Sunday, September 18, 2011

Windows To Go - Running Windows 8 from USB


One of the new features demonstrated by Microsoft allows Windows 8 to be installed and booted from a USB on any other PC. This feature which is known as Windows To Go allows users to run Windows on a client machine without installing anything.

Windows To Go will work with both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 devices, with the latter providing better performance. The following key points were revealed by Manan Kakkar :


  • Windows 8 will default boot to a Windows To Go drive if one is inserted into a system
  • Core drivers will be bundled in Windows To Go to avoid situations where Windows Update is unavailable
  • It will support USB 2.0 and 3.0
  • There is no Hibernate mode in Windows To Go
  • Windows To Go will operate on legacy BIOS and new UEFI firmware
  • Crash and Dump will be available for Windows To Go
If the USB drive is removed while Windows is running the system will freeze for 60 seconds allowing the user to replace the drive. After the drive is replaced Windows will resume where you left it. If the user fails to replace the drive, Windows will shut down after the 60 seconds.

Check out Windows To Go demonstrated in the video which follows and let us know what you think in the comments section.

DJRipster Web Developer

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