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OT: Windows on USB

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  OT: Windows on USB scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> - 2026-07-13 18:46 +0100
    Re: OT: Windows on USB Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2026-07-13 18:54 +0100
      Re: OT: Windows on USB T <T@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-13 11:01 -0700
    Re: OT: Windows on USB "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2026-07-13 15:02 -0400
      Re: OT: Windows on USB ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2026-07-14 01:17 +0000
        Re: OT: Windows on USB "Alan K." <alan@invalid.com> - 2026-07-13 23:12 -0400
    Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-13 15:53 -0400
    Re: OT: Windows on USB "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2026-07-14 08:57 +0800
    Re: OT: Windows on USB ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2026-07-14 01:18 +0000
    Re: OT: Windows on USB ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2026-07-14 01:20 +0000
    Re: OT: Windows on USB Hiren Boot CD <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-07-14 06:38 +0100
    Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-14 03:28 -0400
      Re: OT: Windows on USB Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> - 2026-07-14 15:17 +0000
        Re: OT: Windows on USB "....winston" <winstonmvp@gmail.com> - 2026-07-14 12:11 -0400
        Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-14 12:22 -0400
    Re: OT: Windows on USB Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> - 2026-07-15 10:34 +0000
      Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-15 11:47 -0400
        Re: OT: Windows on USB "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-15 20:50 +0200
          Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-15 17:49 -0400
          Re: OT: Windows on USB Daniel70 <daniel47@nomail.afraid.org> - 2026-07-16 22:04 +1000
            Re: OT: Windows on USB "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-16 14:52 +0200
    Re: OT: Windows on USB scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> - 2026-07-18 07:03 +0100
      Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-18 04:00 -0400
        Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-18 05:45 -0400
      Re: OT: Windows on USB "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2026-07-18 20:49 +0800
    Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it "Carlos E. R." <robin_listas@es.invalid> - 2026-07-18 14:23 +0200
      Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-18 12:13 -0400
        Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it "Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> - 2026-07-19 08:44 +0800
    Re: OT: Windows on USB scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> - 2026-07-21 13:12 +0100
      Re: OT: Windows on USB Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-07-21 10:00 -0400

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#33054

On 2026-07-16 14:04, Daniel70 wrote:
> On 16/07/2026 4:50 am, Carlos E. R. wrote:
>> On 2026-07-15 17:47, Paul wrote:
>>> On Wed, 7/15/2026 6:34 AM, Chris wrote:

>> Linux can be put in a way in a stick such that the kernel creates a 
>> RAMdisk, and loads the entire system there. The USB is no longer 
>> accessed. At least, not for writes.
> 
> Is this, effectively, what happens when you put a Linux iso on a USB to
> install it onto a HD/SSD??

It can be done both ways. Running from the stick, or running from 
ramdisk. If the machine is short of memory, running from ramdisk will 
not work.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.
        ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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#33092

Thanks for all of the advice.
Not a simple thing to do, if at all possible.
As soon as I get the time I will look into it, but I dont hold out much hope.

On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:46:03 +0100, scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> wrote:

>Hello all
>I wish to play World in Conflict. My pc is running Windows 11 Pro, and the WIC program
>keeps crashing, makig it impossible to play. 
>What I want to do is install Windows (2000, Me, XP, 10, preferably 2000) onto a USB stick, install the WIC
>program onto the USB stick and play from there.
>I dont know if this is feasible, but to start with I would need to install some version of Windows
>to the USB stick. 
>I have searched the internet but found only ways of putting windows on to a usb
>stick that can be used only for installation to a pc.
>Can anyone advise me if running a version of windows from a
>usb stick is in fact feasible ?
>Any advice gratefully received.
>TIA
>-- 

