just use data backup software to do it. If you prefer a one-click backup solution, you may consider third-party backup software.
EaseUS Todo Backup provides professional and steady service to back up your external hard drive easily.
Way 1. Install Windows 10 On External Hard Drive with EaseUS Todo Backup
Applies to: all Windows operating OS, like Windows 10/8/7, etc.
Pros: The created Windows USB drive is bootable on any computer.
# 1. Delete All Partitions on the External Hard Drive
Make sure the capacity of your target external hard drive is larger than the total size of your boot and system partition.
You may use Disk Management to delete the external hard drive partition. If you have difficulty in deleting partitions, you can ask free partition manager for help.
Step 1. Click This PC -> Manage -> Disk Management.
Step 2. Locate and right-click the external hard drive in the Disk Management, select «Delete Volume. «.
Step 3. Click «Yes» to permit Windows 10 to delete the selected partition in the external hard drive.
After the operation, the external hard drive will turn to unallocated space without a drive letter on it. By now, the external hard drive is ready to install Windows 10.
# 2. Install Windows 10 on External Hard Drive using EaseUS System Clone Feature
Basically, EaseUS Todo Backup with its system clone feature makes it easier to install the Windows system on an external hard drive than using Windows To Go. Download and run EaseUS system cloning software — Todo Backup on your computer. Then, refer to this guide to clone system with EaseUS Todo Backup or watch the video below.
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup. Expand the menu and click «System Clone» in the lower position.
Step 2. On the «System clone» window, the software will choose the system partition and boot partition by default. Just Choose the USB drive as the destination disk.
Click on «Advanced options» and then «Create Portable Windows USB drive». Click «OK».
Click «Proceed». The software will start immediately cloning the default partitions of your desktop/laptop to the USB drive. After the cloning process is over, you can safely plug the USB drive out.
Step 3. To boot the cloned system from the USB drive on other Windows devices, just connect the drive to the device.
After the connection, wait for the computer configuring system settings and you will finally arrive at the desktop screen that’s exactly the same with that of the cloned system.
Put the «username» and «password» of the cloned system.
Done. You should now successfully enter the cloned system.
Way 2. Use Windows To Go to Install Windows 10 on External Hard Drive
Applies to: Windows 10 Enterprise Edition and Education Edition.
Pros: Makes Windows 10 bootable on the external hard drive. (Only works on the host computer.)
Note that Windows To Go is only available in Windows Enterprise Edition and Education Edition. It means that if your current system is not one of these two editions, you won’t be able to use Windows To Go to execute this task. Also, you need a certified USB drive to use Windows to Go.
Here are the steps:
Step 1. Check if your external hard drive is one of the certified USB drives for use as Windows to Go drives:
- IronKey Workspace W700 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w700.html)
- IronKey Workspace W500 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w500.html)
- IronKey Workspace W300 (http://www.ironkey.com/windows-to-go-drives/ironkey-workspace-w300.html)
- Kingston DataTraveler Workspace for Windows To Go (http://www.kingston.com/wtg/)
- Spyrus Portable Workplace (http://www.spyruswtg.com/)
- Spyrus Secure Portable Workplace (http://www.spyruswtg.com/)
- Spyrus Worksafe (http://www.spyruswtg.com/)
- Super Talent Express RC4/RC8 for Windows To Go (http://www.supertalent.com/wtg/)
- Western Digital My Passport Enterprise (http://www.wd.com/wtg)
Step 2. Connect your external hard drive to the computer, back up external hard drive to another device and format the drive to NTFS.
Step 3. Download Windows 10 Enterprise ISO file.
Step 4. Right-click the Windows icon and click «Search», type Windows to Go and hit Enter.
Step 5. Choose your external hard drive and click «Next».
Step 6. Click «Add search location» to browse the Windows 10 ISO image that you downloaded in advance on your computer.
Click «Next» to continue.
Step 7. Enable BitLocker Encryption on the external hard drive. (It’s an optional choice.)
Step 8. Click «Create» and wait for Windows to Go to transfer the Windows 10 image to the USB drive.
wait for the creation process to complete. It will take 20-30 minutes. When a completion page appears, it means that your Windows to Go workspace is ready to use.
You can now prepare a host computer using the Windows To Go startup options and boot from your Windows To Go drive.
Conclusion
This page includes two ways of helping Windows users to install Windows 10 on an external hard drive, making Windows bootable from the drive.
If you prefer to create a Windows to GO USB drive on any Windows operating system, EaseUS Todo Backup with its system clone feature as recommended in Way 1 is the best choice.
If you only want to create an emergency disk to make your own Windows 10 bootable on an external hard drive and use it on the host computer, Windows to Go feature in Way 2 is worth a try.
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Frequently Asked Questions
«I’ve used Partition Master Professional many times to create, delete, format, move, rename, and resize partitions.» —PCWorld
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«I love that the changes you make with EaseUS Partition Master Free aren’t immediately applied to the disks. It makes it way easier to play out what will happen after you’ve made all the changes.» —Lifewire
Will the «Migrate OS» feature transfer the Windows system files only or the whole C drive?
