Jump to content











Photo
- - - - -

Windows To Go on removable USB 3.0


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 misty

misty

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 1066 posts
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 17 April 2023 - 08:01 PM

I still enjoy using the now deprecated Windows To Go [NOTE - despite Microsoft reporting as deprecated, it is still possible to create a Windows To Go drive manually, including with Windows 11 22H2].

Windows To Go was originally supported with the release of Windows 8, with a workspace creator used to create a bootable USB drive. Only fixed type disks were supported with the Windows To Go Creator wizard.

Manually configuring a Windows To Go device was possible with a combination of DISM + the bcdboot command to create boot files - and DISM can be replaced with alternatives including wimlib.

Back in the day when Windows To Go was released I had very limited hardware to test - I did not have any USB 3.0 disks or hardware with USB 3.0 ports. I was able to install Windows To Go successfully on USB 2.0 external HDDs. I also had a USB 2.0 flash drive that appeared to Windows as a fixed type disk - Windows To Go installed on this device but was effectively unusable due to the very slow speed (imagine wading through treacle).

I vaguely recall that my attempts to install Windows To Go on a removable disk failed during Windows setup - however I may be mis-remembering due to the passing of years. I have retried with Windows 8.1 Update on a removable disk (applied using wimlib + bcdboot) - setup failed on my Thinkpad T470s booting in BIOS mode (CSM enabled).

I was however able to apply and install Windows To Go based on Windows 10 21H2. So when did Windows To Go start working on removable USB drives?

I used a 32GB SanDisk USB 3.0 Ultra Fit. Windows 10 DiskPart was used to prepare the USB drive (Windows 10 version 1703 or newer is required to create multiple partitions on removable disks - with multiple partitions necessary to boot in UEFI mode due to the requirement for FAT32 for the boot partition/files (see NOTE1)) -

select disk #
clean
create partition primary size=1024
active
format fs=fat32 label=USB-1 quick
assign letter=r
create partition primary 
format fs=ntfs label=USB-2 quick
assign letter=s

wimlib was used to apply install.wim - this step was painfully slow! Example command -

wimlib-imagex.exe apply #:\sources\install.wim 1 S:

bcdboot was used to create boot files on USB partition 1 -

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

cheers.gif

Misty

NOTE1 - FAT32 should be universally supported on UEFI firmware and a small FAT32 partition for boot files will ensure wider compatibility on different hardware. A NTFS boot partition may be supported on some hardware.



#2 misty

misty

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 1066 posts
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 18 April 2023 - 06:02 PM

A bit more information about my Windows To Go USB 3.0 removable thumb drive setup.

Using a 32GB USB drive with two partitions -
- Partition 1 = 1 GB
- Partition 2 = 27.6 GB

I mentioned that the step applying install.wim to USB partition 2 is very slow - I timed this step during a retest and it took 27 minutes 33 seconds. wimlib is effectively creating 114,045 files totaling 7427 MiB of data.

Used space on partition 2 after applying install.wim (Windows 10 21H2 LTSC source) is around 7.5 GB. After the installation was completed the used space totaled 23.3 GB. Turning off hibernate (powercfg -h off) and manually setting the pagefile to 512 MB reduced used space to 16.4 GB.

The 32GB SanDisk USB 3.0 Ultra Fit I used for my tests ran hot - there are reports of "excessive heat" with some of these drives, with larger capacity being particularly problematic.

Windows To Go performance on this drive appears reasonably good - I didn't experience any significant lag.

cheers.gif

Misty

#3 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 16066 posts
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum (gate is closed)
  •  
    Italy

Posted 19 April 2023 - 09:43 AM

As a side note (possibly connected or possibly not) something changed in MS way of accessing removable (USB) devices.

 

Before 10 a removable usb (for the sake of the reasoning a "normal" usb stick with the removable bit set) Windows could only access a single partition on it and variouis filter drivers were developed, cfadisk.sys, dummydisk.sys, diskmod.sys (this latter has more features) in order to make the device appear as fixed and thus access all partitions on it.

 

Windows 10 changed this and all partitions are visible/mounted/etc.

 

:duff:

Wonko



#4 misty

misty

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 1066 posts
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 19 April 2023 - 06:38 PM

My understanding is that support for multiple partitions on removable type USB sticks was introduced in Windows 10 version 1703 (10.0.15063), with earlier versions of Windows not supporting this feature. I have not had the chance to test this feature, or whether the support for Windows To Go on removable media is also linked to or coincides with this feature.

There will likely be a delay in testing due to how long it takes to apply Windows from install.wim to a removeable USB stick and then complete setup. I do plan to test a limited number of Windows 10 versions to try and trace the following -

- when Windows To Go support on removable type disks was added. 

- when multiple partitions on removable media was first supported. 

 

I will feedback the results.

 

Misty

 

EDIT/UPDATE - 20/4/2023 05:15
 
I've managed a few more tests. Available information suggests that multiple partitions on removable type USB disks was introduced in Windows 10 version 1703. Based on my tests this is incorrect as Windows 10 version 1507 (10.0.10240) and 1607 (10.0.14393) also support multiple partitions (tested using sources listed below).
 
