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TL;DR: Used "Install BCD" option and USB drive became "Basic" instead of "Removable".

I have a 64gb Sandisk flash drive, which was about 80% full. I wanted to install windows from it but didn't want to format it and lose data, so I googled if such a thing was possible, and came about an article saying to copy the .iso content onto flash drive and then use EasyBCD feature "Install BCD" to make it bootable.

easybcd

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I did this and clicked Yes in the dialog, but when booting from usb it gave an error. I decided to move the files to pc and then use Media Creation Tool to prepare the USB, but to my surprise it couldn't see the drive. I saw that it had changed from being "Removable" type to being "Basic",

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so the windows doesn't see it as a flash drive anymore. I can read/write to it without a problem.

I reformatted, deleted partition and recreated it multiple times. I tried lexar bootit but I don't think it worked.

DD3R
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  • This is happening because the Master Boot Record is present on the USB stick. You will need partition manipulation outside of Windows to resolve this. Windows Partition Manager, IIRC, doesn't touch the MBR on a drive. With that said, I'm not sure you want to do that. Many apps refuse to install on Flash drives for DRM purposes, but you now have a flash drive that Windows will see as an HDD. Could be useful to have around. – CDove May 04 '18 at 16:39
  • I can see how that would be useful but I don't really want to install apps here, I just want to install windows from it. I have Minitool Partition Wizard and I used "Restore MBR", "Change MBR to GPT" and back commands to no effect – DD3R May 04 '18 at 16:47
  • Possible duplicate of [How to create a Windows To Go that can be updated with OS updates](https://superuser.com/questions/1133291/how-to-create-a-windows-to-go-that-can-be-updated-with-os-updates) – n8te May 04 '18 at 22:22

1 Answers1

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First, see a previous question on flipping the Removable Media Bit (RMB).

There is a good description of this process at Windows OS Hub. The site also suggests modifying the way Windows views the drive, if the bit cannot be flipped, using cfadisk.sys.

There are various tools to flip the RMB that controls drive type, such as one which works on Lexar flash drives. Another tool is for Alcor or Transcend drives.

Caveats: Note that the bit-flip utilities seem to be specific to a particular USB flash drive type, and I did not find one specifically for Sandisk. Also note that one utility showed as malware in VirusTotal -- be sure to check all downloiads.

DrMoishe Pippik
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  • I used rufus to prepare usb with windows.iso, and after reinstall of windows it now sees the flash drive as removable again, not sure if it was rufus treatment or windows had a problem, but it's fixed – DD3R May 06 '18 at 07:54