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I'm working on a notebook that has run out of storage capacity for Windows 10 updates. I have Windows to Go all set up on the USB, and it runs the installer fine. I've done a clean install. However, it seems to be installing Windows 10 to my PC and not to the USB which is where I want it to run from so that storage on the PC is freed up.

I'm wondering if I've just got the wrong end of the stick here. Is it possible to make it be installed on and run from the USB? Or am I better off leaving it as it is? I read that if the PC runs out of storage for another update, it will resort to storing the rest onto the USB, but I can't test it.

Jay
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    Windows To-Go will run from a USB device, but you have to install it from a working Windows 10 installation. – LPChip Feb 05 '21 at 11:55
  • Another way would be to install it to an HDD first, [WIM](https://superuser.com/a/1581804/529800) the system partition, then either use [WIMboot](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/w8cookbook/windows-image-file-boot--wimboot-) to boot the WIM from the USB or apply the WIM directly to a partition on the USB; albeit you'll likely need to flip a bit with a hex editor to make the USB appear as a fixed disk in Windows and you'll need to have the boot files and WinRE all reside on the system partition _(Windows doesn't support more than one partition on a USB drive)_ – JW0914 Feb 05 '21 at 13:40
  • Thanks very much for the replies! LPChip, I think it's being installed from a working Windows 10 installation, but unfortunately it's not running Windows 10 from the USB after it's successfully installed. It automatically installs it to the PC, and if I try to boot from the USB after that, it tries to re-install Windows. @JW0914, ok, I'll look into the method you said. It might be a bit above my knowledge level, but I'll do some research and give it a try. Your help is much appreciated! – Jay Feb 09 '21 at 14:27

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