[German version]Here I have described, how to create a Windows 8 To Go installation on a USB hard disk. The solution had a few disadvantages. First of all, it requires an old Windows 8 Build (I used Portable Workspace Creator, which was removed from Build 8102). And I wasn’t able to test my procedure with an 16 GB USB thumb drive, because the minimum is a 32 GB USB memory stick. Now I found a simpler way, to bring the Windows 8 Developer Preview as Windows 8 To Go-Version to a 16 GByte USB-Stick (work’s also with USB hard disks).
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Wrong paths …
My first approach was, to install Windows 8 in a virtual machine, using a 16 GB virtual disk. Then I tried to clone this virtual disk to a 16 GB USB thumb drive using the Linux-Tool GParted. But I failed, because GParted terminated during copy operation with errors. The USB memory stick was bootable, but Windows 8 couldn’t load.
One other idea, I have had, was: create a 350 MB boot partition and a 2nd 5,3 GB Windows partition using GParted and format that as NTFS drives (diskpart won’t support that). This approach offers the possibility to use the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit)program imagex.exe to copy the Windows files to the 2nd Windows partition. But I also failed.
At least I discussed my toughts about imagex on German forum WinVistaSide.de. User hoschi80 cited the following from a BUILD presentation.
The same APIs used to deploy desktops and laptops can be used with Windows To Go
imagex /apply N:\Images\my-windows-partition.wim 1 W:\
Bcdboot.exe w:\windows /s X: /f ALL
After reading that cite, I rembered this arcticle, that should point to the right direction. A few hours later, user hoschi80 directs me to a second article, that confirmed my thoughts.
Step by Step: Windows 8 To Go on a 16 GB USB memory stick
First of all, we need to boot the Windows 8 Developer Preview (for instance in a virtual machine). Then it is mandatory, to mount the ISO file of a Windows 8 Developer Preview (I have used the 32 bit version). We also need the Windows Automated Installation Kit (for Windows 7), because the WAIK file imagex.exe from the Tools folder is required. I have copied the recommended 32 or 64 bit version to my Windows 8 machine.
After connecting the USB memory stick to Windows 8, we need to create a NTFS-formated primary partition on the USB memory stick. This can be done using Computer Managment-Console (branch disk management). Or you can invoke the command prompt windows using Run as administrator. Then you can use the following diskpart-commands to create the ntfs partition.
diskpart
select disk 1
select partition 1
delete partition
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
active
exit
You can use list disk to query all drives, and list partition shows all partitions on a drive. The select command selects the drive and the required partition. Above I used disk 1 and then I deleted an existing partition on the memory stick. Afterward I created a primary partition and formats it with ntfs. The active command made the stick bootable.
After terminating diskpart, we need to copy Windows files to the USB thumb drive using imagex.exe. This can be done, using the following command in a administrative console window.
imagex.exe /apply d:\sources\install.wim 1 f:\
Here I launched imagex.exe from the currect directory of my Windows 8 drive. D: was the DVD drive (containing the setup media with the file install.wim) and F: was the drive letter of my USB memory stick. The number 1 defines, that only on Windows 8 edition should be copied.
After copying Windows successful to the thumb drive (on my system it took nearly 3 hours to finish), we have to copy also the boot files to the media. This can be done using the following command:
bcdboot.exe f:\windows /s f: /f ALL
within an administrative console windows. Drive f: is my USB memory stick. The command writes the boot files from the current Windows directory to the boot area of the target media.
Executing the commands above sucessfully, the USB memory stick should contain the files shown below. After unmounting the USB thumb drive the media can be used to boot a system.
To force a boot from USB memory stick (pen drive), it is required to invoke the BIOS boot menu (pressing a key like ESC, F8, F11, depends on BIOS version and vendor) and select the boot device. After selecting the USB media as boot device, Windows 8 should boot and starts configuring the system. The screen below shows the setup page to enter the computer’s network name.
During first setup, some reboots are necessary. Keep your attention to invoke the BIOS boot menu and select USB media to boot (otherwise the OS installed on the system disk will be booted). After configuring your Windows 8 To Go, the login screen should be visible. Below is my MSI Wind 100 netbook, showing Windows 8 start screen (I have used Windows 8 To Go on a 300 MB USB 2.0 hard disk).