-- 
remove fred before emailing

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#33093

On Sat, 7/18/2026 2:03 AM, scbs29 wrote:
> Thanks for all of the advice.
> Not a simple thing to do, if at all possible.
> As soon as I get the time I will look into it, but I dont hold out much hope.
> 
> On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:46:03 +0100, scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> wrote:
> 
>> Hello all
>> I wish to play World in Conflict. My pc is running Windows 11 Pro, and the WIC program
>> keeps crashing, makig it impossible to play. 
>> What I want to do is install Windows (2000, Me, XP, 10, preferably 2000) onto a USB stick, install the WIC
>> program onto the USB stick and play from there.
>> I dont know if this is feasible, but to start with I would need to install some version of Windows
>> to the USB stick. 
>> I have searched the internet but found only ways of putting windows on to a usb
>> stick that can be used only for installation to a pc.
>> Can anyone advise me if running a version of windows from a
>> usb stick is in fact feasible ?
>> Any advice gratefully received.
>> TIA
>> -- 
> 

I'm trying an experiment right now.

Will report soon.

It might actually be simple to do...

   Paul

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#33094

On Sat, 7/18/2026 4:00 AM, Paul wrote:
> On Sat, 7/18/2026 2:03 AM, scbs29 wrote:
>> Thanks for all of the advice.
>> Not a simple thing to do, if at all possible.
>> As soon as I get the time I will look into it, but I dont hold out much hope.
>>
>> On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:46:03 +0100, scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello all
>>> I wish to play World in Conflict. My pc is running Windows 11 Pro, and the WIC program
>>> keeps crashing, makig it impossible to play. 
>>> What I want to do is install Windows (2000, Me, XP, 10, preferably 2000) onto a USB stick, install the WIC
>>> program onto the USB stick and play from there.
>>> I dont know if this is feasible, but to start with I would need to install some version of Windows
>>> to the USB stick. 
>>> I have searched the internet but found only ways of putting windows on to a usb
>>> stick that can be used only for installation to a pc.
>>> Can anyone advise me if running a version of windows from a
>>> usb stick is in fact feasible ?
>>> Any advice gratefully received.
>>> TIA
>>> -- 
>>
> 
> I'm trying an experiment right now.
> 
> Will report soon.
> 
> It might actually be simple to do...
> 
>    Paul

And the experiment worked. One misstep, a Google to find out why, found a solution.

The SuperGrub CD description included below, was my "crutch" while experimenting.
It was used, in case the regular boot menu didn't work at some point, and
chain loading was worth a try.

Step 1:   Select an existing Windows install. I used an MSDOS partitioned Windows 10.

Step 2:   With this item booted, use an Administrator Command Prompt and add Safe Mode like this.
          When you boot, you'll either be selecting "Windows 10" if you think it is going to work,
          or you will be using the F8 key and then selecting (4) for Safe Mode. You can use
          Regedit from safe mode, if needing to flip the 0x14 hex value below, back to 0x00.

          bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu True

Step 3:   At this point, you can shut down. Remove your Win10 SATA SSD from the PC.
          Connect it to a USB3 to SATA SSD adapter cable (power+data for 4.5W to 7.5W bus-powered SSD drives).

Step 4:   At this point, you can start the computer and use the Popup Boot key to
          select the boot device.

What's going to happen is, if you select the device, the black boot menu appears,
if you select Safe Mode, it's going to work. This is your platform for hacking
the device from a convenient running OS. But if you select "Windows 10" from the
top of the menu, it's going to get an "Inaccessible Boot Device" error and it
will attempt to restart (this is a boot loop of sorts).

*******

This CD can give you a chance to chainload an OS. It really depends on
how cranky this CD is. For example, even though the PC I tested on, does not
have a TPM, I was getting Secure Boot error text from the Supergrub interface,
indicating it had tried to Secure Boot (which... I didn't want). That is why
this experiment is prefaced on an MSDOS legacy CSM installation of Windows 10.
I had to start with something simple. And the SuperGrub disc also happens
to boot OK from the legacy CSM boot entry in the Popup Boot menu of the BIOS.

https://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/super-grub2-disk-stable/

    CD-ROM BOOTABLE IMAGES

    Download CLASSIC supergrub2-classic-2.06s4-multiarch-CD.iso   (to be booted in legacy CSA mode)

      i386, x86_64, i386-efi and x86_64-efi

      Modern UEFI 64-bit and 32-bit systems and also old BIOS systems.

