How to Run or Boot Windows 10 from a USB Drive

Why do I need a bootable USB drive?

Many users have encountered such situations: For various reasons, the Windows system is prone to corruption and crashes, making it impossible to boot up the computer or access hard drive data. This is a nightmare for those who urgently need to use their computers or access important data!

Do you have a bootable Windows USB drive? Congratulations! You can just enter your BIOS, change the boot order, and boot from the removable disk as normal.

There are a few things to watch out for.

• You can only create a bootable USB drive with an external hard drive. You cannot do this with a USB flash drive or a portable USB drive. • Windows can only assign a drive letter to the first partition of a USB flash drive or portable USB drive, and not to any subsequent partitions. • Almost 99% of Windows installations require two partitions: a system partition and a boot partition. If you clone Windows 10/8/7 to a USB flash drive or portable USB drive, you will only have access to the first partition. In this case, it will not boot at all. So you must use an external hard drive! • Also, the USB hard drive must have enough free space, and it needs to be larger than your system drive!

There are several notable benefits to running or booting Windows 10 from a USB drive. 1. **Portability**: One of the most significant advantages is the ability to carry your operating system with you wherever you go. This can be particularly useful for professionals who need to work on multiple computers, tech support personnel, or those who frequently switch between devices. 2. **Ease of Installation/Recovery**: A Windows 10 USB can be used to install or reinstall the OS on any compatible computer, making it a convenient tool for system recovery or fresh installations. 3. **Space-saving**: If you have limited hard drive space, running Windows 10 from a USB drive allows you to use the operating system without taking up storage on your local disk. 4. **Multi-boot Options**: You can have multiple versions of Windows or even other operating systems on the same USB drive, providing flexibility in choosing which one to boot into. 5. **Temporary Use**: It's perfect for trying out Windows 10 on a friend's or public computer without making any changes to the host system. 6. **Disaster Recovery**: In case of a system crash, you can quickly boot from the USB and access your important files. 7. **Performance**: Although USB 3.0 and above offer faster read/write speeds, the performance may not be as fast as a traditional hard drive or SSD. However, this can still be a viable option for less demanding tasks. 8. **Security**: Since the data is stored on a removable device, it adds an extra layer of security. You can remove the USB when not in use, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. 9. **Upgrades and Patches**: You can easily keep your Windows 10 up-to-date by installing updates and patches directly from the USB. Remember, while there are benefits, running an OS from a USB might also result in slower performance compared to a hard drive or SSD due to the lower read-write speed of USB drives.

Online, you can often find users searching for how to run Windows 10 from a USB drive, as they stand to gain several significant benefits from it, such as:

- You can still boot your PC normally if you can't access Windows from your internal hard drive for some reason, by booting from a bootable USB drive. - Install large programs on a USB drive to save space on your internal disk or use those programs on any other computer.

Are you one of those users who's looking for ways to boot Windows 10 from an external device? Read on, and you'll find a step-by-step guide that will walk you through the process of using a Windows 10 bootable USB tool to get the job done.

The tools you need that are actually useful

While Microsoft offers the Media Creation Tool for users to create a Windows ISO image file on a USB or DVD to get the job done, it can still be too complicated for casual computer users. This is where third-party backup software can make things simpler for you.

First, the backup software is easy to use. You open the program, clone your system to your external hard drive, and you are done. It's simple and fast.

Second, it can create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive that contains not just the operating system, but also some installed apps and even personal data, so that you can get to work right away on a computer without having to do additional setup after running Windows 10 from the external device.

Please download this system cloning software, and boot Windows 10 from the USB drive.

Video Tutorial:

A guide to running or booting Windows 10 from a USB hard drive

Step 1: Connect your USB drive to the computer and run the Todo Backup tool. Click on “System Clone”.

The current system partition (Windows 10) and boot partition are selected automatically.

Step 2. Select the target disk – the USB drive to which you want to clone your system drive (the system and boot partition).
(You can check here if the USB drive has enough storage space.)

Click “Advanced options” and check “Create a bootable USB drive for Windows.”

Click “Start Clone” to clone Windows 10 to the USB drive.

With the bootable USB drive created, you can use it anytime to run Windows 10 on your PC. Just remember that first, in BIOS, you should set the USB drive or external device as the first bootable device.

Plug in the bootable USB device to your computer and press F2 while it's starting up. In the BIOS menu, set the bootable device as the first boot option.

And you can run Windows from the USB stick.