Remarks: Using the steps described above brings Windows 8 Developer Preview to a 16-GB-USB thumb drive (or a USB hard disk) as Windows 8 To Go. The advantage against my 1st solution: we don’t need a Windows 8 Build containing Portable Workspace Creator, and we can keep existing partitions on a USB hard disk. The disadvantages are: We don’t have a 2nd partition “system reserved”, that is needed to set up bitlocker.
For my tests I have had only a 16 GB USB 2.0 thumb drive. I was able to boot my system with this memory stick. But the solution wasn’t really useable. Whilst I was able to use my USB 2.0 hard disk with Windows 8 To Go in a reasonable way, the USB 2.0 thumb drive took a long time to boot – more than 5 minutes – and setup the system for the first time. After entering the password in login screen, I waited 10 minutes. I could see activities on the USB thumb drive, but I still have had a black desktop with mouse pointer – and no start-screen. This is too long and I terminated my test.
Recommendation: If you intent do experiment a bit with Windows 8 To Go, I strongly recommend a 32 GB USB 3.0 thumb drive (or USB hard disc) and a computer with USB 3.0 support.
Schlagworte: USB-Stick, Windows 8 To Go
[...] users, and the ability to create bootable USB drives will be included with Windows 8 Server. But Born city has step-by-step instructions for creating your own Windows To Go setup using a USB flash drive and the recently released Windows [...]
[...] It certainly sounds very interesting, you can find out more information about Windows 8 running from a USB flash drive and Windows To Go over at Born City. [...]
Does anybody know if it possible to get on the Net:
a Ghost image (*.GHO) of the “Windows To Go”bootable stick that was given to some of the attendees at the recent Conference BUILD in Anaheim
[...] City.com has the full set of instructions plus links to where you can download the software and utilities to make this work. Keep in mind [...]
@franz99: I don’t know whether there is an image downloadable. But I feel the probability to find an image of the USB stick handed to BUILD attendees is really low – the probability to find a Ghost image is (in my opinion) even lower.
Why should somebody create such an image (of 32 GB) and upload it to the net, if it’s possible to create the same image using either the 2.9 -3.6 GByte Windows 8 (32/64 Bit) or the 5 GB Developer Preview with developer addtition?
[...] It certainly sounds very interesting, you can find out more information about Windows 8 running from a USB flash drive and Windows To Go over at Born City. [...]
Hi !
I just tried to do that like you did, but it just doesn’t start… I can see my USB stick as a bootable device in my bios, but when I try to boot it there is only a short flashing line appearring in left top corner of my screen… What could I have done wrong ?
A wrong word:
”
format fs=netfs quick
”
format fs=ntfs quick
thanks for share！
myenglish is so hard O(∩_∩)O哈哈~
@Pborofski: Hard to say, what went wrong. Here I have a system that won’t boot from USB, because the BIOS doesn’t really support USB boot. I have managed it with an extended USB boot manager – now I’m running my USB 2.0 hard disk with Windows 8 To Go also on this machine.
One other possible reason: Sometimes USB ports are not 100% functional. In this case it might be helpful to test several usb ports on your computer.
To verfify that the system can boot from USB I would create a bootable USB memory stick with Linux Live system (Puppy or something else).
Another idea is to create a bootable USB memory stick with Windows 8 Install-Image using tools like this:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool
If that USB pen drive is able to boot, I guess the bcdboot command went wrong.
HTH
@小豪: Thanks for your feedback – I’ve amended the command.
@Günter Born
Thanks for your feedback. I suppose bcdboot could have gone wrong, but what i’ve noticed is that your “imagex.exe /apply d:\source\install.wim 1 f:\” command has been executed in 3 hours time, but mine was in only 80 mins with a mobile dual-core Celeron SU2300 Processor. http://i.minus.com/iTEocyjJp9zlf.png – That’s an URL with screenshot of what I have done with pendrive opened in Windows Explorer as a result. If you can see any mistake please give me some advice
@Pborofski: In brief I could not find any issue with the command windows in your screenshot. The time used to execute the command, depends on the environment. I used a virtual machine to create the USB pen drive. This week I used the same command to create a Win 8 To Go on a USB 2.0 hard disk an a native machine – and it was ready after 20 minutes. But I have had a few errors executing the command – so I re-formatted my hard disk’s partition again. After that the commands runs flawless and I was able to boot (only my attempt, to create a dual boot with two Windows 8 To Go installs failed – and I haven’t investigated, why I only got only once a screen to select the os).