    Name: supergrub2-classic-2.06s4-multiarch-CD.iso
    Size: 24905728 bytes (23 MiB)
    SHA256: D26EE9CDA990051FBE4C2B367659DF5156A130A7ADA29F0B4FB0E65928D8EBAB

This is stored on SourceForge, so you'll need a modern browser to get the download.
They have "Just a moment" CloudFlare protection.

Once running, these are what you'll see from that CD.

    [Picture]    USB-Tethered-SSD-Boot.jpg

     https://imgur.com/a/fCKwAl9

     https://postimg.cc/DmvKNttQ

*******

With the Inaccessible Boot Volume error, I thought starting in Safe Mode
would be sufficient for the OS to be able to boot from a USB tethered SSD.
But that was not the case. Safe Mode offers the OS a chance to reload
all the drivers, instead of "remembering the driver that worked last time".
I repaired one other broken boot, by using Safe Mode for this purpose.
It didn't work for this case.

It turned out, this is the Boot Bus Extender issue. Windows To Go, is none
other than a registry setting to enable Boot Bus Extender support for
the USB3 driver. The USB3 driver presumably starting earlier, and
this allows the boot to complete.

   Boot a tethered USB drive with OS on it...

   https://superuser.com/questions/1718225/inaccessible-boot-device-in-windows-when-booting-from-usb

     According to this thread,

         https://www.tenforums.com/installation-upgrade/16148-can-i-boot-windows-hdd-via-usb-inaccessible_boot_device.html

     the USB 3.0 drivers aren't loaded at the stage of the boot process where Windows tries to access the boot partition.

     To make Windows load the USB drivers sooner:

         Press WinR, type regedit and hit Enter
         Enter HKLM\SYSTEM\HardwareConfig\ in the address bar at the top
         On the left, choose the entry with the UUID of the boot partition
         Change BootDriverFlags's value to 14 (hexadecimal) [instead of 0x00]

Now, the regular OS I put on a USB cable, is booted without SuperGrub and
just from the BIOS Popup Boot menu.

   [Picture]    Inaccessible-Boot-Volume-Fixed-On-USB-Tethered-SSD.gif

    https://imgur.com/a/ihkIqBy

    https://postimg.cc/fJkyG365

  Paul

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#33096

On 7/18/2026 2:03 PM, scbs29 wrote:
> Thanks for all of the advice.
> Not a simple thing to do, if at all possible.
> As soon as I get the time I will look into 
> it, but I dont hold out much hope.


You need Micro$oft's cooperation.

It surely is possible as Linux
can.

Maybe it's a national-class
security issue. :)

-- 

    @~@   Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
   / v \  May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
  /( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
    ^ ^   https://github.com/changmw/changmw
          The game is afoot... Meow...

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#33095 — Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it

On 2026-07-13 19:46, scbs29 wrote:

I chanced today on an article that explains how to do it, using Rufus. 
It is in Spanish, though, so you have to use an automated translator to 
read it.

<https://computerhoy.20minutos.es/tecnologia/un-experto-informatica-explica-como-llevar-windows-un-usb-para-usarlo-cualquier-pc-solo-necesitas-iso-oficial-rufus_7015385_0.html>

A computer expert explains how to run Windows from a USB stick on any 
PC: “All you need is the official ISO and Rufus”

-----------
Many users make this mistake when creating a bootable drive to run 
Windows 11 from a USB stick, but an expert explains the safest way to do it.
-----------

Although it may not be obvious at first glance, you can do a great many 
things on your PC with a USB stick. In fact, one of the reasons it’s so 
widely used is that there are many Linux distributions that can be run 
directly from a USB stick.

