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Michelle Wilson
If you have an older PC, you might want to upgrade your operating system
at some point. An upgraded OS can make your computing experience
smoother so you can get your daily tasks done more quickly.
So, let’s say you are currently bogged down with a Windows 7 OS on your
PC but you’d like to load and run Windows 10 using a USB device. How do
you do that?
Luckily, the days of using discs to boot software are long gone. Today you
have a much more convenient option: you can boot right from a USB drive.
A Windows 10 USB boot isn’t as complicated as you might think.
We’ve broken down the steps in this user-friendly guide so you’ll be on your
way to enjoying your new software in no time at all.
USB drive
Before you boot from your USB drive, you’ll need to prepare with the right
knowledge and materials, just like any other DIY project.
First, you’ll want to invest in a USB flash drive that has at least 16GB of
space which should give you some breathing room in terms of storage.
However, if you’re able to invest in a 32GB USB drive, that is an even more
optimal amount of space for this project.
License
Next, you’ll want to obtain a license to run the Windows 10 operating
system. You can either purchase a Windows license outright or simply use
one you have under your account already. After doing so, utilize a Windows
USB utility to configure the USB drive with Windows 10.
One drawback to booting Windows 10 from a USB device is that the
operating system will be slower than it would be if it ran off your regular
hard drive. With that said, it’s still a good option if you want a new OS.
Not sure how to configure your USB drive? Microsoft conveniently offers
Windows to Go which can create a bootable Windows USB drive easily.
Unfortunately, Windows to Go is only compatible with Education and
Enterprise versions of Windows 10 and needs an official Window to Go
drive to work [2]. There’s also another option you can use called
WinToUSB which can make a bootable drive from any USB and any OS.
Now, you can move on to actually booting your Windows 10 operating
system from your USB flash drive.
3. Restart your PC
At this point in the process, you’re not changing anything from within the
operating system. So this means the restart process is slightly different.
Instead of the regular restart keys, BIOS should tell you what key to press.
It may be F10, for example, but follow your BIOS instructions so you can
safely save your boot order alterations and then restart the PC.