Inspecting my usb 2.0 hard disk, if found some differences in file and folder structure. I don’t have the EFI folder. Instead I have the folders Recovery and System Volume Information – there are also files “hiberfile.sys” and “pagefile.sys” – maybe created during first boot.
As I see, you used a running Windows 8 system to create the pen drive. Could it be that you used the wrong version of imagex? That could be the source of trouble.
If you haven’t done, maybe it’s helful to do a full ntfs-format of your USB pen drive and try the instructions again.
@Günter Born
I actually have formatted the disk to NTFS, I’ve set it active as well. I have no idea what else could have gone wrong and why. But anyway thanks a lot for your help and quick advices
Best wishes.
@Günter Born
What did you mean by ‘wrong version’ ? Which one should I have ??
I used the downloaded from Microsoft, 32-bit one because 64-bit didn’t want to start – first line on my screenshot.
I have the official developer preview in 64 bits.
@Pborofski: I mean, there are 32- and 64-Bit-Versions of Imagex. If you bootet a 64 Bit Windows 8, the 64 Bit version of imagex is mandatory (although, I guess, that a 32 bit imagex will refuse to work in a 64 bit environment).
@Günter Born
What you say is very interesting, because I couldn’t run the 64-bit version of Imagex, no idea why. CMD said it’s not a proper windows32 application, so I used the 32-bit version
Do you have any idea how to run the 64-bit version ??
PS. I think it’s caused by the location given me by CMD – look at previous sceenshot. Maybe I could change it ?
@Pborofski: Hm, that’s strange. I don’t remember, if I used the 32- or the 64-Bit-version of Windows 8 in a virtual machine to create Windows 8 To Go. What I suggest: Try to install a 32-Bit-Version of Windows 8 in a virtual machine and use that environment to create Windows 8 To Go. Then yous should be able to use imagex.exe (32 Bit version) to create either a 32- or a 64-bit-version of Windows 8 To Go. I have used the 32-Bit-Version of Windows 8 To Go, to create a 2nd 64 Bit Windows 8 To Go on my hard disk.
BTW: There is a 2nd difference. You run imagex from Windows folder system32. I have used the path to my desktop to invoke imagex. In brief I would say, it doesn’t matter. But who knows, maybe there is an access right issue causing your trouble. Maybe you can try to get imagex.exe again from Win 7 SDK and copy the 32 bit version to a user folder of your 32 bit Windows 8 operating system. And then try the procedure again.
All I can say: I have used it several times – and I never have had trouble, booting the usb drive.
“Maybe you can try to get imagex.exe again from Win 7 SDK and copy the 32 bit version to a user folder of your 32 bit Windows 8 operating system. And then try the procedure again.” – That’s what I’ve done there…
I think I should try to run the imagex in 64-bit but from other direction – not the system32. But I have just no idea how to do that. Do you ?
Have you ever tried to open an administrative command windows, navigate to the folder containing imagex and execute it? If that doesn’t work, I run out of ideas.
2011…
Good blog! I really love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I might be notified whenever a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!…
I have created a WTG USB thumb drive in a fully 32 bits environnement and I get more or less the same problem
as Pborofsk described above:
« I just tried to do that like you did, but it just doesn’t start… I can see my USB stick as a bootable device in my bios, but when I try to boot it there is only a short flashing line appearring in left top corner of my screen… What could I have done wrong ? »
I posted a question here on the official Windows 8 blog:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdeveloperpreviewgeneral/thread/e2750912-9352-483b-bba0-fc791fe0f1fa
and noticed that probably the programmers at Microsoft worked out this ‘Windows To Go’ question only on 64 bits systems …
I created a WTG USB thumb drive in a fully 32 bits environnement and I get more or less the same problem
as Pborofsk described above:
« I just tried to do that like you did, but it just doesn’t start… I can see my USB stick as a bootable device in my bios, but when I try to boot it there is only a short flashing line appearring in left top corner of my screen… What could I have done wrong ? »
I posted a question here on the official Windows 8 blog:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdeveloperpreviewgeneral/thread/e2750912-9352-483b-bba0-fc791fe0f1fa
and noticed that probably the programmers at Microsoft worked out this ‘Windows To Go’ question only on 64 bits systems …
@franz99: I don’t know, what went wrong. I will do the thing a third time, to verify my steps described in my blog. If I find some problems, I will report.
