Boot a work computer from an external SSD for personal use?

[jhsachs]

I have a laptop issued by my employer, which I use for work, and another that I own and use for non-work. But I travel a lot, and dragging two computers with me gets tiresome -- literally. It would be great if I could use a single computer and still maintain the work/personal separation.

A possibility has occurred to me: get an external SSD with a fast interface (e.g. USB C) and its own copy of Windows. When I'm working, I boot from the internal drive; the external drive isn't accessible because it isn't connected. When I'm not working, i boot from the external drive; the internal drive isn't accessible because it's encrypted.

If I set boot priority to try a removable drive, then the internal drive, I should be able to switch by plugging or unplugging the external drive, then rebooting. I think I should be able to put each system into hibernation when I switch environments, and wake it up when I switch back.

My question: Is this really as good an idea as it seems? Is there a reason why I might be disappointed with the results, or any plausible way it could cause either my work or my personal data to be compromised?

 

[The Paladin]

the speed will be limited by usb speeds do not expect SSD speeds, actualy ssd or laptop hdd will make no difference on a usb connection, but it will work I trouble shoot systems like that all the time, but you will need to make sure the bios is not locked and permits to boot on USB (many employers lock that down)

 

[jhsachs]

I don't have personal experience with SSDs yet and I have never run comparative tests of internal vs external HDDs, but I'm puzzled: why is that so? The theoretical maximum data rates are: USB 3, 5 Gb/sec; SATA 3, 6 Gb/sec; USB C, 10 Gb/sec. On that basis, it seems to me that USB C performance should be better than SATA 3 if it's different at all, and even USB 3 should be almost as good.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'm pretty sure that when the company gave you that computer, it was with the understanding that it was ONLY for company use. Personally, I wouldn't recommend trying anything that might put your job at risk. It might be a pain traveling with two computers, but if you want entertainment while you're away, that's what you need to put up with. Either that or talk to your employer about how strict the Company Use Policy is.

Just my opinion.

-Wolf sends

 

[jhsachs]

The whole point of this is to satisfy the company use policy, in principle if not to the letter. It seems to me that the arrangement I've proposed would satisfy any security concerns the company (and I) have. I'm asking whether that's correct. ThePaladin said it is, but raised another technical issue that I don't understand.

The only other objection the company could make would be, "We own it, so we don't want you to get any use from it outside work," just as if it were a letter opener. I know from several years' experience that the company does not act that way and my boss does not think that way.

 

[JoesSoftware]

Even USB-C would be too slow for SSD as well as being a bloody nuisance.

Having an SSD on a USB lead will also be a nuisance to carry around, have you considered a chromebook on a USB stick. You can put chomium OS onto those low profile USB sticks that only stick out 6-8mm.

The only drawback is you have to use chromium os and cant store files

 

[USAFRet]

A few things:

1. Windwos really really does not want to be installed on an external drive.
2. Even if you get there, it will be slooow.
3. The whole concept - Ask your boss if this is acceptable. Any comment from out here has no bearing on what your company might do or say.

Ask your boss if this is OK.

 

[jhsachs]

I spoke to my boss about this arrangement. He says it would be fine.

Joe said, "Even USB-C would be too slow for SSD as well as being a bloody nuisance. " Paladin said something similar in an earlier message, and USAFRet did so in his later one. I need to repeat my earlier question: why? I cited the maximum transfer rates: USB 3, 5 Gb/sec; SATA 3, 6 Gb/sec; USB C, 10 Gb/sec. Why won't USB C deliver the best performance of the three? I'm not saying your advice is wrong, but if it's right it requires some explanation.

The "bloody nuisance" part puzzles me too. The SSD is about 3x4x½" and weighs 2½ ounces. I could slip it into any of the pouches in my carry bag, Compared to a four-pound laptop computer, what is the nuisance? As for the cable, my external HDD has one, and dealing with it is trivial.

Why would Windows "really really... not want to be installed on an external drive"? Unless it arbitrarily slows down when it detects an external device, why would that matter at all?

You may be comparing USB C to M.2, which would be about twice as fast. But I can assure you that my personal laptop is not new enough to have M.2, and when I can afford to replace it, the replacement won't be, either.

That said, I do wonder how much difference M.2 makes in practice. If I do this, I'll run comparisons with some of my data-intensive tasks. I'll expect to see some difference, but nowhere near 2x. The speed difference will only matter when the computer is reading or writing fairly large chunks of data, and most computers don't spend a lot of their time doing that.

 

[USAFRet]

Why would Windows "really really... not want to be installed on an external drive"? Unless it arbitrarily slows down when it detects an external device, why would that matter at all?

During the install, you can't even select an external drive as the target for the Windows install.
It was not designed to do this.

 

[USAFRet]

And its not just the raw top speed of the interface, USB C or whatever.
It is the thousands of tiny files Windows uses that are the issue. A lot of back and forth through the USB interface.

