How To Clone Existing Windows Installation To USB and Make It Bootable

Clone current Windows installation to USB and make the USB bootable

Complete the given below instructions to clone your existing Windows 10 (any other version of Windows) installation to a USB drive and then make the drive bootable.

Step 1: Connect your USB drive and backup all data to a safe location.

Step 2: Visit this page of WinToUSB, and download the latest available version of the software. The download size is under 4MB.

Step 3: Run the downloaded WinToUSB executable and follow on-screen instructions to get it installed.

Step 4: Run the tool as administrator, click the third icon (Physical to USB) in the left-pane to see the following screen.

Step 5: Click Next button to see a pop-up with “Need to build a WinPE image, this may take several minutes. Are you sure you want to continue?” message.

Click Yes button.

Step 6: Once the WinPE image is ready, you’ll be asked to select the destination USB drive.

Here, you need to also select system partition as well as the boot partition of your existing Windows installation. The system partition is usually the small 100 or 200 MB partition. And boot partition is nothing but the partition containing your Windows 10 installation files, which is usually “C” drive.

Step 7: Finally, click Next button. Click Yes button when you’re asked to reboot your PC.

After rebooting your PC, the clone process will start and might take a few hours (depending on your boot partition size and system performance). That’s it!

Once your Windows To GO USB drive is ready, simply change the boot order in BIOS/UEFI to boot from USB to begin using the drive. Good luck!