Windows source tests so far, using the same 32GB SanDisk USB 3 Ultra Fit removable type USB flash drive - 
 
Windows 10 version 21H2 (10.0.19041)
Source: en-us_windows_10_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_d289cf96.iso
Edition: Enterprise 2021 LTSC
Used disk space following install: 23.3 GB
Used disk space hibernate off (powercfg -h off): 19.8 GB
Pagefile: 3456 MB
Windows To Go working: YES
 
Windows 10 version 1809 (10.0.17763)
Source: en_windows_10_enterprise_ltsc_2019_x64_dvd_be3c8ffb.iso
Edition: Enterprise LTSB
Used disk space following install: 14.9 GB
Used disk space hibernate off (powercfg -h off): 11 GB
Pagefile: 3456 MB
Windows To Go working: YES
 
Windows 10 version 1703 (10.0.15063)
Source: en_windows_10_multiple_editions_version_1703_updated_march_2017_x64_dvd_10189288.iso
Edition: Professional
Used disk space following install: 16.2 GB
Used disk space hibernate off (powercfg -h off): 12.3 GB
Pagefile: 3456 MB
Windows To Go working: YES
 
Windows 10 version 1607 (10.0.14393)
Source: en_windows_10_enterprise_2016_ltsb_x64_dvd_9059483.iso
Edition: Enterprise 2016 LTSB
Used disk space following install: 14.7 GB
Used disk space hibernate off (powercfg -h off): 10.8 GB
Pagefile: 3456 MB
Windows To Go working: YES
 
Windows 10 version 1507 (10.0.)
Source: en-gb_windows_10_enterprise_2015_ltsb_x64_dvd_6848456.iso
Edition: Enterprise 2015 LTSB
Used disk space following install: 14.6 GB
Used disk space hibernate off (powercfg -h off): 10.7 GB
Pagefile: 3456 MB
Windows To Go working: YES
 
Looking at these results, Windows 10 21H2 requires a disporportionate amount of disk space compared to earlier versions of Windows 10 - with approximately twice as mush used disk space for a basic install. 
 
The version 1703 tests used a different edition of Windows - Professional. All other tests used Enterprise LTSB/LTSC sources. This edition of 1703 was the only one I had available and was tested due to the reports that multiple partitions on removable disks was introduced in version 1703 - which appears to be incorrect. 


#5 Wonko the Sane

Wonko the Sane

    The Finder

  • Advanced user
  • 16066 posts
  • Location:The Outside of the Asylum (gate is closed)
  •  
    Italy

Posted 20 April 2023 - 11:13 AM

Yep, but *someone* managed at the time to make Windows To Go even from 8 BUT on a vhd image:

 

http://reboot.pro/in...showtopic=16557

 

 

so, I suspect that the issue is with removable vs. fixed device, which with a (clever) use of diskmod.sys may be worked around and that - ultimately - what windows 10 does is simply to ignore the "removable" flag of the USB stick.

 

:duff:
Wonko



#6 steve6375

steve6375

    Platinum Member

  • Developer
  • 7566 posts
  • Location:UK
  • Interests:computers, programming (masm,vb6,C,vbs), photography,TV,films
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 23 April 2023 - 10:24 AM

LTSB is different from retail versions. You need to test with retail 1507 and 1607.

 

USB transfer Speed is very dependent on 4k random I/O rd/wr speed of the USB drive. Use Crystal DiskMark to measure. 4KiB Q1T1 - ignore manufacturers quoted sequential access speeds!

Some 'fast' USB 3 drive have terrible 4k block speeds!

For WinToGo to be usable, should be at least 1MB/s 4k random rd/write.

 

Tip: The IODD Mini SD device allows you to switch in 'blank' VHDs so that you can have lots of VHD images which will appear to the PC as just a simple USB hard disk. (4KiB Q1T1 speed is approx 15/26 rd/wr)

Also, the IODD Mini allows you to set the 'disk' as Removable or Fixed type in its settings menu.

You can thus easily test whether the RMB bit  being 0 or 1 is required without needing the use a different USB drive.

https://rmprepusb.bl...ni-usb-ssd.html

 

 

https://rmprepusb.bl...-gtx-v-ssd.html



#7 misty

misty

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 1066 posts
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 27 April 2023 - 06:17 PM

LTSB is different from retail versions. You need to test with retail 1507 and 1607...

I had assumed that such a significant change was at the kernel level and would be consistent across different Windows Editions/SKUs - unfortunately I do not have access to retail versions of Windows 10 1507 or 1607 to retest.
 

...USB transfer Speed is very dependent on 4k random I/O rd/wr speed of the USB drive. Use Crystal DiskMark to measure. 4KiB Q1T1 - ignore manufacturers quoted sequential access speeds!
Some 'fast' USB 3 drive have terrible 4k block speeds!
For WinToGo to be usable, should be at least 1MB/s 4k random rd/write...

That's really helpful and explains why a recent purchase of a Kioxia Transmemory U366 64 GB USB 3.0 drive was unusable. It took so long to apply install.wim that I nearly gave up. Setup failed after running for hours. I was so frustrated that I gave the drive away to my daughter and cannot currently retest for 4k random rd/write speeds. It's a shame the drive performs so poorly as I love the simple design.

I tried an old Integral USB 3 disk that I have access to - CrystalDiskMark 8 RND4K Q1T1 write results were 0.01 MB/s!!!!!!

Your site mentions Sandisk Extreme 3.0 as an affordable Windows To Go drive, however this is no longer available. Do you have any other recommendations for a keyring sized USB Windows To Go drive?

cheers.gif

Misty



#8 VendettaReborn

VendettaReborn
  • Members
  • 9 posts
  •  
    United States

Posted 02 May 2023 - 07:26 PM

Not recommended. Using an NVMe or SATA external SSD are superior options.

#9 misty

misty

    Gold Member

  • Developer
  • 1066 posts
  •  
    United Kingdom

Posted 04 May 2023 - 05:38 AM

Not recommended. Using an NVMe or SATA external SSD are superior options.

 

I agree that these are superior options and I have both set up for Windows To Go. They don't fit on my keyring though!

 

My plan is to have one on a keyring for emergency use only. 




1 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users