But, try it. See how it works for you.

Windows To Go: How to Install and Run Windows 10 from a USB Drive

Did you know that a full copy of Windows can be installed and run from a USB drive? Microsoft introduced "Windows To Go" with Windows 8 Enterprise...

www.techspot.com

https://www.disk-partition.com/lib/wintogo.html


And of course, there is Linux, Which WILL easily run from something in a USB port.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

You have to use a special version of windows called Windows to-go-to easily do this, and even then its not a very good experience due to the poor performance of the USB interface. Using this you can even run Windows from and SD card or USB drive, but its just not a usable experience.

What is the make and model of this laptop?

It may be possible for you to install a secondary drive internally and then on bootup be able to choose which Windows installation you want to boot into.

As USAFRet stated, you can just use a USB drive or external SSD with Linux on it. This is incredibly easy and runs incredibly fast. If you arent using any Windows-specific software, Linux may just be the way to go.

(my favorite) Very easy to use and good looking Linux Distro: https://system76.com/pop
Linux distro that runs incredibly fast, but cut down and not my first choice if you have a decent computer: https://lubuntu.net/downloads/
And the go-to Linux distro for most https://ubuntu.com/

All can be run from a USB drive, even without installing.

 

[Alabalcho]

If you got enough internal storage: Install a VM (Hyper-V, VirtualBox, VmPlayer), with another copy of Windows inside it. Install whatever you need there, and use external drive for your own data.

I gave up on that idea long time ago: A Surface Tablet does not add too much weight and volume to my already-heavy laptop rolling case. And fits much better on these airplane tables, even leaving space for a mouse.

 

[USAFRet]

Question:
What do you need a different OS for?
External, VM, whatever...

 

[jhsachs]

USAFRet said, "During the install, you can't even select an external drive as the target for the Windows install."

I just tried it, and it worked -- up to the point where the installer prompts me to select a target. It lists both the internal drive (drive 0) and an external HDD that I attached via USB 3.0 as a test. I'd expect it to fail at that point, if at all. But I know Microsoft's talent for making its software fail to perform as expected in unforeseeable ways, so I won't rule out that it could fail after I've invested more time and money in making it work.

The next step is to see whether I can install and boot with an external HDD. I can't do that with the HDD mentioned above, which I use for backup, but in a couple of weeks I can try it with a USB-to-SATA converter that I've got at another location.

I looked up Windows to Go, and I don't think it's relevant here. I understand the idea is to install Windows on a USB stick and be able to boot it on any PC that is certified Windows compatible. I'm perfectly content to let Windows be tied to a particular computer. I just need to be able to boot it from an external device. So far nothing I've found suggests to me that that will be a problem.

You mentioned Linux. I'm comfortable with Linux, but many of the applications I use run only in Windows. From my point of view that's part of the human condition. There are packages that let Windows applications run under Linux, but I don't want to mess around with that. I believe all of them exact a penalty in compatibility or performance or both.

A couple of people suggested a VM. But the whole point here is to be able to use the computer for personal work without affecting the installed software, either intentionally or by accident. If I installed a VM I'd have to install it on an external drive, which would negate the benefit of using it at all.

NightHawkRMX asked what the computer is, and suggested a second internal drive. It's a Lenovo T570, with 32 GB of RAM and a 500 GB SSD. I never considered a second internal drive, and I found that the machine does support it. Opening up the case to install an unauthorized piece of additional hardware is not my idea of a clean solution, though. If I ever took the computer to the support people I'd have to remove the extra drive first and reinstall it afterward. That's not really the simple, clean separation of data that I'm looking for!

 

[TerryLaze]

I looked up Windows to Go, and I don't think it's relevant here. I understand the idea is to install Windows on a USB stick and be able to boot it on any PC that is certified Windows compatible. I'm perfectly content to let Windows be tied to a particular computer. I just need to be able to boot it from an external device. So far nothing I've found suggests to me that that will be a problem.

You have to use this if you want it to work.
Windows to go creates a partition image on the usb which windows is able to boot from as if it were a real disk, they added this feature some years ago,if you try a normal install at most it will copy over all the files as normal but windows is not able to boot up a normal OS from usb,it needs to mount a image.

It might be somewhat slow but if you are used to slow mechanical laptop hdds you won't be bothered much.
Just try it out.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you want to run things that run off an external drive, you should be able to use a Linux live disk. Any programs that you would need Windows for, like games, would run slowly enough of an external drive to be too annoying to use. Things like video editing, etc..., also slow off an external drive. I carry two laptops when I travel on business, so I can play online games with my wife while I am gone. They should fit in the the same single laptop bag, you can pack chargers in the suitcase to keep weight and size down. Only little pain I have it having to remove two laptops when checking into the airport security, that is not really much of an issue though.