The USB thumb that I created in a fully 32 bits system booted on the frst latop I tried in a shop !
This Toshiba laptop had a P6200 2,13 Ghz CPU and was normaly running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bits.
This seems logical to me:
- a 64 bits system is able to boot a 32 bits and a 64 bits USB drive
- it is only a 32 bits system that is not able to boot a 64 bits USB drive, such as the ones handed out by Microsoft at the BUILD
So I think that your tutorial is correct because it is the same as:
- here at pureinfotech:
http://pureinfotech.com/2011/09/28/how-to-create-a-windows-to-go-usb-drive-in-windows-8-step-by-step/
- and this process is confirmed by Paul Adare (MVP – Identity Lifecycle Manager) here on the official Windows 8 blog by Microsoft:
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdeveloperpreviewgeneral/thread/c54cecbe-2298-4873-9b20-7548b6f63133#7c3043e4-7c19-4eca-a954-f8d6cb615e8c
The only problem I had that to complete the process of the tutorial was in the last step:
if you use the f/ svtich in the last command line:
bcdboot.exe f:\windows /s f: /f ALL
you need the Windows 8 version of bcdboot.exe
This is also confirmed by Paul Adare:
« Note – You’ll need the Windows 8 version of bcdboot.exe for the /f
switch »
So after all I think that my USB stick does not boot on my computer because the ”chip – controller” or BIOS of my mainboard is too old.
I already had a problem when attempting to boot WinPE 3.0 from a USB drive
As conclusion here are the questions I like to ask Pborofsk:
1°) Is he able too boot on the same computer a USB stick with WinPE 3.0 or the Windows 7 install on it ?
2°) which “chip / controller” has he to connect his USB drive, an intel ICHx or something else ?
3°) is the BIOS of his mainboard up to date ?
@franz99: Thanks for your hints, maybe they are helpful to Pborofsk.
I have also another tip – not sure, whether it’s suitable or not. Here I have a machine, that can’t boot from USB – it always fall back to my installed Windows 7 system. I used EasyBCD (Option “Add new entry”, Tab “BIOS Extender”) to install PLOB boot loader on the hard disc of this machine. Afterward I was able to boot my USB 2.0 hard disk containing Windows 8 To Go (32 and 64 Bit).
I tried some of the recent versions of EasyBCD (2.0, 2.0.2, 2.1)
After installing PLoP boot loader like you described it above I rebooted and choosed the option “EasyBCD BIOS Extender” in the boot menu:
then I got a freeze of my computer during the loading of this option or in the following screen (the screen with moving stars around)
I hope I did all the things right with this software which is new to me …
On my actual computer I have the USB connection on a “old” intel ICH5 chip and despite of the latest available BIOS for my mainboard I think that I have to buy a new computer to be able to boot WinPE 3.0 or run Windows To Go from a USB drive.
Therefore by booting from the boot menu of my BIOS (after pressing F8) I am able to boot the same type of USB thumb drives under DOS or many types of Linux (example: Hiren’s Boot CD)
Conclusion: I probably need a more recent computer to run Windows To Go ? And with USB 3.0 to be more confortable …
Anyway thanks a lot for your help on this blog
@franz99
<>
So I’m gonna answer them
1. Yes, I’ve booted for example Windows 8 INSTALLER on it first. A few months before I had booted a Win 7 beta INSTALLER from an USB drive. But, as I highlighted, they were installers, not full systems.
2. I tried to boot it on two different computers. First was Asus UL20A with Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset . Another one is a PC that I’ve build on my own a few years ago, contains NVidia 680i SLI motherboard with 680i SLI chipset.
3. BIOSes for the second one are improving very rarely, the last one was released about 2 years ago, they’re hard to find as well. Although I’m not pretty sure, if the Asus’ BIOS is up to date. On Asus’ site the newest one was released on 2010.09.17, so I think it is.
