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September 13th, 2011, 16:12 GMT · By

Windows 8 Running on a USB – Windows To Go

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Windows To Go is a special flavor of Windows 8 designed to provide unmatched mobility to users.

Essentially, Microsoft took Windows 8 and put the operating system on a USB key. The OS can boot right from the flash drive and offer a fully functional copy of Windows 8.

According to Iain McDonald, director of Program Management Windows Core System, customers leveraging Windows To Go get to take their copy of Windows 8 with them.

More importantly than enabling users to get their platform with them, Windows To Go also makes a range of components as well as personalization elements mobile.

Windows To Go offers the possibility to take advantage of the same customized version of Windows 8 regardless of the device the USB is connected to.

“Enterprise IT pros can provide users with bootable USB storage devices containing a copy of Windows 8, along with their business apps, data, and settings. When users are finished and log off, they simply remove the USB device, leaving no data or information behind,” the Redmond company revealed.

In a demonstration of Windows To Go, McDonald pulled out the USB right as Windows 8 was performing an operation.

Of course, the running task stopped immediately, however, it simply resumed from where it was before the USB was removed from the machine without any issues.

It’s important to underline that Windows To Go USB devices can be secured using the Windows BitLocker encryption technology, so even if such a device is lost or stolen, the contents are safe.

“With Windows 8, business users can seamlessly connect to content, devices, and people that are important for work. With Windows To Go users will experience increased mobility and business continuity without the need to carry a laptop or tablet,” Microsoft said.

“An encrypted USB device will securely start their managed business desktop with access to corporate resources from any computer capable of running Windows 8, virtually anywhere.”


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READER COMMENTS:


Comment #1 by: blassmegod on 14 Sep 2011, 05:46 UTC reply to this comment

You know that USB memory sticks/keys have limited writing cycle, so they have a limited life, much less than a hard disk. And with an operating system that loads to RAM for sure it writes temp stuff to the memory key too. My opinion: good for fast OS/file recovery, not good for normal enterprise use.

Comment #1.1 by: odrogle on 14 Sep 2011, 10:35 GMT

MS only mentions USB storage device for Windows To Go. This doesn't have to be a USB memory stick but could just as well be a tiny USB hard drive or SSD.

Comment #1.2 by: luvrhino on 21 Sep 2011, 01:21 GMT

Microsoft will have a special certification program for Windows To Go USB disks that's more stringent than mere USB 3.0 certification. Specifically, it will require a 2 year expected lifetime under typical Win I/O load and high speed read/writes with low latency.

Msft realizes that typical Win I/O load involve page files and various disk swapping. They view this as an "opportunity" for USB drive manufacturers to meet this demand, realizing that few drives currently qualify.

I was told that 32 GB was going to be the minimum size. 16 GB might be possible, but you won't be able to install a subset of Win 8 to fit on a 8 GB or smaller.


Comment #2 by: TWeiss on 14 Sep 2011, 17:16 UTC reply to this comment

Very Interesting! I have one of these little 100G drives...might come in handy. Wonder if it will run off of say, a 6g stick...

Comment #2.1 by: odrogle on 15 Sep 2011, 11:01 GMT

a minimum of 16 GB seem to be required...


Comment #3 by: linux fan on 16 Sep 2011, 03:56 UTC reply to this comment

linux has been able to boot right from usb for a long time ago, so much thing that windows try to copy from linux community(open source community to be exact), not to mention tab windows explorer (nautilus, pcmanfm, konqueror can do all that).
MS is just using the marketing campaign to make it look good
so far not much innovation from them.
copy is still their best strategy.

download a ubuntu iso and try it yourself before comment :)

Comment #3.1 by: Quy8_1 on 16 Apr 2012, 21:44 GMT

Yawn. MS is just marketing...
Yawn. *nix already does this...
Yawn. No innovation....

Yeah yeah yeah we get it. How about some new rebuttles rather than the same old stuff. Maybe you should pour your effort into some Linux marketing project because if *nix can do it and have been doing it for a while, they sure as hell aren't talking about it until its too late.

Comment #3.2 by: x64 on 24 Nov 2012, 11:05 GMT

give linux to the mass and productivity will go down to 10%


Comment #4 by: blassmegod on 16 Sep 2011, 11:43 UTC reply to this comment

Out there are other good gnu/linux distro's too, like Debian, i know that Ubuntu is based on Debian, but last stable Ubuntu is buggy on my hardware (felt like running MSWin).
Up in the post it says "USB key" and by this I understand an USB memory stick not an external hard drive that has support for USB connection. Sure that if will work from a "USB key" will work from an USB Hard Drive. :-)

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