Hello,
I have been using a Kingston Datatraveler Workspace (DTWS) 64GB USB stick for a few years now, running windows 11 Pro on it with no problems. This is activated and boots relatively quickly from an ASUS Z170-A desktop and also an ACER Travelmate (see below).
A few months ago, I bought two Kingston XS2000 for backup purposes. These are external USB SSDs that use USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and can transfer up to 2,000MB/s. There's NVMe technology in them. I fill these weekly with a new of up to 5 generations of backup images and store them alternately at home and in the safe deposit box.
To be able to rebuild everything with this XS2000 in case of total loss of the desktop or laptop literally "from scatch", I cloned the Windows and the EFI system partition (ESP) from the DTWS to the XS2000 with Macrium Reflect. I can also boot the Windows from the XS2000, but the boot process takes 90 seconds to get to the login screen. I should be happy that the device boots at all, and in an emergency the duration is irrelevant anyway. But it bugs me that I can't find an explanation for it. I used three benchmark tools and compared the DTWS to the XS2000. Invariably, the XS2000 was twice or three times faster than the DTWS, even on small blocks. I also tried reinstalling a Windows from a Windows ISO as Windows To Go with Rufus and also WinToUSB. That worked, but did not bring any improvement. By the way, the XS2000 is shown as "Base" in Disk Management, not "Removable Disk". During booting, the processor fan runs at full speed, although there is not much to do. Did Microsoft install a throttling because they don't like this kind of usage?
Four tests on the ASUS Z170-A with UEFI Secure Boot and Windows 11 Pro version 23H2 (22631.2428) to compare the boot speeds
=============================================================================================
1. internal NVMe SSD only
a) Beep F8 4 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selection < 1 second until Windows Start Manager
c) after selection 7 seconds until login screen
2. internal NVMe SSD and Kingston Datatraveler Workspace
a) Beep F8 7 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selection KingstonDT Workspace < 1 second until Windows Start Manager
c) after selecting Windows (on the stick) 13 seconds to login screen
3. internal NVMe SSD and 8 GB USB stick with Windows setup
a) Beep F8 6 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selecting UEFI: TrekStorUSB stick 17 seconds until Windows setup
4. internal NVMe SSD and Kingston XS2000 NVMe SSD (2 TB)
a) Beep F8 9 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selecting KingstonXS2000 20 seconds until Windows Start Manager
c) after selecting Windows (on the XS2000) 60 seconds to login screen
d) after that, normal speed as expected from an NVMe SSD.
Maybe someone has a deeper insight into the UEFI boot process and an idea where the problem is.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
I have been using a Kingston Datatraveler Workspace (DTWS) 64GB USB stick for a few years now, running windows 11 Pro on it with no problems. This is activated and boots relatively quickly from an ASUS Z170-A desktop and also an ACER Travelmate (see below).
A few months ago, I bought two Kingston XS2000 for backup purposes. These are external USB SSDs that use USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and can transfer up to 2,000MB/s. There's NVMe technology in them. I fill these weekly with a new of up to 5 generations of backup images and store them alternately at home and in the safe deposit box.
To be able to rebuild everything with this XS2000 in case of total loss of the desktop or laptop literally "from scatch", I cloned the Windows and the EFI system partition (ESP) from the DTWS to the XS2000 with Macrium Reflect. I can also boot the Windows from the XS2000, but the boot process takes 90 seconds to get to the login screen. I should be happy that the device boots at all, and in an emergency the duration is irrelevant anyway. But it bugs me that I can't find an explanation for it. I used three benchmark tools and compared the DTWS to the XS2000. Invariably, the XS2000 was twice or three times faster than the DTWS, even on small blocks. I also tried reinstalling a Windows from a Windows ISO as Windows To Go with Rufus and also WinToUSB. That worked, but did not bring any improvement. By the way, the XS2000 is shown as "Base" in Disk Management, not "Removable Disk". During booting, the processor fan runs at full speed, although there is not much to do. Did Microsoft install a throttling because they don't like this kind of usage?
Four tests on the ASUS Z170-A with UEFI Secure Boot and Windows 11 Pro version 23H2 (22631.2428) to compare the boot speeds
=============================================================================================
1. internal NVMe SSD only
a) Beep F8 4 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selection < 1 second until Windows Start Manager
c) after selection 7 seconds until login screen
2. internal NVMe SSD and Kingston Datatraveler Workspace
a) Beep F8 7 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selection KingstonDT Workspace < 1 second until Windows Start Manager
c) after selecting Windows (on the stick) 13 seconds to login screen
3. internal NVMe SSD and 8 GB USB stick with Windows setup
a) Beep F8 6 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selecting UEFI: TrekStorUSB stick 17 seconds until Windows setup
4. internal NVMe SSD and Kingston XS2000 NVMe SSD (2 TB)
a) Beep F8 9 seconds until "Please select boot device".
b) after selecting KingstonXS2000 20 seconds until Windows Start Manager
c) after selecting Windows (on the XS2000) 60 seconds to login screen
d) after that, normal speed as expected from an NVMe SSD.
Maybe someone has a deeper insight into the UEFI boot process and an idea where the problem is.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)