With this method, the USB device is portable on every computer? I mean, when it starts on a different pc, does it install the drivers? Because, if you do this method with Windows 7, on some computers it crashes with BSOD.
@AndreaR: I have tested my USB 2.0 hard disc on 3 different computers. All was booteable. I got the message, that the system is configuring during the first boot on a machine. But afterward, I was able to use Windows 8 To Go.
Currently I have ruined my 32 bit version, because I made the attempt, to install two different versions of Windows 8 To Go on my USB 2.0 hard disc – but something went wrong. Since that time, I can only boot the 64-bit-version on my machines. I will investigate this case within the next future.
BTW: The 32 GB USB 3.0 thumb drive, that Microsoft handed to BUILD attendees has a modified firmware – suggesting the OS that it’s a hard disc.
I think i found a simpler solution.
I’ve done a test: i installed Windows 8 natively in a vhd on my notebook, then i tested the same vhd in another computer and in a virtual machine.
It always worked!
So i think it also works if you simply copy a Windows 8 installation in any USB device. Basically you can move an hard disk with Windows 8 from one to another computer without any problem. You don’t need any software if you do like this. I guess pwcreator.exe is completely unnecessary at this point. In simple words: every Windows 8 installation is portable.
What do you think?
@AndreaA: Currently I guess, you are right – although I haven’t tested it, whether the restrictions mentioned for vhd-boot for Windows 7 are still valid for Windows 8 (see http://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/library/dd440865%28WS.10%29.aspx#two). Also we should keep in mind, that the final Version of Windows 8 will support Windows To Go only in SKUs like Windows Enterprise. So, maybe solutions like VBoot will be necessary.
Anyway, I will give it a try within the next few days.
Thx for your comment
In a post above I wrote about USB drives with WTG on it
this:
« – a 64 bits system is able to boot a 32 bits and a 64 bits USB drive
- it is only a 32 bits system that is not able to boot a 64 bits USB drive, such as the ones handed out by Microsoft at the BUILD »
Some people now make me doubt about about the fact that a 32 bits USB drive will boot on a 64 bits system,
so could you pleae confirm this point:
a system is able to boot a 32 bits USB drive with WTG on it ?
Conclusion: a 32 bits USB thumb drive would have something of « universal booting capability » that a 64 bits drive does not have ?
Thanks again for your support on this blog …
Please RECTIFY:
.
so could you please confirm this point:
is a 64 BITS system able to boot a 32 bits USB drive with WTG on it ?
.
@franz99: I’m a bit confused about your “32 bits usb drive”. Maybe I’m stupid, but it’s the first time, that I have heared about 32/64 bits USB drives. I have never thought about a 32/64 Bit USB thumb drive or hard disk.
Or do you mean: “a 32 bit CPU can’t boot a 64 Bit Windows”? In this case you are right. But here I have only systems with 64 Bit CPUs. Concerning the discussion whether to use a 32- or a 64 Bit Windows 8 to prepare a Windows 8 To Go drive: All I can say, I have used the following szenarios:
a) Using a 32 Bit Windows 8 in a virtual machine, to create a Windows 8 To Go (32 Bit) on
– a USB 2.0 hard disk
– a USB 2.0 thumb drive
both devices are bootable on my systems. But I gave it up using the USB 2.0 thumb drive, because it was terrible slow – I could not use it for practical work. My assumption is, a USB 3.0 thumb drive on a USB 3.0 connector will do the job pretty well.
b) Using a 32 Bit Windows 8 in a virtual machine, to create a Windows 8 To Go (64 Bit with Visual Studio 2011) on a USB 2.0 hard disk. It was also bootable.
I have used the USB 2.0 hard disk now several times to boot Windows 8 To Go on an MSI Wind 100 Netbook, on a newer (2010) Windows 7 Desktop Computer with a MSI board and on an older Desktop (2007) with Dual Core Intel processor. On this machine, the BIOS doesn’t support USB boot in a proper way – so I installed a linux plob boot loader using EasyBCD.