To ensure that the migrated system will boot normally, the Migrate OS feature will transfer all the files in the system and the boot partitions. Generally, the boot partition is the C drive so the transfer will include all the files in C.
Does EaseUS Partition Master license apply to multiple computers?
The license of Partition Master Professional and Server editions can be used on 1 computer only, while that for for the Technician and Unlimited editions can be used on multiple machines.
What is the difference between EaseUS Partition Master Trial version and the Free version?
Free is for home users only, with most basic functions available such as partition resize and clone. While trial can help you understand how this product works and test what a full license can do on a business or server OS machine.
Will it cause any data loss after resizing the partition in EaseUS Partition Master?
Generally, it will not cause any data loss or boot issue by resizing a partition. However, in order to protect your data, we suggest that you backup the partition before resizing, in case of any unexpected situations such as power outages, computer hardware failures, etc. You can use EaseUS Todo Backup to backup the partition and its trial version is fully functioned for 30 days.
What should I prepare before resizing the partition?
On the partition that is going to be operated, there might be some files being occupied by other programs. To ensure a successful operation, we suggest that you close all the unnecessary software before resizing that partition. Otherwise, EaseUS Partition Master will detect the partition being locked by the other software and require a reboot to resize the partition under boot mode.
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Video Tutorial
How to Partititon a Hard Drive on Windows 10/8/7
How to Install Windows 10 on External USB Hard Drive Easily with Freeware?
Want to install Windows 10 on external hard drive and make your OS portable? Be bothered with command line installation? Try Windows To Go Creator, which will make this task easier and faster.
By Teresa / Last Updated September 12, 2019
Why install Windows 10 on external hard drive?
“Is it possible to install Windows OS to plug and play storage device such as external hard drives, HDD enclosures (with SATA hard drives), USB flash drives and the likes? I’m asking this because I’m planning to create a portable OS. When I’m at my house, when I go to my grandmother’s, or to a friend’s place: I just simple plug that portable storage device, change the boot priority, and turn on the system and viola! I will only see one environment every time.”
Is it possible to create a portable operating system and realize the BYOD (bring your own device) anywhere? The answer is Yes. Microsoft released a feature called Windows To Go in Enterprise edition of Windows 8/8.1/10, which allows its users to boot their OSes from a certified USB flash drive on any computer.
Nevertheless, this feature only applies to the ENTERPRIZE edition. If you are running Windows 10 pro or home, you will not benefit from this feature. If you still want to install Windows 10 on external USB hard drive and wouldn’t like to purchase the enterprise edition, you can try command line installation. Command line operation costs much more time, and it is a little bit complex for most users because it contains more details during the installing process.
However, you can try another easy and fast method to run Windows 10 from USB flash drive or SSD. Using Windows To Go Creator embedded in freeware, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, released by AOMEI Tech. This function enables you to create a bootable USB drive with Windows 10 ISO file.
Before you do
You need to prepare an SSD or USB flash drive with the size of 13 GB or of larger capability. Meantime, an ISO file, installation disc or ESD file of Windows 10 is required.
Tips:
Windows To Go Creator could create the bootable drive in any OS as long as you have prepared above stuff.
Technically, the bigger USB you hold, the better result you will get. If you use a USB 3.0 as the boot Windows USB in a computer with USB 3.0 port, you probably complete this task in a shorter time than using USB 2.0 drive.
If you have a Windows 10 or Windows 8 ISO/ESD installation file, please extract it to a proper place with WinRAR or WinZIP, or mount it as virtual drive by using third-party ISO mounting or burning software such as DAEMON Tools Lite.
The external hard drive will be overwritten and formatted to NTFS file system, backup hard drive first if necessary.
How to install Windows 10 to USB external hard drive?
In the first place, download AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Then connect the external hard drive with your PC, and make sure it has been detected by Windows.
Step1. Install and launch Partition Assistant. Select «All Tools« >»Windows To Go Creator» in the left side.
Step 2 . Check «Create Windows To Go with system disc/ISO» . And click «Next».
Step 3. Select USB and click «Browse» to choose ISO file.
Step3 . Click «Proceed» and wait for the process to be finished .
Note: When you try to boot Windows 10 on other computers, you need to first enter the BIOS and select the bootable USB as the first boot device.
Only in three steps, you can install Windows 10 on external hard drive with no complicated operations and payment. Likewise, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard also supports Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 ISO to USB, which means you can create bootable drive of them. Other than the feature mentioned in this tutorial, this program provides many basic disk/partition operations. Such as Migrate OS to SSD, Split Partition, Merger Partitions, Quick Partition etc.
Make bootable USB on Windows 10 via Diskpart
Some users would like to make bootable USB drive using Windows 10 built-in tools. Fortunately, Windows DiskPart is a good utility to complete this task. Following part will illustrate how to create Windows 10 bootable USB drive, and the ISO file, installation disc or ESD file of Windows 10 is necessary all the same.
Step 1: insert the USB flash drive into a running Windows computer. Press + to open Run and then type diskpart in the Command Prompt.
Step 2: type below syntaxes in order and each command is with followed by.
select disk n (n is the number of the external USB drive)