However, this is also something you can do with Windows 11, even though 
it’s a more demanding and resource-intensive operating system. The 
problem is that there may be certain errors in the process that not 
everyone realises.

An incorrect configuration when creating the bootable drive can cause 
all the software to fail on any computer to which you connect the USB stick.

This is precisely why an expert has come forward to explain how it 
should be done correctly and in what situations it is worth using this 
alternative.

-- 
Cheers,
        Carlos E.R.
        ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;

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#33097 — Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it

On Sat, 7/18/2026 8:23 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2026-07-13 19:46, scbs29 wrote:
> 
> I chanced today on an article that explains how to do it, using Rufus. It is in Spanish, though, so you have to use an automated translator to read it.
> 
> <https://computerhoy.20minutos.es/tecnologia/un-experto-informatica-explica-como-llevar-windows-un-usb-para-usarlo-cualquier-pc-solo-necesitas-iso-oficial-rufus_7015385_0.html>
> 
> A computer expert explains how to run Windows from a USB stick on any PC: “All you need is the official ISO and Rufus”
> 
> -----------
> Many users make this mistake when creating a bootable drive to run Windows 11 from a USB stick, but an expert explains the safest way to do it.
> -----------
> 
> Although it may not be obvious at first glance, you can do a great many things on your PC with a USB stick. In fact, one of the reasons it’s so widely used is that there are many Linux distributions that can be run directly from a USB stick.
> 
> However, this is also something you can do with Windows 11, even though it’s a more demanding and resource-intensive operating system. The problem is that there may be certain errors in the process that not everyone realises.
> 
> An incorrect configuration when creating the bootable drive can cause all the software to fail on any computer to which you connect the USB stick.
> 
> This is precisely why an expert has come forward to explain how it should be done correctly and in what situations it is worth using this alternative.
> 

I wanted to prove you could take an existing SATA SSD, and just
put it on a USB3 to SATA cable. And, it worked. It needed one
registry edit to do it.

And while doing the work (and having a couple Inaccessible Boot Volumes
in a row), a blue dialog appeared claiming this was a Windows-To-Go
install, which it was not. It was a regular OS install, stuck on the
end of a USB cable.

The first time I tried it, I got "Inaccessible Boot Volume", which
told me the objective was in "striking distance". Safe Mode driver
evaluation, turned out to be not possible to solve the
Inaccessible Boot Volume thing, but I got real lucky in
a Google search, and there is a registry entry to fix it.
It's the old Boot Bus Extender issue from WinXP era, still
present on Windows 10, but instead of someone on the MSI forum
writing a 12 page procedure to fix it, Microsoft has it down
to one registry setting :-) Progress.

I did not "shoot for Windows 11 SecureBoot" -- that's too high
an objective for an exercise like this. Win10 is much more likely
to work, in a pinch. Like, my SuperGrub2 disc I was using for
occasional chain loading while examining things, it did not like
to be booted in UEFI mode, but that too is progress. I burned
a new one of those, and the author of it had made some progress.
So that's a little bonus for my optical disc collection.

I also selected Win10, as I used a Win10 VM to test WIC_demo.exe .
I will leave WIC testing to the "customer" now.

The whole exercise was "more luck than skill" :-) I just started
with the right SSD for the job. There are some other SSDs, I would
likely still be working on it right now.

   Paul

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#33125 — Re: OT: Windows on USB - an article that explains how to do it

On 7/19/2026 12:13 AM, Paul wrote:
> 
> I wanted to prove you could take an existing SATA SSD, and just
> put it on a USB3 to SATA cable. And, it worked. It needed one
> registry edit to do it.


Then you cheated. :)

A regular USB is hot-pluggable and
do NOT disguise as a SSD by honestly
reporting it's just a USB flash
drive.

Maybe that's the key to make the
"Windows on USB" possible.

 > The whole exercise was "more luck than skill" 🙂


Science is NOT luck. Luck is magic!! :)

-- 

    @~@   Simplicity is Beauty! Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch!
   / v \  May the Force and farces be with you! Live long and prosper!!
  /( _ )\ https://sites.google.com/site/changmw/
    ^ ^   https://github.com/changmw/changmw
          The game is afoot... Meow...

