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When I try to boot from the Windows To Go drive made using the Hasleo WinToUSB application, Windows 7 seems to boot normally at first, but it hangs and a red bar with some small text is displayed at the top of the screen. I'd think that it would be a shrunk down Windows 7 Red Screen of Death.
The drive is listed as a 32GB SanDisk 3.2Gen1 USB Device in the Hardware section of the Drive Properties. The partition scheme I selected is MBR for BIOS and UEFI, and Secure Boot is disabled in my BIOS.
I have tried Rufus to deploy WTG, with the same Error displayed. The process in which I deployed WTG is similar to the video over at https://youtu.be/tImpkGFDsJU.
When trying a similar procedure but with Windows 10, WTG boots fine, with no problems whatsoever.
Any possible ways to solve this?
Image of similar/exact error can be found at: I get a red bar when trying to install windows 7 DVD, and it freezes

EDIT: The deployed image is W7Prox64 2018 relase from Archive.org https://archive.org/details/7601.24214.180801-1700.win-7sp-1-ldr-escrow-client-homepremium-x-64-fre-en-us_202212. For WinToUSB, I have modified the image with NTLite, and no drivers were removed. For Rufus, I used the unmodified ISO from Archive.org. Do note that the Images work fine when used in VMware. Upon deploying Windows 10 using Rufus, the install works perfectly fine. Sorry for the lack of information provided.

ItsCube
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  • Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community Sep 01 '23 at 15:47
  • A screenshot of the error will be helpful. – harrymc Sep 01 '23 at 15:51
  • What is the source of the Windows 7 ISO? 32 or 64 bit? Some online sources are junk. – DrMoishe Pippik Sep 01 '23 at 18:34
  • @DrMoishePippik: He tried Rufus, which downloads the ISO (I hope he did it this way). – harrymc Sep 01 '23 at 18:47
  • @harrymc, Rufus can also burn from a downloaded ISO, and that is the way I usually use it. – DrMoishe Pippik Sep 01 '23 at 18:49
  • @DrMoishePippik: If he burnt it from ISO, he could try the ISO that is built-into Rufus. It will then surely be correct. – harrymc Sep 01 '23 at 18:53
  • @harrymc, "ISO that is built-into Rufus?" Rufus is just 1.4 MB in size and contains no ISO. It will download an ISO at runtime... and the question still is, *from where did it fetch the ISO*? – DrMoishe Pippik Sep 01 '23 at 18:59
  • @DrMoishePippik: I don't know from where, it's likely doing a direct download from Microsoft. But at least this will be sure to work if there are no hardware errors or a BIOS setting incompatibility. – harrymc Sep 01 '23 at 19:03
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    @harrymc Rufus downloads Windows ISOs from Microsoft and from Microsoft only. It would be extremely shady otherwise, don't you think? So, knowing that Windows 7 isn't available for download from Microsoft since many years ago we immediately must conclude the author DIDN'T use that method and obtained it from somewhere else. – ChanganAuto Sep 02 '23 at 19:14
  • @ChanganAuto: Windows 7 is still available on MSDN, so it can be downloaded somehow. I found there's a [small war](https://www.ghacks.net/2022/08/13/rufus-microsoft-is-blocking-windows-iso-downloads/) going on between Rufus and Microsoft, and that the Rufus developers only managed to get some versions downloading again, but that unfortunately doesn't include Windows 7 any more. So in fact you're right, I'm not up to date. – harrymc Sep 02 '23 at 20:13

2 Answers2

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This could be caused by several factors, such as incompatible hardware, corrupted system files, or incorrect boot settings. Here are some possible solutions that you can try:

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Check if your computer supports booting from a USB drive in UEFI mode. Some older computers may not be able to boot Windows 7 in UEFI mode, and you may need to switch to legacy mode in the BIOS settings. However, this may also cause a blue screen of death (BSOD) error with the message “The BIOS in this system is not fully ACPI compliant”. To fix this, you may need to update your BIOS firmware or disable some features such as Secure Boot or Fast Boot in the BIOS settings.

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Use the Windows 7 installation DVD or a recovery disk to repair your Windows To Go drive. You can boot from the DVD or disk and choose System Recovery Options. Then, you can try the following options: Startup Repair: This option will scan your Windows To Go drive and try to fix any problems that prevent it from starting. System Restore: This option will restore your Windows To Go drive to a previous state when it was working properly. You can choose a restore point from a list of available ones. Command Prompt: This option will allow you to run some commands that may help you fix your Windows To Go drive. For example, you can run the following commands to rebuild the boot sector and the master boot record (MBR) of your drive:

bootrec.exe /fixmbr x:bootbootsect.exe /nt60 all /force where x: is the CD drive letter.

Windows Memory Diagnostic: This option will check your RAM for errors. If the RAM bar has something wrong, Windows 7 also won’t boot.

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Use a different USB port or a different USB drive to boot your Windows To Go drive. Sometimes, the USB port or the USB drive may be faulty or incompatible with your computer, and cause boot issues. You can try plugging your Windows To Go drive into another USB port on your computer, or use another USB drive that meets the requirements for Windows To Go .

Rohit
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  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers [in the help center](/help/how-to-answer). – Community Sep 02 '23 at 20:55
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Since your Windows 7 ISO works in a virtual machine but not on your computer, it might be that some of your modern hardware is not supported by any driver in the Windows 7 ISO.

Getting a Windows 7 driver for modern hardware is usually a lost cause.

I believe you'll need to continue on using Windows 7 in a virtual machine. The emulated hardware in the VM is by default very standard (and very old), so Windows 7 has no problem with it.

harrymc
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