Question HP Stream Help[Making an External SSD the Win10 main drive (C:)]

[alkingrey]

A Staff Member at my Work (I'm The I.T. Guy) has a Personal Laptop(HP Stream 32gb) that he needs for our Stay at Home working schedule and I'm trying to find a way to make an External SSD or 128gb Micro SD the main drive[C:] on his laptop, he has literally nothing on it except windows and now he can't even update windows which he needs to do for some reason because the 32gb is full. any help would be greatly appreciated. I have a Copy of Win10 Pro that he bought for this.

 

[TerryLaze]

You can install windows to go on an external USB device and then add that to the windows BCD that is already booting the 32Gb drive.
If the 32Gb drive is properly setup with a partition for uefi and a partition for windows you can then delete the windows partition to free up the space.
AFTER rebooting a few times to see that everything is ok.
It's officially only available for enterprise or education but you can do it with any version.

 

[alkingrey]

You can install windows to go on an external USB device and then add that to the windows BCD that is already booting the 32Gb drive.
If the 32Gb drive is properly setup with a partition for uefi and a partition for windows you can then delete the windows partition to free up the space.
AFTER rebooting a few times to see that everything is ok.
It's officially only available for enterprise or education but you can do it with any version.

So do I just download windows to go? and it'll work with the copy of Pro I have?

 

[TerryLaze]

So do I just download windows to go? and it'll work with the copy of Pro I have?

Windows to go is not something you download,it's something you search a tutorial about and do it.

 

[alkingrey]

Windows to go is not something you download,it's something you search a tutorial about and do it.

All the Tutorials I saw said it only woked with Win10 Home, so is that just a misconception?

 

[USAFRet]

All the Tutorials I saw said it only woked with Win10 Home, so is that just a misconception?

Actually, the official WinToGo from Microsoft is for Windows Enterprise, not Home.

However, there is this:

[Official] Best Free Windows To Go Creator Wizard Helps Create Portable Windows 11/10/8/7!

As a Windows To Go Creator Wizard alternative, WinToUSB (also called Windows To USB) allows you to install & run Windows on USB drive or Thunderbolt drive or clone currently running Windows to USB drive or Thunderbolt drive, with it you can easily create a portable Windows 11/10/8/7 on an...

www.easyuefi.com

(No idea of how well it works, but there it is)

Why can't your Staff Member simply buy an actually capable laptop, or have the company provide one?
Even with the OS on an external drive, that HP Stream is seriously underpowered.

$300 gets you a MUCH more capable system.
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Business-Processor-Professional/dp/B01LXCLDRI

 

[TerryLaze]

https://www.techspot.com/article/1751-windows-to-go/
Here is also an article about it with a whole list of alternative tools as well as a guide on how to do it yourself,basically you just partition your usb as you would a normal hard drive and then clone the image file from your windows iso to the USB,the article even links to a microsoft page that has a list of powershell commands to follow.
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/6991.windows-to-go-step-by-step.aspx#z6

 

[alkingrey]

Actually, the official WinToGo from Microsoft is for Windows Enterprise, not Home.

However, there is this:

[Official] Best Free Windows To Go Creator Wizard Helps Create Portable Windows 11/10/8/7!

As a Windows To Go Creator Wizard alternative, WinToUSB (also called Windows To USB) allows you to install & run Windows on USB drive or Thunderbolt drive or clone currently running Windows to USB drive or Thunderbolt drive, with it you can easily create a portable Windows 11/10/8/7 on an...

www.easyuefi.com

(No idea of how well it works, but there it is)

Why can't your Staff Member simply buy an actually capable laptop, or have the company provide one?
Even with the OS on an external drive, that HP Stream is seriously underpowered.

$300 gets you a MUCH more capable system.
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Business-Processor-Professional/dp/B01LXCLDRI

He has a Great Work Laptop, this is his wife's personal, they are an older couple and she likes the size and color of the HP, I just told him I'd help him out. He's the head of Security and Transport, And a decent enough guy.
Thanks For The Help!