Concerning point b: I used a separate partition on my USB 2.0 hard disk to store the 64 bit Windows 8 on this device. And I was at least successful, to establish a dual boot – so I can select, whether I will run a 32 Bit or a 64 Bit version of Windows 8 To Go. Perhaps I have tomorrow time to write a blog article about how I solved it, to establish a dual boot menu.
i tried the instruction on my 32gb pendrive. after the computer shows username. it hangs with black screen
@kirpeace: Thx for feedback. Glad to hear, that you was successful to boot Windows 8 To Go on a USB thumb drive. This is a confirmation, that it works at least – because @franz99 and @Pborofski are struggeling with boot.
As I wrote obove: I do not use a USB thumb drive, because I made the same observation. After login, I got a “black screen” – but it doesn’t mean Windows 8 To Go is stalled. In my opinion disc access to the thumb drive is too slow – so it will take a terrible long time to process login.
I mentioned in my blog articles and in the comments: USB 3.0 and fast Thumb drives are mandatory. Microsoft handed 32 GB USB thumb drive with Win 8 To Go at BUILD 2011 to all attendees. But it was a 32 GB USB 3.0 thumb drive with a modified firmware, that was detected from OS as a “hard disk”.
For my own, I’m using now also an USB 2.0 hard disk for my Windows 8 To Go installation – and my experience: It’s useable for tests on native hardware.
Maybe it helps.
First of all, thanks for the write-up. You helped me create a Windows8-on-the-go.
However, I find it very slow on boot-up as well as the Disk-read write operations are very pathetic. I wanted to check if this is the same experience you had. Or is there any tweaks I need to ?
[...] few more rounds of futile Google, I came by one promising wrte-up by Günter Born. The time I started looking for this option only a handful of initial writers wrote about this [...]
No matter how many times I tried and in different computers the following:
“dboot.exe f:\windows /s f: /f ALL” doesn’t work at all.
correction bcdboot.exe f:\windows /s f: /f ALL
@Carlos: Don’t know what went wrong. I have used it here on a USB thumb drive and on a USB 2.0 hard disk several times – it workes out of the box. Did you double checked, that the drive letters (hier f: ) is adopted to your system?
@gsv: As I wrote, a USB 2.0 thumb drive will be too slow for practical use. I’m using a USB 2.0 hard disk in my environment – it works rather well.
For your attemt to use Visual Studio 2011, I would use a native install (also a vhd-install will be sub-optimal).
@Pborofski and @franz99: I have had now observed the effect you described: after booting, there is only a blinking dash. It occurs randomly on a slate I use for test purposes. After a few restarts, Windows 8 To Go boots – but on other computers the same usb 2.0 hard disk boot’s without a problem.
Overall I guess, it might depend on the hardware.
@Günter Born – Thanks a lot
I’ll try to boot it on yet another hardware.
Thanks for instructions, but i have error. I using 64-bit system and imagex. In my usb-flash drive no files autoxec.bat and config.sys. Is that right?
http://savepic.su/567699.jpg
I also did all the steps up to the boot files copying.
C:\Users\Sawyer\Desktop>imagex.exe /apply j:\sources\install.wim 1 i:\
ImageX Tool for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
[ 100% ] Applying progress
Successfully applied image.
Total elapsed time: 58 min 59 sec
After this…….
C:\Users\Sawyer\Desktop>bcdboot.exe i:\windows /s i: /f ALL
Bcdboot – Bcd boot file creation and repair tool.
The bcdboot.exe command-line tool is used to copy critical boot files to the
system partition and to create a new system BCD store.
bcdboot [/l ] [/s ] [/v]
[/m [{OS Loader ID}]]
source Specifies the location of the windows system root.
/l Specifies an optional locale parameter to use when
initializing the BCD store. The default is US English.
/s Specifies an optional volume letter parameter to designate
the target system partition where boot environment files are
copied. The default is the system partition identified by
the firmware.
/v Enables verbose mode.
/m If an OS loader GUID is provided, this option merges the
given loader object with the system template to produce a
bootable entry. Otherwise, only global objects are merged.
Examples: bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us
bcdboot c:\windows /s h:
bcdboot c:\windows /m {d58d10c6-df53-11dc-878f-00064f4f4e08}
C:\Users\Sawyer\Desktop>
@Sawyer: thx for your additions
Well. I tried to say I was unable to complete the last part copying the boot files. So Do you see anything wrong there?
@Sawyer: It seems ok, if your windows install is on drive I: and also your thumb drive comes with this drive letter.