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#33217

Thanks again for all of the advice.
I have, however, seemed to sort out my problem and it looks like I will be 
able to play the game.
I installed VMware Workstation Pro and then downloaded a copy of
Windows X-Lite Optimum 10 Pro v5 as an iso.from windowsxlite.com
I then used this to create a virtual Windows X-Lite machine in VMware. I temporarily attached the folder where
I have the installation media for World in Conflict to the virtual machine and installed it to the virtual WIndows
X-Lite.
I tried out the program and so far it seems to be working ok.



On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:46:03 +0100, scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> wrote:

>Hello all
>I wish to play World in Conflict. My pc is running Windows 11 Pro, and the WIC program
>keeps crashing, makig it impossible to play. 
>What I want to do is install Windows (2000, Me, XP, 10, preferably 2000) onto a USB stick, install the WIC
>program onto the USB stick and play from there.
>I dont know if this is feasible, but to start with I would need to install some version of Windows
>to the USB stick. 
>I have searched the internet but found only ways of putting windows on to a usb
>stick that can be used only for installation to a pc.
>Can anyone advise me if running a version of windows from a
>usb stick is in fact feasible ?
>Any advice gratefully received.
>TIA
>-- 

-- 
remove fred before emailing

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#33220

On Tue, 7/21/2026 8:12 AM, scbs29 wrote:
> Thanks again for all of the advice.
> I have, however, seemed to sort out my problem and it looks like I will be 
> able to play the game.
> I installed VMware Workstation Pro and then downloaded a copy of
> Windows X-Lite Optimum 10 Pro v5 as an iso.from windowsxlite.com
> I then used this to create a virtual Windows X-Lite machine in VMware. I temporarily attached the folder where
> I have the installation media for World in Conflict to the virtual machine and installed it to the virtual WIndows
> X-Lite.
> I tried out the program and so far it seems to be working ok.
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 18:46:03 +0100, scbs29 <scbs29@fred.talktalk.net> wrote:
> 
>> Hello all
>> I wish to play World in Conflict. My pc is running Windows 11 Pro, and the WIC program
>> keeps crashing, makig it impossible to play. 
>> What I want to do is install Windows (2000, Me, XP, 10, preferably 2000) onto a USB stick, install the WIC
>> program onto the USB stick and play from there.
>> I dont know if this is feasible, but to start with I would need to install some version of Windows
>> to the USB stick. 
>> I have searched the internet but found only ways of putting windows on to a usb
>> stick that can be used only for installation to a pc.
>> Can anyone advise me if running a version of windows from a
>> usb stick is in fact feasible ?
>> Any advice gratefully received.
>> TIA
>> -- 

If you run "dxdiag" in there, one of the tabs is likely to tell you
that the graphics are accelerated, and that VMWare is tapping into
the video card. On the right hand side of dxdiag in that tab,
it will mention some variant of DirectX3D 9. I think the WIC game
(at least the demo version), it claims to be able to use DX3D 9
and DX3D 10.

On VirtualBox, that's called "experimental 3D acceleration" and there
is a tick box. Maybe on VMWare, they don't even bother with the
tick box :-) That's a kind of passthru acceleration, at a guess.

*******

I restored my tethered SSD from backup, after the tethering experiment.
I put it back in the machine on a SATA cable, and did the restore from
a Macrium backup. What was funny, is after it booted, the Task Bar
would not render. Only the Start icon was there, and the Start icon
would not respond. It seems, the Search Indexer "windows.edb" file
didn't get backed up (because I was lazy and did a "hot" backup
from the running OS on C: ), and the lack of Task Bar icons seems
to be related to the Search Index being empty and being in some
state of flux. So while I was extolling the virtues of backups
the other day, now I have learned to "be more careful about *how*
I make those backups".

   Paul

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