Dual boot to and external USB drive

[bluegrass]

I know their are thousands of you out there that would love to take a look at Windows 10 but aren't ready to risk having any productivity problems when using the your SP for real-life needs. I was lucky to have access to installing it on an old desktop I had laying around. I would like to have it available on my SP3 and was wondering if it might be possible to dual boot to an external USB 3 drive. Maybe even an external SSD drive.

 

[GreyFox7]

I think it can, I think it can...

 

[GreyFox7]

Perhaps even better boot from VHD on external USB SSD.

 

[jnjroach]

With one of the drives listed below you can boot to Windows 2 Go, but you would need the Enterprise Edition of Windows....

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/devices/windowstogo.aspx

 

[GreyFox7]

With one of the drives listed below you can boot to Windows 2 Go, but you would need the Enterprise Edition of Windows....

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/devices/windowstogo.aspx

But that's a horse of a different color no?

 

[jnjroach]

But that's a horse of a different color no?

To truely run an a non-"Live" OS off a USB Device it needs to report itself as a fixed disk, the devices listed on the MS Page do that and are able to create the necessary partitions (i.e. more than one).

 

[bluegrass]

So Jeff, is what your saying, you would need to build a Windows to Go 8.1 Enterprise on a Microsoft certified Windows to Go drive. You would than upgrade the Windows 8 Enterprise to Windows 10 Preview. If that would work it would be a sweet way of having Windows 10 until it is released without any risks.

It would cost you the prices of Windows 8.1 Enterprise plus the cost of the USB Windows to Go device. I assume it wouldn't do me any good to upgrade my preset Surface Windows 8.1 Pro to the Enterprise version since that needs to be on the USB drive?

Would the Windows to Go drive attach to any computer running Windows 7 & above & function as a bootable OS?

 

[bluegrass]

The cost of this WTG certified 512 gig drive is only $129, which is reasonable.

http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Ente...414014163&sr=8-1&keywords=Passport+enterprise

The big question is whether it would remain a WTG system if you upgraded to Windows 10 Preview. I read a little about WTG and it sounds very enticing in that you can plug it into most any computer and it's like having your computer to go.

 

[jnjroach]

So Jeff, is what your saying, you would need to build a Windows to Go 8.1 Enterprise on a Microsoft certified Windows to Go drive. You would than upgrade the Windows 8 Enterprise to Windows 10 Preview. If that would work it would be a sweet way of having Windows 10 until it is released without any risks.

It would cost you the prices of Windows 8.1 Enterprise plus the cost of the USB Windows to Go device. I assume it wouldn't do me any good to upgrade my preset Surface Windows 8.1 Pro to the Enterprise version since that needs to be on the USB drive?

Would the Windows to Go drive attach to any computer running Windows 7 & above & function as a bootable OS?

You potentially do it that way, what I'm saying is you need a USB Storage Device that supports multiple partitions and those on the list are the ones that support it....personally I would use Diskpart and DISM with the Windows 10 ISO and lay an image unto the disk...

 

[bluegrass]

I'm not familiar with DISM. I need to do some research. It all sounded like a plausible idea but maybe isn't. You don't know how much the 8.1 upgrade from Pro to Enterprise is by any chance do you? I tried a little searching for it but didn't find a price.

 

[jnjroach]

Enterprise is a Volume License SKU not available at retail, you can download the Windows 10 ISO mount it and use DISM to apply it to the drive....

I have 2 of the Lexar Compatible Drives (32GB each) and did this on the Windows 8 Beta to demo for Intel at TechNet a couple of years ago....

 

[leeshor]

I have not personally done this but an associate has. There is one, actually more parts, utility that will allow you to boot to multiple OSs, (ISOs) on one USB drive. He has put the W10 preview on one along with an anti virus ISO and Linux

It uses Grub for the boot and even comes with a customizable menu. As I mentioned, there are multiple parts but you can get started by reading about it here. EZ2Boot . I have all the files downloaded, just haven't had the time to do it myself.