📎 AI Summary:
The thread discusses difficulties in installing Windows 7 onto a 64GB USB flash drive, with the original poster seeking help to set it up for portable use. The first respondent confirms that Windows 7 generally cannot be installed on removable drives due to hardware and BIOS limitations. Another user suggests that Windows To Go, available with Windows 8.1 Enterprise, could be a viable solution, and shares prior experience with Windows 8 installed on a USB drive, emphasizing the need for a fast USB3 drive and compatible boot capability. Overall, the consensus is that installing Windows 7 on a USB for portable use is problematic, but Windows To Go with Windows 8.1 may offer a better alternative.
G

greglue

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Aug 6, 2014
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Thread Author #1
Afternoon i was trying to install windows 7 onto my cruzer glide 64GB flash drive so that i could have another os to use without updating laptop hard drive however im having trouble installing it onto the flash even though i have formatted the flash into a ntfs as i saw on a different tutorial can someone help me please would like to use it specifically for work/attrs courses and such. Also keep getting
indows cannot be installed to this disk. Setup does not support configuration of or installation to disks connected through a USB or IEEE 1394 port.

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu.
error.

im running windows vista home premium on my dell latitude e6510 i5 processor
 

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Trouble

Trouble

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#2
Yep.... as far as I know, Windows 7 will not install on a removable drive.
You may want to look into something called "Windows To Go" available, evidently, with Windows 8.1 Enterprise Edition.
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whs

whs

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#3
A long time ago I di succeedd with an installation of Windows 8 on a flash drive. You could try the same with Windows 7. I never tried that because I never had a free Windows 7 product key, but in principle it should work.

Windows 8 To Go - Setup on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk

Prerequisite is that you have a very fast USB3 flash drive else it will run like molasses. And your system must be able to boot from this USB flash drive. Here is the kind of performance you should be looking for - especially the access time.

An image from 'Trouble Installing Windows 7 on USB Flash Drive for Dell Latitude E6510'. Benchmark results showing consistent transfer speeds of a Sandisk 64GB USB3 drive.
 

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