Problems With Creating Windows To Go Flash Drives

[Nev71]

I have been trying to create a successful Windows To Go flash drive using the AOMEI and Flashboot software designed for that purpose.

So far, I've had very little success, so I would like to hear from anyone who has got this process working well. Two other types of software I have not tried for this purpose are, ISumesoft and Ease US Todo. So I would like to hear any comments about those two if anyone has tried them.

I have tried cloning both the Windows 7 and 10 hard drives contents from both a modern HP and Lenovo laptop computers and the process goes well, but when it comes to booting up the computer with the bootable flash drive with the clone on it, the BIOS does not seem to like the amount of time the flash drive is taking to load the OS into the RAM and so reboots the computer!

[Lisa_maree]

To get this to work the computer has to have a bios which has  generic settings which you copy windows from.
The settings should be
ACHI off and drive in IDE mode
TPM disabled
Secure boot disabled

On the computer you are wanting to boot the pen drive,  above needs to be set except the hard drive can be in ACHI mode.

[Nev71]

Hello Lisa,  We meet yet again on this site.  I'm afraid you have lost me on some of the terms used in your reply.  Never heard of the terms ACHI, IDE mode, and TPM.  I gather the functions you mentioned are all carried out by making alterations in the BIOS?  Yes, I do have the Secure Boot disabled.

The companies we purchase this kind of software from do not warn us of the need to make the changes you have suggested. I guess they just assume we the buyers know all that!

[Nev71]

Lisa, thanks for the information you gave me, but I only managed to find two out of the four items I had to find in my BIOS. One was the secure boot which I had already mentioned, and the other was the TPM. I found it, and did a practice run to see if I could disable it. No problem, so I returned it to enabled again.  So on this computer which I'm using at the moment, namely a HP laptop only about two months old, I could not find any mention of the ACHI function or the IDE mode for the drive. Perhaps those functions are only included in older computers?

I have spent quite a bit of time over the last three years dabbling with this Windows To Go project and now I think it might be time to give it away. If I did have a working flash drive with it in my pocket, and say I went to my place of work or to a friend's house where the situation arose where I wanted to use it. Can you imagine the reaction I would probably get if I told my boss or friend that I had to go into their computer's BIOS and make four changes there so I could enable my flash drive to run their computer!

Perhaps the best way to have a Windows To Go device with you while mobile, is to just purchase a small laptop computer with say a ten inch screen and carry that in your suitcase or briefcase.